Dave Ramsey on the myth of credit cards as a 'necessity'

I recently spoke at a financial literacy event for college students and listened as the speakers -- respected financial experts -- discussed the necessity of credit and how important it is for young people to build up their FICO scores.

I don't agree with this. I think it's dangerously bad advice, and it actually terrifies me that it's the conventional wisdom propagated in what passes for unbiased financial literacy training for young people.

The potential negative consequences of using a credit card while in college -- overspending, running up debt and finance charges, collection calls, lawsuits, a bad credit score -- are so much more bad than the potential positive outcomes are good that I would argue that most college students should not have credit cards. Telling kids to get credit cards in college to build credit is like telling people to jump in front of steamrollers to pick up pennies.

A 20-year-old called in on Dave Ramsey's show the other night and asked about this, and Dave's response was classic Dave. Please: Watch the clip and send it to your kid. And if you have friend with kids in college facing these same issues, send it to them too.