Should Teenagers Have Credit Cards?

In the process of writing my new book on how to improve our credit scores, I came across of alarming facts that many times is overlooked; teenagers in financial crisis. Not many would think of this since they are just teenagers and just starting their lives. Many of them are in high school or college some do not have a job other than a summer job. So how can they be in financial trouble?

However, the average college student is stuck with about $3,200 in credit card debt before they finish their college life. Today’s college graduates carry a heavy debt burden of $23,000 in student debt along with an average of $4,200 in credit card debt by the time they graduate. Many financial gurus suggest that teenagers should not have credit cards at all. Their argument is that they are not prepared to handle the responsibilities that carrying a credit card entails. Others believe that they should be given credit cards as early as possible, since it is a fact of life.

I think that the solution lies in the middle. I propose financial education. Teenagers should be exposed to the reality of credit cards. Trying to protect them from financial crisis by not talking about the subject and pretend that it does not exist is not the solution. The financial education must start at home and early. We as parents must be the first ones to properly educate our children about finance, budgeting, credit and investing. These are critical tools of survival in our society.

On Father's Day, I invite all father's to make it their task to educate the youth on financial matters. Lets prevent that our children become another number in the teenager financial crisis.