By Debra Avara
Released in the Sunday morning paper, an adjustment to an old law went into effect Nov. 4.
Passed in 2009, the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act, aimed in part of keeping young adults out of credit card debt, also required credit applicants to have an income to qualify.
This adjustment now requires credit card issuers to consider household income, not just individual income. This will allow dependents, including college students still on their parents taxes as dependents, and stay-at-home spouses (and those with similar arrangements), access to credit cards, as long as their parents/spouses are credit-worthy.
Coming just in time for the holiday shopping season, they suspect credit card companies, stores and card holders will make good use of this change.
Please do not go overboard and charge, charge, charge. Suze Ormans’ rule of thumb – if you can’t pay if off in two months time, you shouldn’t be putting it on a charge card. Check your budget and see what you can afford. You don’t need to impress anyone. Stay true to your budget.
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