Our first shopping cart. Parker gets his first credit card and proves he knows how to use it: Money Talks

Our shopping spree began as you’d imagine a person led by a 9-year-old would – at a candy store aptly named “I’m Sugar.”

Parker has little interest in clothing. She does not care about shoes and does not use cosmetics and hand creams. He craves sweets. He will not refuse sweets. With the opportunity to use some of his money however he wanted, he went straight to sugar.

Next, it was a trip to American Girl and The Lego Store.

This was over a year ago, a week before Parker’s first day in fourth grade.

Parker’s new credit card had arrived eight months earlier. But after staying safe in her jewelry box ever since, it was time to take it out and put her plastic one to use. Despite the delay, Parker bought the first credit card five years later than I thought.

My original plan was to get Parker a credit card before he entered high school. I thought it would give him four years of plastic training. I thought that would equip him with enough knowledge to manage credit cards before he graduated and lived in the real world.

But then I heard the advice of Ro$$ Mac, that I told you about last summer. It is open The very episode of the podcast that gave me a valuable conversation At the beginning of my financial education journey, Mac presented a different approach. He talked about adding his children to his credit card as an authorized user.

Mac said: “My daughter is 2. My son is 8 months old. “When they turn 18, guess what? They’ll have 16 and 18 years of debt to pay on time on their loan. They won’t need me to be a co-signer or a guarantor. They won’t need me to guarantee a loan because they already know that.”

It was a meaningful way to me. I didn’t need to wait another five years to start teaching Parker the lessons he can understand now. Then I abandoned my plan.

I have come across an argument against the value of adding children as authorized credit card users. The way I explained the argument is that the impact of improving a child’s future credit report is limited when the potential downsides include risks, such as identity theft.

I would like to accelerate Parker’s loan. If his history looks better 10 years from now because I added him as an authorized user on my credit card, that’s fine. But I am very interested in all the things he will learn during that time by gaining real life experience. With a strong foundation from early education, Parker should be a smart user of credit.

You already understand credit cards as one of the four main causes of debt, along with home loans, car loans and student loans. This ensures that he doesn’t get his first credit card at the age of 18, and goes crazy doing whatever his heart desires at the moment. By then he will have done his financial responsibilities.

“It’s Sugar” may be the first stop in our stores. But Parker’s first money lesson came at the Lego Store.

The listed price of the Lego Friends Cat Hotel building toy that caught Parker’s eye was $29.99. After tapping his credit card and paying $33.06, Parker asked an important question, as we left the register.

He said: “Dad, why did it cost more than it said?”

It took me a second to realize that Parker’s confusion was due to sales tax. I reminded him that it was something we had learned about before Million Bazillion event. However, Parker didn’t seem happy with the process.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but be shocked at the ease with which Parker went about his business when he was traded. I just started tapping my credit card and smartphone to pay for goods and services. Parker did it without a problem. And for the first time, I had to think about the method Parker would use. It took him away pain to pay.

There was no exchange. Parker didn’t have to give anything away. He tapped his card and left with a new toy. Everything about the process felt precarious without proper education about the potential pitfalls of the rapidly evolving digital world.

But I was proud of Parker for not freaking out in “I’m Sugar.” He ordered half a pound of candy, mostly Gummi Pizza Slices with nasty helpings of jaw breakers and sour worms. At $16.96 a pound, Parker’s average came out to $8.48. This time, Parker didn’t realize the 95-cent sales tax that brought his total to $9.43.

We had a good time at American Girl, looking at different dolls and playing different games, but we didn’t buy anything. However, we enjoyed using the large two-level store.

We broke up the day by splitting colorful ice cream and a delicious bag of Garrett Popcorn. My treatment.

On his first shopping spree, Parker showed excellent behavior. He was given a credit card and the green light at the age of 9 to buy anything he wanted. She only spent $42.49 and left happy, with a new toy and a bag of candy.

She really is my mini-me.

Darnell Mayberry is a Chicago-based sportswriter and author of “100 Things Thunder Fans Should Know & Do before They Die.” He loves his daughter Parker, money and the Minnesota Vikings. You’ll find his column, Money Talks, every Saturday cleveland.com and Sundays in The Plain Dealer.