Somehow, I got lost in translation…

College people are given credit card through supplementary cards from their parents. I cannot think of a situation that they can get their plastic on their own. So the control is on their parents.

Young adulst get their access to credit card on their own through their first employment, when their salary accounts take advantage of their network and their affiliated credit card company will send their first plastic card, pre-approved, whithout even applying for it. This is the time that they should get guidance if they will accept his or how to use it.

My question is more on the younger years. When is a kid should be exposed to credit? We all know stories from our parents that at some point in their lives as a kid they buy goods at the sari-sari store in credit for whatever reason. The question is, is this good? Your kid will knock on the sari-sari store saying “Pautang po ng toyo/mantika/bigas bayadan daw po ni Mommy mamaya/sa isang linggo/sa sweldo”. How’s this scenario to you?

live within your means…… exposing kids to the idea of taking loans at a young age tends to shape their outlook to loans later in life…. esp. worse if the adult is a lousy payer

some lesson to impart to younglings….. don’t borrow as much as possible…. if you need to borrow, pay on time or ahead of time always….. reputation is sacred, must be upheld at all times

formal regulation?

the question is: at what age do these kids save regularly?

if the person is 35 and still doesnt have the habit of accummulating cash on a regular basis. credit cards just aren’t for them.

on teh other hand, if the kid is 12 and wants to use the credit card for a great idea to make even more money….why not?

the problem is there’s no such a thing as credit scores / credit reports for individuals in order to get approved for credit cards, mortgages, lines of credit, etc, in the phils…

otherwise, “young” individuals with no credit history whatsoever will never have access to a regular credit card…they may apply for a ’secured’ credit card, however, and even though in reality this is a debit card, it helps reinforce the idea of not spending more than what they can afford and making regular payments…

Well… (my first blog here ever).. =)
As young adult, we all know what that piece of plastic card is all about. We each have our own story to tell. Luckily, we have matured from them on, though sometimes we still get to be tempted by it.

Could it have been better if we learned not the hard way?… To save first before we spend. To not rely on money that is not ours in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, but I do have a loan, those I thought I wouldn’t be able to have in my lifetime (though, it’s different now =)). BUT, I pay all my transactions in cash. Credit Card now run after me… to make me get their credit card…
Don’t you think it is better to teach them first about SAVINGS so that they’ll be wiser when they got hold of that plastic card.
So when is a kid ready?…when he/she is not a kid anymore.

I’d say anytime. The important thing here is to teach control as early as possible. How?

Give your child an extension of your credit card, and then talk to the bank to make the credit limit the same or smaller than your kid’s allowance.

Talk to your kid and tell him that you’ll deduct the bill payments from his allowance. This will encourage him not to spend more than he “earns”.

Monitor your child’s credit card expenses and give him financial advise whenever you notice any recurring problematic habits.

Just my two cents.

The kids learn about handling finances as soon as they become aware of how it is practiced in their homes.
Sending them to “make utang” at the sari sari store gives them ideas - good and bad. It could give them the impression that taking a credit makes life go on (never mind where to get the means to pay later) or it could give them great shame that the family can’t even afford to buy even a ‘toyo’.
Financial irresponsibility gets passed on to your child and so on and so on and that’s just sad because the quality of life is also affected.