He opens the door to find his horrified parents there. However, the answers might come as a surprise to many parents. In other words, according to ASEC, anywhere from a third to half of the students surveyed rarely, or never, talked basic financial management with their parents. Other figures, however, aren't so comforting. After all, credit card companies spend millions of advertising dollars each year to persuade us that personal debt is common and even desirable.
College students have high future earning potential-and, thus, a high spending potential.
Several studies have found most people hold onto their first cards for up to 15 years. But you probably haven't seen the marketing barrage that continues well after orientation ends. Indeed, as the year progresses, your children can find credit card solicitations virtually everywhere-tacked to bulletin boards, stacked up next to the pay phones, even stuffed at the bottom of bookstore bags. Although it is technically illegal for anyone under 18 to have a credit card, most companies will offer cards to teens as long as a parent acts as a co-signer. If you co-sign for your child's credit card, you must pay the entire debt if the teen defaults.