<prompt> Human: I am 18 years old as of this month and I want to begin building my credit. As I have no existing credit, I do not qualify for a credit card with the credit union I belong to. My banker suggested that I take out a small personal loan and pay it off to establish credit, as he can pre qualify me. I am looking to get hired by a newspaper as a sports photographer and I need to invest in a particular lens - one that I would be able to pay for with a personal loan and easily pay off over the course of a year or less while building credit. Is this a good idea?  <response>: if you can qualify for a personal loan, you can qualify for a credit card. I wouldnt take a personal loan out to build credit. 