WE CAN all agree that good habits, formed early in life, help improve many types of behaviour in adulthood. We teach our children to eat vegetables, not because we want to see them "suffer", but because we hope they will learn to love a healthy diet before they move out and have to cook for themselves. We insist they always have their seat belt fastened from their first car trip and wear a helmet from their first bike ride for similar reasons.

Unfortunately, we do not always take the same "teach them when they are young" approach when it comes to managing money. The 2007/08 global financial crisis triggered interest in protecting consumers from their own poor financial decisions. Today, many national leaders still identify poor financial skills among their countries' adolescent populations as one of the major challenges standing in the way of developing productive and financially healthy citizens.

Unfortunately, many of the steps these same countries have taken to protect consumers from their own financial misbehaviours have come with some unintended consequences. In some countries, consumer protection agencies have tightened eligibility for credit cards by raising the age of eligibility, sometimes even beyond 18. We believe this strategy is unlikely to succeed.