Page 3 - Allisons Newsletter, Lakewood Village in Long Beach - Sept 2018 Issue

kids and money l

Lay the ground rules for

STUDENT CREDIT CARD YOUR MONEY

LAKEWOOD

by Steve Rosen if there’s trouble with the account. VILLAGE
Many starter cards for students also
Y “ …it is generally a good idea offer cash bonuses or credits on your REAL ESTATE EDGE
our college-bound freshman
Publisher
balance for good grades.
needs a starter credit card
Allison Van Wig
to cover emergencies, plane
If your student will be traveling
tickets home and textbooks. for your college freshman to abroad during this school year, CA BRE #00985700
What are your options? What consider cards that don’t charge
should you look for? And what transaction fees—typically around
ground rules do you intend to put in carry one piece of plastic to 3 percent of a transaction—on
place because you want the plastic to purchases made in a foreign currency.
be used minimally? Be wary of appealing introductory
A lot of improvements have been deal with the unexpected.” terms, for example, zero percent
made in the way credit cards can be interest on balances for the first six 4435 E Village Rd
marketed to college students, thanks months. From my perspective, if Long Beach, CA 90808
to the Credit Card Act of 2009. better than just adding your student at students. They generally come you are just starting out with a credit
College students can no longer be to your own card as an authorized with low or no annual fees, and card and are unable from the get-go 562-882-1581
bombarded by card issuers with user, where he or she rides on your offer rewards programs or cash-back to pay the monthly balance in full, Allison@superbroker.com
T-shirts, drink holders and other good credit record. deals for dining out, entertainment, you shouldn’t have a card in the first www.SuperBroker.com
come-ons to entice them to sign up Banks typically will require the gasoline and shopping through place.
for a card the moment they set foot new cardholder to show proof of Amazon and other online merchants. And even if your student pays the
on campus. income, such as money earned from If you think you can do better than monthly credit card bill online, the
Credit card issuers also cannot a part-time or full-time job, or even your own bank’s credit card offers, statement still needs to be scrutinized
market within 1,000 feet of the money regularly deposited by you check out comparison sites such as for mistakes.
campus main gate, and students into your child’s bank account. LowCards.com, CreditCards.com, Don’t let your student leave for
under the age of 21 have a harder Many parents turn to a secured Credit Karma and NerdWallet. school without going over the ground
time getting a standard card on their credit card for their student, which rules. Purchases must be paid in full 6427 Busch Blvd.,
own. requires a security deposit that WHAT SHOULD every month and on time, and failure Columbus, OH 43229
That said, it is generally a good essentially becomes your line of credit. YOU LOOK FOR? to do so means the plastic goes on ice. 877.872.3080
idea for your college freshman to Because you can’t charge beyond the Stick with credit cards that don’t And be sure to clarify what www.DiscoverPubs.com
carry one piece of plastic to deal with amount of the deposit, this could be require you to pay an annual fee for constitutes an emergency and what Sudoku, Scrabble, Crossword
and articles distributed by
the unexpected. a good choice if you’re concerned the privilege of using the plastic. doesn’t. n Tribune News Services and
Many card companies allow your student’s idea of an emergency is With identity theft so prevalent, Brandpoint where noted.
parents to act as co-signers on an three large pizzas at midnight. many card companies now offer ©2018 Tribune Content Agency © Copyright 2018 by
application, which will help him or Discover, Capital One, Citi and free credit scores and monitoring Distributed by Tribune Content Discover Publications, Inc.
her to build a credit history. This is others have secured cards targeted services so you’re immediately alerted Agency, LLC. All rights reserved.
3