Is it safe to open a joint savings account with a parent and sibling who has bad credit and is the co-signer's credit or their spouse's credit in jeopardy if one defaults?

Answer 1

Bad idea. If you're not old enough to open your own account the ask the parent with good credit (probably Mom)to open a juvinile account for you. The only two people that will have access to your account are you and your parent. As soon as you become of legal age close that account and open your own account. If the person you open a joint account with has bad credit it could fall on you. Bad credit means one of two things, the person fell on hard times and went into the hole a little bit or the person is clueless or irresponsible with finances. That's how the credit people see it. If you want to avoid all of that then open a safe deposit box and put your cash in there until you can open your own account. The problem is that your finances will not accrue interest in a safe deposit box. Example, if you put $100 in a box, 5 years later you'll still have $100. If you open an ING.com savings account, you'll have $100 plus 5 years of interest at 4+% a year. Do the math. ING is great. It's the highest paying percentage in the banking business. Good Luck.