Piggy Back the Kids on CC

[PRICEPLUS]

I got a CC for my daughter a year ago. My credit cards are paid off and my FICO score is now in the high 700's. My thinking was to allow my daughter to come out of college some day with an excellent credit rating. I did not give her the actual card. My daughter can now establish her own credit rating using the piggy bank of mine.

Has anyone else done this? What do you folks think about it?

[MrsChambers]

I think it's a necessity these days

[Armywife]

Back when I got in credit card trouble a couple years ago, my mom opened up a few cards with me as a join cardholder.. and it did help alot. My credit rating shot up after a few months but I had to keep my eye on my credit reports for awhile there. The only real problem is trust.. but if it's established.. then it's a win/win situation on both ends

Just my .02

[jmjj215]

If your daughter has demonstrated a comfortable degree of awareness w/ her finances I wouldn't think that's a problem. Teaching her about money and getting her a great credit rating probably aren't quite the same thing - but related for sure.

[txjman]

I know someone who got CC for their kids but didn't tell them. He would by them a stero or something and pay it off immediately. When one of them went to buy their first car, the car salesperson said they had unbelievable credit for someone that age.

[genchan]

A very interesting approach and a good idea. Is there a reason why you didn't give the card to your daughter?

[PRICEPLUS]

I felt my daughter was too young to have a card. I hope to instill a sense of frugality and a habit of spending cash. How many of us or those we know become ensnared by the temptation that CC's push forth?

The gift of a great credit rating surely is better than giving a youngster a card. I hope so anyway!

[Tree0164]

Interesting concept. As long as you are giving the kids good finanical advise/sense it is a good idea.

[crosses]

I did a similar thing and it worked out well. I got a duel credit card with my kids and set the limit of the card to their savings account (at the time, it was a few hundred dollars). When the bills came in, the money went out of their savings account. That way they could see that the money wasn't free. There were some mistakes along the way, but they did learn how to handle the credit card over time I think.