BY NIRVI SHAH
nshah@MiamiHerald.com

Laptops ready? Take notes: Congress wants it to be harder for the under-21 set to accrue a mountain of credit card debt.

A new federal law affects credit card holders — and those who want cards — of all ages. But because several provisions don’t take effect until February, this could be the last semester of truly easy credit for many college students.

“I don’t want to say credit cards are evil,” said Cathy Pareto, a certified financial planner in Coral Gables. “But targeting that demographic has long been an abusive practice. [Credit card companies] take advantage of the naïvete of teenagers.”

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Cathy Pareto, MBA, CFP®, AIF® is the Founder and President of Cathy Pareto & Associates, Inc. For over twelve years, Cathy has been helping financial consumers and professionals understand the world of investments and finance with a sound, but down to earth money management approach. For over a decade Cathy was a Senior Financial Advisor for another Miami based investment advisory firm, where she managed over $200 million in assets for high net worth clients and retirement plans. She has extensive experience in retirement issues, asset allocation, investment selection, investment management, education planning, estate planning coordination, and asset protection strategies. Additionally, she was an Adjunct Professor and Faculty Coordinator for the CFP® Program at Florida International University’s College of Business.