Credit cards for children (was: Re: Paying children for chores)
Tina Tarbutton
On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 1:51 PM, Deb Lewis <d.lewis@...> wrote:
one of her credit cards, when I was about 16, so I had it while driving.
She later told me to use it when she would send me out clothes shopping or
something. Over there years there were actually 2 different cards.
A few years later, when I was 19 or so, she fell during a home remodeling
project and broke her back. This lead to her filing for bankruptcy.
A few years after that I got a copy of my credit reports after being denied
for something, and had an enormous amount of credit card debt, which made
no sense to me, because I'd never gotten a credit card. After some
research it turns out that debt was due to the card that I had been given
by my mother. When she declared bankruptcy, the balance was put into my
name, since there had been a secondary card in my name. I tried to fight
it, however, since i used the card, one time, after I turned 18, and had
signed the credit card receipt, this was in fact
accepting responsibility for any and all debt on the card. I could
possibly get a lawyer and go to court to fight it, except that a lawyer
costs money.
So, getting your child a credit card could in fact really hurt them later
in life, especially if they ever use the card after being 18 (but possibly
if they use it beforehand). My mother never planned on claiming
bankruptcy, but she ran a very profitable home daycare, and was on bed rest
for 6 months after breaking her back, which left her no way to run the
daycare.
If you get a card for your child, I suggest getting a secondary card off of
an account that you don't use, so that there's no (or hardly any) debt on
it if something goes horribly wrong.
Tina
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> **Just a little warning about this. My mom got me a secondary card, off of
>
>
> Dylan has carried a credit card since he was (I think) fourteen.
>
one of her credit cards, when I was about 16, so I had it while driving.
She later told me to use it when she would send me out clothes shopping or
something. Over there years there were actually 2 different cards.
A few years later, when I was 19 or so, she fell during a home remodeling
project and broke her back. This lead to her filing for bankruptcy.
A few years after that I got a copy of my credit reports after being denied
for something, and had an enormous amount of credit card debt, which made
no sense to me, because I'd never gotten a credit card. After some
research it turns out that debt was due to the card that I had been given
by my mother. When she declared bankruptcy, the balance was put into my
name, since there had been a secondary card in my name. I tried to fight
it, however, since i used the card, one time, after I turned 18, and had
signed the credit card receipt, this was in fact
accepting responsibility for any and all debt on the card. I could
possibly get a lawyer and go to court to fight it, except that a lawyer
costs money.
So, getting your child a credit card could in fact really hurt them later
in life, especially if they ever use the card after being 18 (but possibly
if they use it beforehand). My mother never planned on claiming
bankruptcy, but she ran a very profitable home daycare, and was on bed rest
for 6 months after breaking her back, which left her no way to run the
daycare.
If you get a card for your child, I suggest getting a secondary card off of
an account that you don't use, so that there's no (or hardly any) debt on
it if something goes horribly wrong.
Tina
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Nicole Willoughby
My 12 year old has a paypal master card . I feel its safer than having her carry cash yet dosent leave anyone with a bad credit report since it is actually a debit card. I keep a certain amount in her account to use at her discretion but have the security if she is out and something happens where she needs more money I can instantly transfer into her account.
Nicole
Nicole
--- On Tue, 2/28/12, Tina Tarbutton <tina.tarbutton@...> wrote:
From: Tina Tarbutton <tina.tarbutton@...>
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Credit cards for children (was: Re: Paying children for chores)
To: [email protected]
Date: Tuesday, February 28, 2012, 2:18 PM
On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 1:51 PM, Deb Lewis <d.lewis@...> wrote:
> **
>
>
> Dylan has carried a credit card since he was (I think) fourteen.
>
Just a little warning about this. My mom got me a secondary card, off of
one of her credit cards, when I was about 16, so I had it while driving.
She later told me to use it when she would send me out clothes shopping or
something. Over there years there were actually 2 different cards.
A few years later, when I was 19 or so, she fell during a home remodeling
project and broke her back. This lead to her filing for bankruptcy.
A few years after that I got a copy of my credit reports after being denied
for something, and had an enormous amount of credit card debt, which made
no sense to me, because I'd never gotten a credit card. After some
research it turns out that debt was due to the card that I had been given
by my mother. When she declared bankruptcy, the balance was put into my
name, since there had been a secondary card in my name. I tried to fight
it, however, since i used the card, one time, after I turned 18, and had
signed the credit card receipt, this was in fact
accepting responsibility for any and all debt on the card. I could
possibly get a lawyer and go to court to fight it, except that a lawyer
costs money.
So, getting your child a credit card could in fact really hurt them later
in life, especially if they ever use the card after being 18 (but possibly
if they use it beforehand). My mother never planned on claiming
bankruptcy, but she ran a very profitable home daycare, and was on bed rest
for 6 months after breaking her back, which left her no way to run the
daycare.
If you get a card for your child, I suggest getting a secondary card off of
an account that you don't use, so that there's no (or hardly any) debt on
it if something goes horribly wrong.
Tina
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]