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Surprise: Kids more responsible with credit than assumed

It’s a common assumption: Young people are more likely to make financial mistakes because they have less experience with money matters. That’s why parents are often cautioned to be wary about letting their teenagers have a credit card.  But is this conventional wisdom, based mostly on anecdotal information, right? A recent study by researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Arizo
Image: Herb Weisbaum
CNBC

It’s a common assumption: Young people are more likely to make financial mistakes because they have less experience with money matters. That’s why parents are often cautioned to be wary about letting their teenagers have a credit card.  

But is this conventional wisdom, based mostly on anecdotal information, right?

A recent study by researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Arizona State University challenges the notion that young borrowers are a worse credit risk. To the contrary, they found “no compelling evidence that young borrowers are bad borrowers.”

The key findings:

  • Credit cardholders under the age of 21 are substantially less likely to experience a serious delinquency (90 days or more past due) or default than those who get one later in life.
  • Someone age 40-44 is 12 percent more likely to have a serious default than a 19-year-old.
  • Those who get a credit card in their teen years are also more likely to get a mortgage while young.

“There are some big benefits to getting a credit card early, so parents don’t need to freak out about it,” said study co-author Andra Ghent, assistant professor in the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State. “They may well be able to manage it just fine.”

The authors reached that conclusion after studying nationwide credit card data collected by the New York Federal Reserve Bank for 2005 to 2008. To examine the cardholder’s behavior without the influence of a parent or guardian, anyone with a cosigned card was excluded from the analysis.

The data did show that young people are more likely to experience minor delinquencies (30 to 60 days past due) than older cardholders. But, as they learn from their mistakes and figure out how to make payments on time – such as setting up automatic bill pay – the frequency of these minor delinquencies drops.

Prof. Ghent believes making small mistakes with credit early in life can prevent major ones later on.

But what about the CARD Act?

Most news reports about kids and credit cards have shared horror stories about college-age kids who run up huge bills and ruined their credit history. Such testimonials helped convince Congress to limit credit card access to young people, when it passed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009.

The CARD Act prohibits lenders from issuing a card to anyone under the age of 21 unless they have a cosigner or show proof they have “an independent means” to pay their bills.

As a result, the number of individuals younger than 21 who have a credit card has dropped by 18 percent, the report found. That might appear to be a good thing. This study suggests it may not be, since early access to a credit card is related to lower risk of negative financial consequences, a strong credit history and home ownership at an earlier age.

“We found that credit cards can be dangerous for anybody,” Ghent said. “Lots of people get into trouble with their credit cards, but there’s never been a law proposed to ban everyone from having a credit card.”

The authors point out that their findings differ from the widely-held view that young people who apply for a credit card do so in response to aggressive marketing. They believe the kids who get cards when they’re young, are often more financially literate and hope to start building a credit history early. They may even be encouraged by the parents to do this.

“I don’t want every 19-year-old to go get a card, because a lot of young people do get into trouble with them,” Ghent said, “but parents don’t need to be overly worried about it – depending on their kid, of course.”

What’s a parent to do?

It’s important to teach your kids how to use credit wisely. Personal finance experts say the best time to do this is while they are still living at home with you.

John Ulzheimer, consumer credit expert at CreditSesame.com, advises parents to make their son or daughter “an authorized user” on one of their credit card accounts when the child is 15 – 17 years old. He calls it “a credit card with training wheels.”

Your child gets a different card number, but it’s linked to your account. You are still in control because their charges show up on your monthly statement.

“This way, your child can understand how to use the card and what happens when they do, as well as learn the drawbacks if they misuse it,” Ulzheimer said. “As an authorized user, they’re building a credit history at a young age.”

With this sort of arrangement, the primary account holder (the parent) sees all the charges from the authorized user listed on their monthly statement. If the child abuses the privilege, that card can be cancelled at any time.

Remember, debit cards (whether prepaid or the traditional type that’s linked to a checking account) are not credit products, so they do not help your child build credit.

Gerri Detweiler, director of consumer education at Credit.com, agrees that it makes sense for a young person to establish credit before they graduate from college – so long as they manage it well.

“The problem is that even one ‘minor delinquency,’ such as a single late payment can stay on your credit reports for seven years,” she said. “When you also have a slim, newly established credit history and then you pay late, the impact to your credit scores can be significant. For that reason, someone in this age group should try to stay squeaky clean and make sure everything is paid on time.”

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter or visit The ConsumerMan website.