How can I secure my financial future?

Question

I'm 17 years old and I just got a part time job with an average of about 20-30 hours per week. I attend an Independant Study High School where I make my own hours as long as I meet the minumum so that I can work more and save up. My questions are:

Since I'm under the age of 18 can I have credit?
If not, is there anything I can do now that will set me up for excpetional credit when I turn 18?
If, so how can I find out my score and what can I do to raise it?
What are some things I now to improve my chances of renting an apartment (or anything, at that rate) at a young age?

Please give me any and all info that you can even if it doesn't directly involve the question asked above.

:)

Answer 1

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Answer 2

1. Go to MyFreeCreditReport.com to Receive a free credit report and your Credit Score. You might need a credit card to sign up for the 30 Day Free Trial, but once you sign up remember to cancel before 30 days or you will be charged whatever the current fee is per month. Unless you need credit monitoring then don't cancel.

2. Go to your bank and get a secured credit card, this your money which is turned into credit. But its a great way to build credit for your age. I don't know about having exceptional credit before 18, because a high score is achieved over time and the older you are the better your credit is depending on how you handle your financial business.


3. Depending on where you live you should be able to rent an apartment at the age of 18, just go to or call a few apartments complexes and found out what you need to do.

4. But to raise a credit score you need to first establish credit and keep the credit limit balance paid. Like get a credit card and don't use it. But a secured credit card would be a good thing to do. Your bank can explain to you how it works but the downfall is that it is your money, not the banks. Unlike the unsecured credit card that you can apply for, its the banks money.


5. Good Luck!

Answer 3

the best thing , i think, to do, is to go to a local credit union or bank, open an account,,,, savings, or checking and savings,,,,, put 10% of each and every paycheck into your savings account,,,,, and dont touch it!! start this now,,,,, you really wont miss the money,,,,, try to not use it at all,,,, if you can figure out any other way to afford what you need,,,, meaning also start saving up for that first apartment,,,, car etc, but do that in your checking account, or open another savings account for those,,,,,,, this 10% account is your long term investment,,,,,,,
as to credit, right now you have none, which is better then bad,,,,,,, i suggest getting a small credit card, say $200,,, when you turn 18,,,, if you need to get a secured one (at your bank) a secured credit card means a certain amount of your savings is set aside,,,,, the amount of your credit limit,,,you cant touch it,,,,,,, until you have had the card a while,,,,do this, pay off your card each month,,,, or make the required payment , on time, and this will build your credit up,,,,, you will get a very low interest rate on the credit card,, and no extra fees at all, this way,,,,, i dont think you can do this until you turn 18, but ask ,,,,,,, a credit union is best to open your account,,, rather then a bank,,,,, as there are no fees,,,,,, credit unions now days have mostly no membership requirements, meaning you dont have to work at a certain company etc
a secured credit card at a credit union is best, as the interest rate is lower then a regular card there ,,,, and lower then you can get from visa, mastercharge etc

Answer 4

A lot of places will refuse to rent to a person less than 21. I would bet that you will not find any willing to rent to a person less than 18.

Before you start to use credit, you need to do some reading on how credit can be bad. There are a lot of people out there who are in the process of ruining themselves because they are getting deeper and deeper into credit. Marriages have been ruined by it and people have even killed themselves because of it.

Is credit evil? No, it is a tool. Just like any other tool, you need to know how to use it before you use it. You should also learn more about finances in general. Not just credit. Do you have a budget? How much money are you saving every month? I once heard a person say that you should never get more credit than what you have saved up.

Are you going to college? Will you be getting a job with a 401(k) or other deferred savings plan? My advice to you is to start contributing to that as soon as possible. If you start at the age of 22 and keep it up until you retire, you will have millions of dollars.

My best piece of advice. Go and get either the Idiots Guide or the For Dummies guide for personal finance. These books have great info in them and are good starting places. You need to be constantly researching your finances and financial options throughout your life. From these books you will probably find other books and magazines that you can read. Read the business section in the paper every day. Even if you find it boring. Guess what, there is always a lot of good personal finance information in there.

Answer 5

No, you cannot have credit until you are 18 years of age. The best thimg that you can do to secure a good credit rating is to get a secured credit card after you turn 18 and pay it off monthly. You do not have a score right now because you cannot get credit because your under 18. Save as much as you can also and try doing some investing in some Mutual funds, they will give great returns in the end.
Try annualcreditreport.com to see what your credit report looks like.
Hope this helps.

Answer 6

The scoring factors are very complicated and have nothing to do with your age. The most important credit rating factors are length of credit, and credit use ratio.

since you are young you have no lengther of credit. And your credit use ratio is 100% which is bad. If you really want to build credit then you can get a secured credit card, which means you put money in an account to back your purchases. These cards have low limits, but are desinged to build and rebuild damaged credit.

Almost all banks have these type of cards. You can usually get one from whatever bank you use. The link below is to the bank of america secured cards.

However, if you really want to secure your future... the key is to save at least 20% of what you make and do not spend it...When it gets to a good amount like 10k then use a professional to help you invest. Or invest it yourself. Credit is a tool not something to be relied upon to live day to day.

Listen to a great podcast called the Dave Ramsey Show.

Answer 7

It's great that you are asking these questions at this point in your life.

Like the others said, get a secured credit card. Make small purchases that you know you can pay off at the end fo the month. This will be a great first step towards establishing a good credit history. Establishing and stregthening your credit score requires you to take on loans and repay them on time.

In general, to increase your personal financial understanding, I would suggest watching the Suze Orman show. She's on CNBC on weekends. It's a personal finance show and you will learn a lot from her as she takes peoples calls. I would also suggest that you get a subscription to Money magazine. You will learn lots from that.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

open a secured card and begin establishing a history of charges and payments. that will do it easy enough.

Answer 10

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