What can parents do to make sure their college kids don drown in debt?
Credit cards are a fact of life on college campuses. Students are bombarded with offers of T-shirts and other free gifts in return for applying for a card. Start teaching children about money and credit well before they arrive for freshman orientation. “Unfortunately, in my experience most parents are reluctant to discuss any area of their finances with their kids,” says Susan Hunt, counseling manager at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta. If you need help talking about money, here are some tips: • Make sure you explain the difference between debit and credit cards. • Before they go off to college, sit down with your teenagers and help them set up a budget of monthly expenses and a plan for paying for them. • Offer guidelines. They should have no more than one or two credit cards. They should pay bills in full every month. That way, they will build a credit history, not accumulate debt. • Encourage them to come to you or go to a reputable, not-for-profit credit couns
