New 18 year old in house

Sure, if it's okay with him. Sounds like a benefit to both - he'll get a good payment record, you'll get the good deal.

 

Try it. See what he gets. If they are offering BT they must be expecting one.

Then If you want limit higher, make up some reason he needs it - get him to call and ask for higher limit. Night as well learn now, hehe.

I do it for my Mom, I call, put her on the phone so she can tell them to talk to me, and ask for what "She" wants. She just tells them that we discussed so-and-so, but that I can explain it better than she can - and then they will talk to me. They go back to her, get her "okay" on things, and voila!! it gets done.

Je will be way ahead the next time he wants to borrow, and you will get off the $hit list. LOL

 

George, there is a potential danger associated with using someone else like that -- even when you have permission. If for some unexpected and tragic reason your finances fell apart, you will have provided this young man a different kind of credit history than he is expecting. I realize of course that this is highly unlikely, but it's still worth considering. I have seen this happen before, but in that case it was parents who used their 19 year old live-at-home daughter in this way. As with your situation, they did get her permission and sold her on the positives; unfortunately they later filed bankruptcy and left their daughter with a terrible chargeoff that plagued her for quite awhile. No matter how unlikely, this is something to think about. In addition, there are other interpersonal and legal issues that can emerge when mixing up your finances with someone who isn't a family member. Depending upon what defines your relationship, you may be able to imagine some scenarios where you could incur some civil liability if something in this young fellow's life went terribly wrong. (Picture a situation where a young fellow kills himself, perhaps over a girlfriend or something entirely unrelated to finances; if he happened to be saddled with $10k of his landlord's debt on paper, the circumstances of that landlord's relationship with this young man would certainly be closely examined within the confines of a civil suit brought by the young man's loved ones.) I'd recommend keeping the boundaries of your relationship with this young man very clean, not engaging him financially in that way, and figure out some other way to lower your APR on that amount of money.

Doc

 

Aha, son = much better vis-a-vis civil liability.

Assuming you have a relatively conflict-free relationship with your son, and you're not a disaster away from bankruptcy, lol, then it may work to benefit you both.

That "relatively conflict-free relationship" I mentioned should preclude statements on either side like: "I did this for you, and you're treating me this way now?" Or, "[screaming] Dad, I bailed you and Mom out of $10,000, and you won't lend me a measly $750 for a Marantz stereo for my car?????" Etc., etc., etc. LOL. If there's any potential for interpersonal complications, I'd keep the boundaries very clean. Hey, I don't know you, and I'm sure none of this applies to you, but in my work I always ask that people consider all the possibilities that may be peculiar to their particular situations.

Doc

 

George,

From a pragmatic point of view, I'd be sure that I had open lines of credit available to transfer it out of his name should some disaster strike . Also, in the unfortunate event of your death or disability, be certain you've enough insurance to get the boy off the hook.

 

All very good advice. My goodness! what smart folks we have here.

I assumed it was your kid. who would want somebody else's teenager? arrrrrrrgh!!

Hey George, I am licensed in your state...need more life insurance to take care of this?

breeze tease

 

Doc, I know exactly what you mean. Some people just cannot conduct a straight up deal. My brother and his wife are like this. It drives me batty. Even the simplest things get completely changed around into something else.

 

Just my opinion. Parents should not try to "hide" money on their children's CC accounts. Perhaps the "son" should open the account and use it himself, even with "just" $500 as a limit. Come on people....wishing for $5k and $10k on your son's not yet established FIRST CC account? Seems odd.

 

One more thing....this kid is just 18? He has a TON of time to establish accounts and great history just like the rest of us..... Just my less-than-two-cents.

 

I tend to agree with Joe - although I don't know you personally, I don't know what your motives are but,

My mom pushed me to get more credit - the more the merrier, right? She would use my credit for things she couldn't get because she'd just had a BK. Although she DID pay her obligations to me, I came away with the idea that it was ok to pay for things you couldn't afford on credit. I was in over my head before I'd ever really got started establishing myself, which led to my situation today (I lost my job & couldn't pay my creditors-nuked my credit rating essentially)

 

From what I have read, George is extremely responsible and seems to be, well financially stable.

I don't see it as using his son. If his son is cool with it, what's wrong with the issue?

 

The only thing I would recommend is that George give his son a good education about credit and how it is supposed to be used -- maybe let him read the horror stories on here - to see what can go wrong if you're not careful.

 

I already said what I think.

 

Author_22, please reread my posts here, since I'm the one who brought up several potential issues related to this issue. You'll notice that I NEVER SAID that George was financially unstable. What I said was that George himself needed to take stock of his situation vis-a-vis emergencies so as to safeguard his son from danger should something unexpected, unlikely, and tragic occur. (For goodness sakes, that's why parents like me take out life insurance while we're still young -- to make sure that all hell doesn't break loose if something unlikely but tragic happens. And, as they say, occasionally, s**t does happen.) I also suggested that he take stock of the interpersonal scene within his family before he mix up the finances. Again, I'm not suggesting that there's anything wrong there since of course I don't know him personally, but I am suggesting that George (or anyone in that position) take a closer look before entering into this kind of an arrangement just to be on the safe side. Someone else here came up with a great suggestion -- insuring the account itself. doodyhead mentioned how his experience set the stage for later troubles, which is an interesting self-disclosure and one I hadn't considered. Joe offered an entirely opposing viewpoint. Finally, breeze offered feedback on the 'pro' side but expressed her support for all the thinking that went into the 'con' discussion as well.

When George asked the question, I assumed he wanted us as a group to think hard about this and let him know all our thoughts -- the potential ups and the potential downs. I hope by raising all the possibilities as a group that we'll help him make a more thought-out and well-considered decision that goes well beyond whatever his son is cool with.

Doc