Answer (from Bankrate): 33%

This is an amazing chart when one considers how young people were struggling with credit card debt as recently as a decade ago. Then the Great Recession hit in 2008 and young people saw the damage wrought by having too much debt, the CARD Act followed in 2009 which made it difficult to get a credit card before the age of 21 (unless a parent would co-sign) and habits were changed almost overnight. Now debit cards have become the predominant way to pay for young people and credit card companies are wondering how they can draw young people back in. It will be interesting to see if today's young people follow the trends in this chart and begin to own credit cards in much larger percentages. 

Questions for students:

1. How did your estimate compare with the actual answer?
2. Why do you think that only ⅓ of 18-29 year olds have a credit card?
3. Do you currently have a credit card? If not, do you think you will get one in the next few years? Why or why not?
4. In looking at the graph, what is the relationship between age and card ownership?
5. What do you think are the pros and cons of having a credit card?

Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

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Here's an NGPF Activity in which your students analyze different profiles to determine if credit cards are a good option. 

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NGPF has just started a new service: The Daily QuoD (that's Question of the Day in NGPF-speak!). Subscribe to our blog (right hand side of NGPF Blog homepage) and you will receive a new QuoD every weekday during the school ready to use in your classroom. Enjoy!

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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