You might think that the worst thing in the world you could give your teenager is a credit card, and in many repsects you’re right. But you wouldn’t give them one like you have would you? They wouldn’t be able to handle the credit limit or even make a single repayment…
But what you could do for them is get a prepaid credit card. Prepaid credit cards are the best thing to teach your children about credit cards and the financial world in general. If they have pocket money it’s a good idea to put it on their prepaid credit card and let them learn how to spend money on it like adults do. The only difference is that they won’t be able to spend more than what’s on the card.
This can progress with your teenager when you think about it. When they get their first job they may even continue to use the same format for their wages. It’s much safer to carry a card on your person than to risk carrying around a load of cash, and with a credit card you can pay for goods and services without having to go to a machine to get out cash.
If your teenager learns to use a credit card from an early age (perhaps 13 is a good age) then they are much more likley to be responsible with a credit card when they become an adult; and let’s face it, many people could do with being a bit more responsible with credit couldn’t they?