Credit is one of the most unknown topics towards a college student; not realizing it would affect their entire future. Most of my friends have this common idea that if they open a credit card, that they’ll spend uncontrollably which I agree is true since it’s basically free money to spend and not realizing you have to look at how much you owe until the end of the month. And this leads them to consider not opening any credit cards at all. This I consider is a terrible decision to make right off the bat since most don’t realize that a credit history is needed if you want to borrow money for something such as a car loan or home mortgage long into the future. Paying utility bills and such in your own name might give you a history but having a high income with no credit history is not going to get any decent size credit limit one might expect, for example $500 to start.
Therefore, I try to make a point to everyone I know to open a credit card if they don’t have one, especially if they’re in college. Being in college gives you one of the best perks to open a credit card from some of these reasons I believe credit card companies look at:
- You will have plenty of expenses to pay in college
- They want to start a relationship with you to make money off of you in the future
- You have parents that are willing to pay off your debt
- You are more likely to find a well paying job in the future.
Some of these reasons seem pretty terrible from any standpoint but what happens when you’re out of college? The first point is disappears since they won’t know how you will spend and can’t predict the second point as well. The third point is less likely as you get older cause who would be willing to ask their parents when they also have student loans under their heads.
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