<prompt> Human: Im a college student, and my parents agreed to co-sign for a credit card. I realize that if I miss payments on this credit card it will negatively affect their credit score. However, is the opposite also true; if my parents miss a payment on their credit cards, will it hurt MY credit score?Basically, what Im asking is; if my parents co-sign for this, are our credit scores now linked?I trust my parents, and I wont miss payments, so it shouldnt be an issue; I would just like to know if it does happen.  <response>: No. A co-signer is a guarantor of someone elses debt and nothing more. Your parents are saying to the lender: If my kid cant pay, I will, so please give him a credit card. So if you miss a payment, it reflects negatively on the both of you.You may be confusing it with a joint credit card. If you get one of those, your parents are saying to the lender: Both me and my kid would like to have a credit card. We are both responsible for the debt on this card, but we both can spend off the credit card. In that case, if your parents use the card and arent able to pay, youre on the hook, and vice versa. In this way, their behavior can hurt your credit score. What you and your parents do on completely separate accounts that dont have their name anywhere will not affect each others credit. 