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Where do you start? Everyone comes into this world with no credit history. As you live your life, many of your purchases and expenses contribute to building your credit history. The choices you make can help or harm that history by painting a picture of a person who either pays their bills on time or doesn't. A favorable credit history will help you get lower interest rates on loans and credit cards, help you get approved for jobs and rental properties and can make the difference between getting your utilities turned on with a phone call or needing to first come up with a hefty security deposit. In your youth Your late teen years are a good time to take those first steps towards laying down a credit history. You have three good options for doing that. 1. If your parents have good credit, ask them to add you as an authorized signer on their credit card. This allows you to piggyback on their good credit. 2. Apply for a secured credit card in your own name. A secured credit card is one where your credit limit matches an amount you have placed on deposit with a financial institution. 3. Ask one of your parents to co-sign for a small loan in your name. As a co-signer, your parent is responsible for making payments on the loan in the event you are unable to do so. Whichever route you take, the most important action you can take to build credit is to make all your payments on time. Even one missed payment will harm your credit. If you have taken out a credit card, be careful to make only small purchases that you can pay for in full every month. You never want to "max out" your credit card. A good credit history can help you get a mortgage, a car loan or even an apartment lease. But to build a credit history, you need a loan, and to get a loan, you need a credit history. How to build credit at every stage of life