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If you haven鈥檛 finished high school and you鈥檙e already thinking about how you can build credit, you deserve an听award. Most high school students are more focused on the next assignment or the next college prep听activity than on setting听themselves up for financial success in adulthood.

Right now, your ability to听get your own credit card is听very limited. The ideal time to apply for听one听is after you鈥檝e finished high school and have either听听or gotten your first full-time job.

But听you might be able to begin building a credit history now.听Let鈥檚 look at why it鈥檚 important to build credit, and then we鈥檒l discuss some of your options.

Why credit is important

Your credit score is a measure听of how well you鈥檝e handled credit, which is another name for borrowed money. Having a good credit score means you鈥檙e a low-risk borrower, so lenders will give you听lower听interest rates and better terms on loans 鈥� such as auto loans, mortgages and, yes,听. But a good score can also听signal that you鈥檙e financially responsible in general. Landlords, employers and insurance agents also use your score to make decisions about you.

You won鈥檛 experience most of the benefits of good credit until you鈥檙e living on your own. But it鈥檚 not too early to set yourself up for those benefits.

Age restrictions on credit card applicants

Federal law听restricts how lenders can extend credit to young people. The restrictions are intended to prevent听young adults from running up debts that they can鈥檛听repay, and they听make it听very difficult to get a card until you turn 21.

There are only two ways you can get a credit card of your own before you can legally drink:

• Work full time.听Having an听income makes lenders more confident that you鈥檒l be able to pay back any money you borrow. You don鈥檛 have to earn big bucks, but you probably won鈥檛 qualify if you work only a few hours each week. This is one area in which听high school grads who go directly into the workforce might have a leg up on those who go to college.
• Find a co-signer.听A co-signer agrees to share responsibility for your credit account. He or she is听on the hook if you don鈥檛 pay your bills, so you鈥檒l probably want to ask a听parent or another close relative who trusts you to use the card responsibly听鈥� and who has听good enough credit to qualify. Not all credit card companies听allow co-signers, so check out our听.

If you can鈥檛 get your own credit card

It鈥檚 all right if you don鈥檛 have a relative听willing to co-sign on your credit card application. You can still use听someone else鈥檚 strong credit history to build your own by becoming an authorized user on听a friend or family member鈥檚听existing account.

In this situation, you听receive听a credit card with your name on it听that鈥檚听tied to your friend or family member鈥檚听account. You鈥檙e not responsible for paying the bills 鈥� the account holder is.

Not all credit card issuers report authorized user activity to the credit bureaus, the companies that听assemble the credit reports that form the basis for credit scores. So it鈥檚 a smart move to call the issuer and ask.听Even if the issuer does report, your behavior won鈥檛听have as great an听听as it would if you had your own account. Still, every little bit helps when you鈥檙e starting from zero. And听it鈥檚 a way to practice using a card听and building good credit habits.

Best practices for building credit

Once you have access to a credit card, using it wisely will let you build credit much听more quickly. That鈥檚 not particularly complicated, but it does take discipline. We could write volumes about this topic, but here are the most important points:

• Use the card regularly.听An active account does more for your score than one听that鈥檚 unused. Making at least one small purchase with an account each month shows that you鈥檙e actually using the credit that鈥檚 been extended to you.
• Keep your balance low.听We recommend that you pay your credit card bill in full every month. Doing so lets you avoid interest charges, and you听听from one month to the next to have excellent credit. But if you do carry a balance, try to keep it听under 30% of your available credit 鈥� less than 10% is better still. This will minimize the impact on your credit score.
• Pay your bill on time.听Making at least the minimum payment by the due date every single month is the most important thing you can do to keep your credit听healthy.

What you can do right now

Even if you can鈥檛 get a credit card quite yet, there are still ways to prepare听yourself to have听healthy credit later on. For example, you can educate yourself about how credit works or talk to adults you admire about financial lessons they鈥檝e learned. When you鈥檙e ready for your听, you鈥檒l be able to put it to good use.

Virginia C. McGuire is a staff writer at听NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email:virginia@. Twitter:听.

This article first appeared at .