by: Christine DiGangi

Last week I talked to a bunch of 20- and 30-somethings — members of the so-called millennial generation — about credit, and the conversation reminded me about how differently people deal with money. In many aspects of personal finance, things aren’t black or white, and what works for one person would be disastrous for another. Something we try to emphasize at Credit.com is how important it is for consumers to do what works for them.

At the same time, there are plenty of rights and wrongs in the credit world. During the weekly #MillennialTalk (my chat was May 12), many participants asked questions or shared common misconceptions about credit — these are things everyone should know, especially young people who are just starting to establish themselves financially.

Debt & Credit Are Not the Same

People use these terms interchangeably, but they’re not synonymous. Rod Griffin, Experian’s director of public education, explained it well in a tweet during the chat: “Credit is a financial tool. Debt is a financial problem.”

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