The short answer is no. Most teens are very financially irresponsible, especially if their parents lack responsibility, too. Tack on the pitiful financial illiteracy of our nation and you get a new generation of reckless spenders. There are some exceptions. Some teens may do great with credit cards, but they have to prove that they could.
If you are a reckless spender as a parent, it will be difficult, near impossible, to teach your kids financial responsibility. They have been learning how to spend money their whole lives by watching how you spend money. Simply going up to your 15-year-old and saying 'save at least 10% of your money and don't spend more than you have', will mean nothing if you are sitting on credit card debt yourself.
If a teenager, or anyone for that matter, can't manage the cash they do have, they will do no better with credit. When would a teen do okay with credit? The truth is that someone who is the most prepared and responsible that would be the perfect candidate for an effective and responsible credit card holder would probably never want one anyway. They understand the principle to save your money rather than spend it and they would never spend more money than they have.
One benefit to getting a credit card that some teens may see as critical is to help build their credit. Getting a credit card as a teen will probably do more harm than good to your credit. They will spend and spend, their balance will grow, and it will all build to the point to where they can't pay it. Not paying bills will damage credit. There are many other ways to build credit. All bills including cell phone, utilities, and other payments will build credit. Always pay your bills on time. If by the time they are ready to take out a loan they can't get one, they probably don't need it anyway. They only loan that they should ever get is a mortgage or possibly a small business loan which they could get a cosigner for. They don't need a car loan, just save and buy used.
In the end, don't get your teen a credit card. The benefits of a credit card for anyone don't even come close to outweighing the short-falls. Teens are at an even more critical time in their life where they haven't yet learned the real consequences of their actions. Teach them financial responsibility and watch them build a prosperous, financially stable life.
If you want to know more about
teen credit card debt and spending, go to
TeenMoneyCentral.com for more information.
