A Credit Card Should Build Credit, Not Create Debt

This columnist's advice to young people: Get an all-purpose credit card while still a student, because card companies tend to lower the qualifications for college students. Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock

Dear Mary: My 30-year-old son-in-law needs to get a credit card approved so he can buy tires for his truck. Every time he applies for a card, he gets denied. He has no credit and needs to begin building credit. He did try Orchard Bank, but their cards have an annual fee. Can you suggest a card? —Penny

Dear Penny: I can tell him how to do this, but I must say it bothers me to do so. If you said he needed a credit card to begin building his credit file (which he does, and he’s about 10 years late getting started), that would be one thing. But to get a credit card for the sole purpose of going into debt is troubling.