In this article of interesting facts we learned in 2006, this fact came in at #27:
Of the 10 percent of U.S. teens who uses credit cards, 15.7 percent are making the minimum payment each month.
I suppose it could be worse, but I never like to see anyone making minimum payments, even 1.5% of American teens.
Parents, if you have teenagers with credit cards, urge them to always pay more than the minimum. The good news is most minimum payments went up this year, so making the minimums means being in debt for 10-15 years rather than 30. Still, the best policy is to pay off the credit card balance in full every month.
Oh, and if your teen is one of the 90% who doesn't use credit cards, consider helping him or her set up a secured credit card. They have to learn to use credit somewhere, and it's not the schools' job to teach them; it's yours.
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