Comments on: Learn To Build and Manage Your Credit, While You’re Young

By: marie

marie — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:21:16 +0000

they won’t turn you down if you can get a co-signer. I’ve got Chase Freedom and they have good rewards, no annual fee, but high interest. I pay it off every month so the interest doesn’t matter.
I’ve used Creditcards.com to find credit cards that fit me.

By: C.

C. — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:47:28 +0000

clondike7,

You might want to try for a credit card now if you haven’t gotten one by now.

If you start off with zero credit and you don’t have someone to co-sign a credit card, open a checking/savings account and habitually put money in there. After 6 months, you should have enough credit to get a credit card. I tried getting a credit card the day I opened my first bank account and got turned down just for this reason. They told me to wait a bit and try again. I ended up with a card with a small limit (500$, I wanted a 100$ card) on the second try.

By: Meg

Meg — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:46:41 +0000

There is ‘good credit’ and ‘bad credit’. The quicker we learn this and instruct our youth regarding this the better. The crisis we have in the financial system right now is due in part to the mentality of “I can have what I want”… a war, a house, a new car, and worry about paying for it later. Later always cost more and the debt keeps growing. Debt, unless it is incurred to pay for income producing assets will always cost more in the long term.

By: jatt

jatt — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:52:54 +0000

Well start young was the key to control and manage your credit. But also can be apply for almost eveything. For an example, US gov take this action :

http://insurancelog.blogspot.com/2008/09/financial-campaign-by-us-gov.html

By: nka

nka — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:11:37 +0000

Nothing really groundbreaking here.

By: clondike7

clondike7 — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:16:54 +0000

this is helpful, but i’d love it if Mint could suggest credit cards for building credit. because i still havent found a credit card that doesnt require an annual fee and low interest and i’m constantly being turned down on applications, even Macy’s turned me down lol. though its not because of bad credit, its cuz of very little credit history.

By: doctor S

doctor S — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:31:09 +0000

I will say it before and I will say it again. I wish I had been taught about financial management when I was in high school, even before I made any money. Yea we had classes back then about saving money, but what should really be emphasized at an early age are aspects like, student loans, credit cards, personal management, and compounding interest! It is never to early to be exposed to the idea of retirement and long term investment growth!

By: Ledrew

Ledrew — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:23:21 +0000

This is a good article for young and older people to read.
And saving as noted by Steve is also important. in fact if you cannot
Sacrifice and save money you cannot be successful financially.

A simple way to teach children or young adults to save is by taking a percentage
Of what they earn, and save it for them.

For adults, start at the source, your paycheck.
If you are like most folks, your paycheck stands for money in the bank!
Make use of automated payroll deduction through your financial organization, which automatically transfers a designated sum of money from your paycheck into a separate savings account

By: Gates VP

Gates VP — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:32:20 +0000

Hey @Steve, though I definitely agree with your reasoning about paying cash, there are lots of good reasons to generate a credit score.

Most people will incur some form of debt throughout their lifetime. Whether it be a mortgage, an education loan or even a business loan (almost every successful business has incurred debt during its lifetime). Most people simply don’t have the money to pay for a home or an education in full, and they’re not really expected to either.

In particular, the advice above is generally easy to follow and you can start to generate credit-worthiness using a small credit card that won’t “break the bank”. You can honestly pay for everything “in cash” (i.e.: pay off the card each month) and still generate a respectable score.

You can definitely go your whole life without needing any form of credit, but this is the exception not the rule.

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:51:51 +0000

Aren’t checking account reports separate from a credit report? Bounced checks and excessive NSFs will be reflected on that separate report and affect your ability to open a checking account elsewhere in the future, but will not affect your credit score negatively.