Applying for a credit card

When our daughter was in college, we made her an authorized user on our major credit card for emergency purposes. Now she is 26, working full time and engaged to be married this summer. She has applied for her own credit card, but has been denied because the credit limit on our card is too high based on her current salary. If we remove her as an authorized user from our card, will this affect her credit score and/or chances of being issued her own card? Thank you!

Terry Says:   She does need her own credit card.  Go to www.Bankrate.com and under credit cards look for “secured cards.”  To get a secured card– a regular Visa or MasterCard — you simply make a deposit in a savings account at the card-issuing bank.   Typically they require from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars to start.  The amount in the deposit is the “line of credit” for the card, protecting the bank against loss. Then she should use the card as you would any card– paying on time and in full every month.  The bank reports the good use of credit to the credit bureaus, and before long she receives offers for other cards with larger limits.   In the meantime, don’t remove her from your card.

It’s a good thing to establish her own credit before marriage.  And you might want to get her and her fiancé a copy of my new book (written with a top divorce attorney and long-time divorce court judge)  The New Love Deal: Everything You Must Know Before Marrying, Moving In or Moving On!   You can find it on Amazon.com.