Gen Xer’s and their spending habits, seeing the world through plastic

I am always amazed at the intellect of this young generation. Many of them are business owners by the age of 15 most will own more than one business before they reach 30 years old. They are the reason and the genius behind the technology advancement we all have come to rely on daily. In fact without it, most of us would be out of business or out of job quick fast and in a hurry. However just like all bright stars, they still need help as they continue to chart their life's journey. The new statics read that 51% of them have credit cards and credit card debt before they reach college. This means that most of them are in debt by the ripe "old" age of 17 to 18 years old. Wow! Those are remarkable and disparaging figures. We know our young people are being targeted by these big consumer credit card agencies earlier and earlier so what steps can be taken to remedy the problem and protect them from becoming prey? One word, EDUCATION.

All of us can get involved, parents, mentors, aunts, uncles become a friend and educate these ones on the dangers of being in debt. As the nation spirals into a recession and the student loan debt, cost of housing, gasoline and food all increases by enormous amounts. We cannot control these things. However, we can control the debt that we assume. I love my parents and I thank them every day for making us sit down and talk about finances weekly from an early age. Talk about protecting a kid from heartache. Educate the young on the benefit of a cash environment, if you do not have the cash to pay for it NOW you cannot afford it. Tell them about the 10% rule, of every dime you earn 10% should automatically go into the bank as savings, preferably into an account that is not linked up with an ATM card and has penalties for having a balance under a certain amount. If it is necessary to have a credit card educate them on two of the best, American Express that charges no interest for the first 14 months and has a 2,000 limit. The catch is you have to have good credit to qualify. Discover Card has a "Credit 101" booklet and the company's website has a "student center" with a budget calculator, quiz and a glossary of key terms. I suggest unless your young person is extremely responsible take the time to go on the site with them and make sure they take advantage of these tools. Then when they go to make that not so smart purchase with their friends over the weekend, what you just taught them will resonate in the back of their minds. Hey, they just might step away and say, "Sorry guys maybe next time, I just can't afford it today"

Natalie Dean, real estate consultant