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In my latest video, I shared how my son woke up on his 18th birthday with a credit score higher than the average 40-year-old. All it took was a simple method called the Authorized User Strategy.
But as I mentioned in the video, a high score is fragile if you don't have the right systems in place to support it. Here is the "behind the scenes" checklist we used to make sure that score stayed permanent.
The "Authorized User" Checklist
If you're planning to do this for your child, remember these three non-negotiables to protect both your credit and theirs:
Age is King: We put him on our oldest accounts (ideally 10+ years of history).
Utilization: We only added him to cards that always report a balance under 10%. (Typically 1% to 2%)
Clean History: 100% on-time payments only. One late payment on your end will "copy-paste" that damage onto their file.
Common advice says to add your child as a user but shred the card. We did the opposite.
We didn't just give him the plastic and hope for the best; we used it as a training tool.
The Needs: If he had a doctor’s copay or needed dinner while out, he used the card (expenses we would cover anyway).
The Wants: He could use it for "extras," but with one stipulation: he had to transfer the cash to us immediately.
This taught him that credit isn't "free money"—it's a tool that requires a solid bank account and a budget to back it up. Plus, we kept all the points.
The Logistics: Managing the Money
You can't build a 794 score on shaky ground. Your credit needs infrastructure to stand on. These are the three pillars I recommend:
Pillar 1: The Command Center (Budgeting) You can't manage what you don't track. To keep your utilization low and your payments on time, you need a high-level view of your spending. 👉 Find the best budgeting apps for your style here
Pillar 2: The Liquidity Hub (Checking) As I mentioned, my son used a Chase Teen checking account to bridge the gap to his first real card. Having a reliable, low-fee checking account is the first step to financial independence. 👉 Compare top-rated checking accounts
Pillar 3: The Safety Net (Savings) High scores get you the best rates, but high-yield savings accounts actually pay you. If your money is sitting in a 0.01% big-bank account, you’re losing to inflation. 👉 Check out the current highest-yielding savings accounts
Closing Thoughts
If you have good credit, you have the ability to change your child's financial future for $0.
If you haven't seen the full breakdown of how we moved from authorized user to his first solo card (the Chase Freedom Rise), watch the full video here.
Stay responsible,
Ritchie the CEO