Most parents are shocked to find out that their young adult college student is in serious financial trouble. This trouble usually began with the first enticing credit card offer they received on their college campus. By the time they graduate from college they are in not only debt from student loans but also from credit cards. Below are a few tips for parents whose teenagers are heading off to college.
1. DO consider buying gift cards, which are now available for use at retail stores, cinemas, record stores and the large grocery chains.
2. DON�T cosign a credit card for your teenager and leave it up to them to pay the bill. Have the monthly statement mailed directly to your home; otherwise you are putting your own credit at risk.
3. DO hold your teenager responsible for paying their balance off at the end of the month. .
4. DO consider putting a dollar-limit on how they can charge each month as an additional cardholder.
5. DO consider only having accounts with major companies credit card companies like MasterCard or Visa. The interest rates for specialty department stores can be well above 20%.
6. DO consider giving your teenager more financial responsibility once they have earned it.
7. DO model financially responsible behavior. Research shows that modeling is a powerful learning tool.
8. DO consider taking your teenager�s card away if they show irresponsible behavior.
9. DO start teaching financial responsibility early. This will be a hard lesson to learn later on and with much steeper consequences.
10. DO talk to your teenager about staying out of credit card trouble.
11. DO be aware that some credit card issuers will give your young adult (over 17) a credit card even if they are unemployed and without parental permission.
12. DO monitor your teenagers credit card spending.
13. DO consider having your teenager pull their credit report each year. This will not only teach them the importance of a FICO score but also to check their report for any errors or discrepancies. The 3 credit reporting agencies are listed below.
Equifax
Web address: equifax.com equifax.com
Experian
Web address: experian.com experian.com
Trans Union
Web address: transunion.com transunion.com
14. DO consider pulling a free annual credit report if available in your state at annualcreditreport.com annualcreditreport.com
15. DO allow your teenager to develop more financial freedom as they become more financially responsible.
Felecia D. Sheffield, PhD, is an author, trainer, international speaker and
life coach. Dr. Sheffield has over 15 years of experience providing services to parents, schools, colleges, universities, and social services agencies. For additional parenting articles, ADHD, LD and college resources visit psychcore.com psychcore.com
Copyright 2004-2007, Felecia D. Sheffield. PhD. All Rights Reserved Worldwide in all Media. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article in your ezine, newsletter, newspaper, magazine, website, etc. as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, leave my name and bio box intact, and you follow all of the EzineArticles Terms of Service for Publishers