Dad: (teasingly) "Have you made your list for Santa?"

Brianna: "Santa's for kids, Dad. I'm 10 years old. I don't need to make a list this year. I just want one thing."

Dad: "One thing?!"

Brianna: "Yep!"

Dad: "Well that's really admirable! Especially in these materialist and gluttonous times. What's the one thing?"

Brianna: "A credit card!"

Brianna, like many of her peers, understands enough about Dad's shiny little plastic card to know that it can buy her anything she wants. But in this case, it's what she doesn't know that is even more important.

Listed below are some of our opinions on the matter:

Dad would be wise to give Brianna lots and lots of practice borrowing and paying back loans on time in full. Kids who get those kinds of learning experiences will eventually become credit card–wise… if we allow them the chance to both succeed and fail with money tools that don't carry the risk of "buy now, pay later."

Love and Logic teaches that it's not a good idea to teach kids how to spend money they don't have. Wise parents do not co-sign for credit cards, or allow their children to use their credit cards, until they reach the legal age to have their own. Introduce your kids to cash first, followed by prepaid and debit cards, as training wheels for a credit card.

We hope your college age sons or daughters are armed with a solid understanding of what credit means before they receive their first credit card solicitation.

Bottom line: It's not the credit card, but fiscal responsibility that our children shouldn't leave home without!

Learn more about preparing kids to become credit card savvy in our book, Millionaire Babies or Bankrupt Brats?


Thanks for reading!
Jim Fay and Kristan Leatherman, M.S.