The above is a roadmap for young people (and their parents) to mastering the credit system at an early age. The key here is to start out young, even before the age of 18. Even before a child can legally possess a credit card, he or she can begin establishing a positive credit history at individual banks by having a checking or savings account there. Be sure to choose banks that offer good credit cards (Bank of America and Washington Mutual are examples...just don't ever overdraw a Bank of America account or overdraft fees will descend on you like a swarm of locusts).

After the child turns 18, he or she is eligible for a credit card. Since the young adult has already established a financial reputation, getting a starter card in the $200 to $500 credit limit range should be no problem. Since these are major banks and not subprime issuers, the card can grow with the teenager. By the time he or she turns 20, the adult will already have good credit and cards in the $1000 to $2000 range, and can obtain several additional cards to begin building solid account history at a young age.

The idea behind obtaining several cards is to bolster good credit, and also to make the individual's average age of accounts statistic insensitive to the addition of new accounts. If one already has five or six accounts, getting a new one won't affect average age much. On the other hand, if a consumer has onle one account, getting another automatically chops the average age of accounts in half, taking a good 10 to 30 FICO points with it if average age goes from eight to four.