Ask the Dolans: Should I pay off my daughter's credit card debt?
Filed under: Banks, Budgets, Debt, The Dolans
Ken and Daria Dolan, America's First Family of Personal Finance, answer your money questions every Friday.
Dear Ken and Daria,
Without our knowledge, our 23-year-old daughter ran up $5,000 worth of credit card debt on three different cards. She defaulted and now the collection agencies are coming after my wife and me. We could pay the debt off, but does it make sense to do that?
Jay
Ken and Daria Dolan offer advice on all of your credit card and debt management concerns at Dolans.com.
Recent Posts
- How to deal with a deadbeat adult child (10/06/2008)
- Candidate dolls - will there be a scarcity? (10/06/2008)
- What if you applied for a job--only to learn the job was a bank heist? (10/06/2008)
- Holy Mackerel! Fish make a slick currency in prison (10/06/2008)
- Fantastic Freebies: Subscription to Genre Magazine (10/06/2008)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-28-2008 @ 11:15PM
Tracy Coenen said...
Your answer is an early April Fool's joke, right? This kid needs to learn a lesson, and the lesson will never be learned if the parents pay off the cards. This is why my generation has become so irresponsible... because someone has always told them it's not their fault and someone has always cleaned up after them. Mom and dad should let the kid figure out how to pay it off. That's what ADULTS do. They find solutions to their own problems.
Reply
3-29-2008 @ 2:32PM
bill said...
I agree with the post, the parents should not pay
unless they have cosigned. If she got the credit she
should have the means to get out of it and the
credit score can be improved.
Reply
3-29-2008 @ 3:58PM
Tracy Coenen said...
And I also look at the daughter's problem this way: She only needs a little more than $100 a week to get this paid off in a year. She needs to go find a part time job and devote her earnings to paying this off. Lesson learned!
Reply
3-29-2008 @ 10:50PM
TC said...
I feel bad being $700 in credit card debt. I paid off over $1200 since January and most of my purhases were legit (car fixes, school books) However, I look back and think of all the lux items I used my credit card for. I should be out of that debt soon because I will be able to pay $300 per month. It's okay to use credit but don't use anymore than what you can afford.
The daughter needs to take what she can and pay off as much of the card as she can. If the parents cosigned then they may have no other choice but to pay. If they do pay, like the Dolans said, they definitley need to make a legal contract.
Reply