Spending a year in America at 17 - Managing Finances?

kiwi1906

I'm going to study in America next year. Obviously because I'm going to be away for a whole year, it seems a bit unrealistic for me to take a wad of cash over with me. Obviously I have a bank account in the UK which has a Visa Debit card with it. I was wondering if anyone knew what sort of charges would be involved in terms of exchange rates/international fees etc. if I were to use this. If anyone has another suggestion as to how I could manage my money whilst there, I'd love to here it. That's my first question.

As I'm going to be an awful long way from home and completely on my own, I feel it would be good if I were able to have some sort of financial security in case of emergency. The most obvious solution, to me (I could be wrong), would be getting a credit card or having myself attached to a parent's credit card, so that I would have access to a large amount of money if I needed it in an emergency situation. However, I'm only 17 and I know that you typically cannot get a credit card until aged 18 and was wondering if anyone knew any further details on how this could be dealt with. If anyone has any alternatives, I'd love to heard them also.

Many thanks.

cifpower

What bank are you with?

The best option for no charges would be the Nationwide Flexaccount. With their cashcard there are no charges for withdrawing cash abroad.

You cannot access credit until you are 18

shughes4

I would have thought the best thing to do would be to take some cash with you along with your card, then once you have arrived just pop into a bank and open one whilst you are there and the bank clerk will assist you in transferring money from your english account to the American one

Mr_h

When I spent an exchange year in the US studying, I recall opening an account at my local "credit union".

I'm not sure if these are as prevalent/popular now as they were when I was there (some time ago!) but they tend to levy less charges than the major US banks when your deposit/withdraw your money.

Hope this helps