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Credit Cards and More: Teaching Teens About Money

By Jason Wolfe | Published May 21,2012 | Google+

One of the most important things that teenagers can have and maintain is their credit standing. As soon as a teenager hits eighteen years old, they have the opportunity to get, build and maintain their credit rating. Their credit rating is something that has an impact on the rest of their life which is why it is important for teens to have and maintain a good credit history.

A good credit history will enable teens and young adults the ability to have additional credit for purchases, such as autos and eventually houses. However, many people do not realize that a good or bad credit history can have an additional impact on other areas such as renting houses, getting insurance and even getting jobs. A bad credit past can cause landlords from denying people from living in their buildings, insurance companies can have people with bad credit to pay higher premiums and in recent times employers have used credit reports to qualify potential employees.

To help teens and parents learn more about the importance of credit and money, we have conducted research and have gathered information on many topics that are important to teens and learning about credit. We hope that this resource will help teens avoid some of the common traps such as taking excessive amounts of credit cards and defaulting on payment of debts. By following some of these ideas and resources, teens should be able to learn about credit, saving money, budgeting and enjoying a good financial future.

Credit Cards

  • Tips for Teaching Teens – Suggestions and tips on how to teach teens about money management areas including credit card usage.
  • Teens and Credit Cards – Information on the pitfalls which commonly happen to teens in building up credit card debt.
  • Teens and Credit – Helpful article designed to help educate teens and parents about the problems of credit card debt with teenagers.
  • Getting Started With Credit Cards – Useful suggestions on how to get teenagers started by properly using credit cards.

Debit Cards

  • Using Debit Cards Wisely – Tips on how to teach teens how to use a debit card properly for their financial needs.
  • Teen Money Management – Helpful page of information on how to help teens manage money by using debit cards, and other topics.
  • Tips for Teens – Useful source of information for teens on how to use debit and credit wisely.
  • Debit Card FAQ – Informative page providing a wide range of information on what a debit card is and how it works.
  • ATM and Debit Cards – Information on what is an ATM card and how it differs from a debit card.

Gift Cards

  • New Rules for Gift Cards – Helpful page with information on the rules that govern the issuance and maintenance of gift cards.
  • Gift Card Information – Useful page with FAQ’s for gift cards and gift certificates which may answer most consumer’s questions.
  • How to Use Gift Cards Wisely – Information for consumers with suggestions on how to wisely use gift cards in daily life.
  • Gift Card Economy – Information on how people can utilize gift cards to help with economic problems.

Credit

  • Free Credit Reports – Useful information from the FTC on how consumers can monitor what is in their credit report on an annual basis.
  • Credit Report Information – Helpful site with information on what is a credit report and how it is used.
  • Building a Better Credit Report – Information on document that helps outline the ways to get a better credit report.
  • Improving Your Credit Score – Five helpful tips that can easily be done for people to improve their credit scores.
  • What is a Credit Report? – Informative page with information for teens and others to learn what is a credit report and how it works.
  • Credit Reports and Scores – Resourceful page from the FDIC which discusses what are credit reports and credit scores and their importance.

Saving Money

Budgeting

Financial Resources