Question: As my teenagers grow toward independence, they will be deluged with credit card offers. I’m concerned that they will get trapped by easy credit. What can I do now to help prevent problems in the future? Response: You can prayerfully begin to teach your older children how to handle credit and credit cards by letting them each have and use their own credit card while still home. “Ouch! Now wait a minute Bob, I know Dave Ramsey would never agree with you on that—no way.” You’re right, Dave wouldn’t. But hear me out. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with credit cards. It’s how they’re used or misused that creates the problems. You can allow your children, sixteen or older, to each have a single credit card if you set and enforce some simple rules. What rules? Let me suggest five. First, they need an income from either a job or an allowance (that’s a topic for another time). Second, set maximum credit card limits as you, your spouse, and your children agree. Three, don’t let them use their cards for anything that is not in their budget—their written budget. This means they must have and be living on a written budget before they get the credit card. Four, they must pay off the entire balance each month. Fifth and finally, the first time they can’t pay the complete balance when the bill comes due, you destroy the card, and not allow them to have a new card for one year. If you prayerfully work with your children to set and faithfully enforce these five simple credit card rules now, your children are unlikely to have credit card problems as adults. How so? Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Prayerfully set fair rules and enforce them consistently.