With the new credit card regulations, issuers aren’t allowed to offer free gifts to college students in exchange for signing up for a credit card. But that doesn’t mean they won’t still market to them. College kids aren’t quite savvy enough to be very careful and banks assume their parents must have enough money to cover their debt if they can afford to send them to college.

Now, if you’re under 21, you have to get a parent or guardian to co-sign for the credit card. Still, without a knowledge of the basics, you could be setting your kid up for failure and yourself up for additional debt.

You can start teaching your kid about finances and credit at any age by explaining your own financial choices as you go. Kids learn by example, so doing this may help keep you accountable to yourself too. When they’re young, they have no concept where the money in the bank came from, or how credit cards work. You can make it a game, having them calculate how much more expensive items would be if you used your credit card with x amount of interest. It’s not a bad reminder for adults either!

While they’re In high school, you may want to help them get a secured card – but make sure they earn the money that is securing the card. They’ll be more careful with it that way and will really feel the effect of interest rates and fees on their hard-earned money. Walk them through the process of choosing a card with a lower interest rate, researching annual fees, and costs versus incentives. Teach them the difference between paying the minimum balance and paying off the balance each month and how to read the fine print to avoid late fees, over-the-limit charges and any other nuances.

Explain to them that how they use their credit card is not a secret. It can be looked up by any number of people and that record will have an effect on their lives for a long time into the future. Not just financially, as far as paying off debt, but in securing future credit for cars or homes, and even getting their first apartment or job.