A couple of weeks ago, I had an interesting conversation with a young man (20 years old) about his credit situation. He understood the value of good credit and was trying to figure out how he could take the next step in boosting his score. We talked about the moves he made up to this point and what he should do next to diversify his credit and present himself as a better prospect. He wants to buy a home in the future, which is why it’s important to him that he manages his credit now.
As we talked, I was reminded of a recent survey from Credit Karma about the financial mistakes made by young adults as a result of a lack of financial education. My friend’s mistakes weren’t as devastating as what others have done to their situation, and he had been sufficiently conservative with his money to avoid serious debt problems. Others aren’t so lucky, though. According to Credit Karma, some of the major mistakes many young adults (68%) make before turning 30 include:
- Overspending on credit cards
- An account sent to collections
- Defaulting on a loan
- Missing payments
According to the survey data, about 75% of the respondents felt like their financial mistakes made before age 30 impacted their quality of life in a negative manner. The mistakes made in your 20s can affect you years down the road. It can even prevent you from moving forward with your life as you would like.
Lack of Financial Education One Reason for the “Credit Fumble”
Credit Karma refers to this situation as the “credit fumble” and points out that 73% of those surveyed said they would…
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