High School Student Credit Cards: An Impossible Dream?
If you have a teen son or daughter in high school, student credit cards can be a great way to help them learn financial responsibility.
You might think high school student credit cards are an impossibility. After all, not many sixteen-year-olds flash their credit cards around town, and most teenagers don't have the financial responsibility (not to mention restraint) that a credit card requires.
However, getting your high school student credit cards can also be a fantastic way to teach financial responsibility and prepare them for when they do enter the modern world of debt, loans, and credit. There are a number of ways you can approach this situation, so why not give one a try?
1.Get your teen his own credit card.
If you get a credit card with a low monthly limit, some companies will indeed issue high school student credit cards in the student's name. This is a double bonus for your teen because it means they can start building a credit history. However, they can also start building a negative credit history, so make sure that the monthly limit is well within their means -- and get on their backs to make sure those bills are paid on time.
2. Issue your teen's allowance on a prepaid credit card.
Gift credit cards are basically elaborate gift cards that you can use anywhere you could use a major credit card. A Visa or Mastercard gift credit card is a prepaid card issued in the holder's name (in this case, your teen's). There is NO age limit to a gift credit card, and it's literally impossible to overspend.
You might not be in the habit of giving your teen an allowance per se, but chances are you occasionally hand over pocket money for clothing, gas, outings, etc. Why not charge up a gift card at the beginning of the month with a set amount and hand that over instead? Your teen will learn to budget wisely -- or run out of money long before the month is up. Just resist the temptation to bail them out!
There are many advantages to high school student credit cards, so don't forget about them when you're teaching your kids to manage their money.
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