As soon as young people reach the age of 18, credit card companies are targeting them. If you stroll any campus in America, you’ll surely find someone giving away something for opening up a credit card. An innocent college kid doesn’t understand that getting a credit card and over-using it, could be detrimental to their future finances.
Many college students are in debt. This is partly because they are unemployed and are using credit to purchase the things they want but can’t afford. Since, for many, this is the first time away from home, they don’t completely understand the toll of overspending.
This credit ignorance will follow them for many years after graduation as well. If they are unable to pay on their credit cards monthly, they will start to deal with creditors and their credit report is affected. Their credit score is hit and that is even before they really have any good credit. Then after graduation, if they want to buy a home or even a car, it may be impossible. A lender isn’t going to give a recent grad pity when he/she tries to explain that he/she just wasn’t old enough to understand how credit works.
What young people of American need to know is that credit is money they don’t have – it’s not free money. While many college students don’t think about the future, it’s important that they start. Their financial future is counting on it as well as the future of the housing market when all of these young adults enter it wanting to buy a home.
I do believe that Education is the Key. If our school system were would invest more effort on personal Money spending out college kids will be much more conscious of there credit card history!!