Unless you teach your kids to avoid signing up for free student credit cards, there is a very good chance that this is one of the first things they will do when they get to college. Today student loans are not the only debts that college kids are facing on graduation no. No many have very high student credit card debt too.
While your child might not have as that high of debt coming out of college, they will also not have that high of income. The credit card companies will entice them with free college t-shirts and towels, and lock them into a recurring monthly payment for the rest of their college days.
Now they will probably not have huge debts. This is not because you have taught them to use credit responsibly. No it will not be huge because their credit limit will be low. However, you child's credit card debt is going to affect them during a time when they are experiencing some of the biggest life changes they will ever go through. Getting your first job is stressful. But, doing it with a ton of student credit card debts and high college tuition debt is going to make this transition all the more difficult.
Not only will they have a mountain of student loan debt that they have to pay off, they will have to pay off those darn free student credit cards that they signed up for that first week of college.
Many college kids see these credit cards as a sign of maturity and freedom. Little do they realize that this credit could shackle them for the rest of their lives.
But, as a responsible parent, you can prevent this. Before dropping your child off at college, you need to discuss finances. Hopefully, you have been doing this their entire lives, but if not, it is not too late.
You need to encourage open communication about finances with your children. Let them understand what aid you will give them and what you expect from them if they need money. If you have extra money, this is the time to talk about how they can ask you for an allowance at school. If you don't have money to give them, then you need to discuss this too. If you are in this situation, you especially need to discuss the problems with free student credit cards.
I want my kids to promise me that they will not sign up for these cards. I would prefer to give them one of mine so that I know that they are not building up debt. However, this is not always possible. In the end, you just have to hope that you have taught your children to be responsible with money. Hopefully, they will understand the seriousness of these free student credit cards.
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