<prompt> Human: How can I help my future teenage start a credit score?A secured credit card? and how much do I put on it? and at what age can she apply for one? 18 or can I apply before she hits that age and add her to the card as an authorized user?  <response>: This has been asked a lot. I also thought it would be a nice thing to do. Consensus is; 1 Under 18 for an individual card and its technically fraud, though it happens all the time. 2 You can add them as an authorized user to one of your accounts and they get to piggy back on your score when they open an account at 18. 3 Handing an 18 year old a 750 credit score is like handing them a loaded gun. If you arent absolutely sure they know how to use it responsibly, they will probably hurt themselves with it. My life would be in pretty bad shape if I could have borrowed more than the 1500 student card I had access to while I was in college. That thing was always maxed out and my checking account was frequently overdrawn. 