<prompt> Human: Everyone has heard the stories of a kid going off into the world as a newly-minted adult and then finding out they have horrible credit because a cash-strapped parent opened a few accounts in their name and killed their FICO score. What about the flip side? Can I give my kids a leg up by opening a few accounts in their name and maintaining an awesome credit history until they turn 18?  <response>: I started off with decent credit as an authorized user of a couple of my parents credit cards. They gave them to me for emergencies and gas they were kind enough to pay for gas in high school, although this was also when gas was about 1 a gallon. As long as you trust your kids not to run off and abuse them, I see no downside. 