Should college students and teens possess credit cards?

Credit card debt is one of the biggest problems and year after year, there are millions of people who find themselves knee deep in debt. As the interest rates start soaring higher, the payments get missed and this has an overall bad impact on your credit score. While it can be financially traumatic to carry huge loads of credit card debt, credit plays a vital role in our lives. Would you like to purchase a house? If answered yes, unless you have enough money in your bank account, you will require financing it through a lending institution.

Above all, you will need stellar credit rating in order to get the loans that you wish to. How are you supposed to build credit rating if you don’t use credit cards? If you don’t take out online installment loans, you won’t be able to build credit rating. So, let’s read on to know more on young people and debt.

Debt and its impact on the young generation

Once a person turns 18 years of age, they can qualify for their own credit cards and loans and hence they become primary target for the lenders. Since they’re the ultimate vulnerable generation, the lenders are eager to get them into business. This is why most college campuses are filled with credit card vendors and banks which give away freebies so as to attract the younger adults to apply for credit cards. But the young people should be aware of few things before saying ‘yes’ to credit cards.

The biggest problem with applying for their first credit card is that they don’t focus on the terms, interest rates and other features of the card. If they choose the wrong card, they may prepare themselves for failure from the very beginning. There are almost many who aren’t educated about debt and credit cards. All they know is that they have to pay back the money but they understand very less on minimum payments and interest rates. This is when things get out of control.

What makes students apply for credit?

Despite all the negative upshots of credit card debt, there is no doubt about the fact that all students need a credit card. The primary reason behind this is to establish a positive credit history. Being a teenager, you have to build a credit score and hence for that having a credit card is necessary. But that doesn’t mean that you can use your credit cards in any way you want. You have to be sincere about the way you use your cards. Suppose you take out online loans from paydayme.com, wouldn’t you try your best to pay them back on time so as to avoid building debt? Similar is the case with credit cards as non-ability to make payments on time will lead to high interest debt.

Therefore, if you’re a teen, you’ve got to be responsible about your finances, especially about your credit cards. Use them properly so that you don’t incur debt.