A kid with a credit card,mmm not usually a good idea.  First start teaching them how to handle money at an early age.  Usually around the time they first ask for something at a store.  If the allowance is $10, they have to put $2.50 into savings right off the bat.  Then they have to manage the rest for that "Pay period."  As for giving them a c/c - I didn't and wouldn't.  My son earned his own c/c working and had a debit card.  He had a savings account that I opened when he was a year old, he made regular deposits of 25% of his income (allowance) and then as a teenager he had a summer job and did the same.  The rest went into a checking account.  He is very frugal and if he can con his old mother into paying for something he will do so before spending his own hard earned money.  l0l  Seriously tho, every kid is different.  It's up to you his/her parents to teach them to handle money.  Mine is 24 and still won't buy on credit.  He has the credit, just chooses to save and buy with cash.