 TITLE: When Should My Child Get a Credit Card? CONTENT: How to Decide if Your Child Is Ready for a Credit Card\n------------------------------------------------------\nBefore calling your credit card issuer and adding your kid to your account, determine if they're ready for the responsibility. Ask yourself these questions:\n*   **Can they follow your rules?** First and foremost, you'll want to know if you can expect them to abide by the limitations you put on their credit use. Figure out a few things in advance, such as whether they'll pay the bill themselves or reimburse you for their spending, where they can use their card and what they're allowed to buy. Determine the consequences for breaking your agreement, overspending or missing a payment. If your child isn't ready to meet your requirements (or breaches them when given the opportunity), it may be wise to wait a little longer.\n*   **Do they understand credit cards?** Your kids don't need to be financial geniuses to have a card with their name on it, but a basic understanding of interest rates, balances and credit limits is critical. Their past experience with cash and debit cards can be a good starting point as they adjust to being responsible with the additional spending power in their pocket. If they know how their actions can affect their credit (and yours) and why that's important, they may be ready.\n*   **Is** **_your_** **credit ready?** Authorized users can benefit from the primary account holder's credit history—but they have the potential to damage your credit if spending goes unchecked. An authorized user's excessive purchases can easily overburden the cardholder's finances, which risks increasing the account's credit utilization and potentially causing payments to be missed. In either case, your credit scores could be dragged down. If you're planning on a major financial move such as buying a home, you might prefer to avoid taking a chance on credit score damage. END