The Truth About Teens and Credit Cards

Over 80% of graduating college seniors have credit card debt before they even have a job! The credit card marketers have done such a thorough job that a credit card is seen as a rite of passage into adulthood. American teens view themselves as adults if they have a credit card, a cell phone and a driver's license. Sadly, none of these "accomplishments" are in any way associated with real adulthood.

Related: What would you do with an extra $700 or more? That’s how much people save on average simply by having an insurance Endorsed Local Provider check their rates. See how much you could save.

You are not teaching your 16-year-old child to spend responsibly when you give him or her a credit card any more than you are teaching gun responsibility by letting him sleep with a loaded automatic weapon with the safety off. In both cases, you as a parent are being stupid. People with common sense don't give 16-year-olds beer to teach them how to hold their liquor. By giving a teenager a credit card, the parent—the one with supposed credibility—introduces a financially harmful substance and endorses its use, which is dumb but unfortunately very normal in today's families. Parents must instead teach the teenager to just say NO.

Pouncing on the College Prey

Anyone visiting a college campus in recent years has been shocked at the aggressive and senseless marketing of credit cards to people who don't have jobs. The results can be devastating. Recently, two college students in Oklahoma gave up on their credit card debt and committed suicide with the bills lying on the bed beside them.

Vince called my radio show with a problem that has become a trend. Vince signed up for multiple cards during his sophomore year at college to get the free campus t-shirt. He wasn't going to use the cards unless there was an emergency, but there was an "emergency" every week, and soon he was $15,000 in debt. He couldn't make the payments, so he quit school to get a job. The problem was, without his degree, his earnings were minimal. Worse than that, he also had $27,000 in student loans. Student loans aren't payable while you are in school, but when you leave school by graduating or quitting, the payments begin.

Vince was one scared 21-year-old with $42,000 in debt but making only $15,000 per year. What's scary is that Vince is "normal." The American Bankruptcy Institute reveals that 19% of the people who filed for bankruptcy last year were college students. That means one in five bankruptcy filings were by very young people who started their lives as financial failures. Do you still think it is wise to give a teen a card? I hope not.

Help guide your teenager toward making smart money decisions. Dave's bestselling book, The Total Money Makeover, is an entertaining and helpful resource to get them started.