Holy smokes, such a wonderful couple of weeks with my 2010 plan in place working for me and now this! Micah 13 yrs old??? How did that happen?
His bank sent him an invitation yesterday to have a credit card since he is "of age." He was THRILLED. I am not sure if he completely grasped the idea that it comes with a bill attached on a monthly basis.
This brings me to my very important point. We have few things in this life that we actually get to control. One of these things is our money and credit. There are others, of course, but I am true to my real estate roots here. Money and credit are so, so easy to get sometimes, people may not realize just how hard those things are to get back when you have become foolish or spoiled with their use.
Let me pause for a moment and just mention that I realize "things do happen" and there are times when these things seem to be beyond our control. I am mainly talking to the "young and vulnerable" here.
To these 'young and vulnerable' who may not know yet; it only takes 30-45 days to establish credit. And typically, it all starts well. So 30-45 days to establish good credit. It only takes one good vacation week to ruin credit if you don't have a solid payment plan already devised.
With poor credit you can't buy a car or a house. These days with poor credit, you will lose many job opportunities and you may lose your bank account. How long does it take to recover from a credit fall? Sometimes YEARS. One missed rental payment or missed mortgage payment will haunt you for 12 months! Protect your credit. It is easy to get and very difficult to get back.
God charges us to be 'good stewards of his gifts.' If I can relay this level of responsibility to Micah at age 13 then maybe it will make sense to him when I am not by his side to help with the decision making.