Credit cards can be dangerous in the wrong hands. They can also not only be beneficial at times, but they’re necessary at other times.

There’s an interesting debate between financial experts on whether people should pay off all their credit cards as soon as possible or keep a balance on some of them and pay them down via a schedule to show that you know how to pay off debt. It’s a crazy conversation where, strangely enough, both sides make sense. There’s no doubt that if you have a lot credit cards you need to wean yourself off them but what are some of the thoughts on having credit cards in the first place? Check these out.

First, having at least one credit card turns out to be necessary if you ever plan on going anywhere or staying in a hotel. You can’t rent a car without one, can’t stay in a hotel, and if you’re flying in these days of terrorism worry you might have to find ways of proving who you are before you’re allowed to buy a ticket.

Second, you can probably alleviate some of these issues by using a bank debit card that’s either a Visa or Mastercard but there’s something you need to know. If you’re renting a car they’ll hit your account up for a much higher amount than what they believe your balance will be and that could leave you without access to your account if you don’t have way more money in it than you expected to need. The same goes for some hotels. They’ll only keep it that long for up to 24 hours but that could be quite stressful.

Third, though we’d probably side with those who believe if you can pay off your credit card immediately do so, within the context of a budget if you need a big ticket item and can pay it off within 3 – 6 months without hurting yourself overall it’s not a bad idea to do that.

Fourth, there’s a fine line on just how many credit cards you can have, even if they’re all pulled off, and how credit agencies will judge your worthiness. If you have more than what makes them comfortable they see you as a potential credit risk who could run up unconscionable debt within a short period of time, even if that’s never been your pattern. Having too few credit cards, or at least a history of having them, makes them feel they can’t get a gauge on the type of financial risk you might be. We can’t make that recommendation for you but it’s something you should know.

Fifth, if possible it never hurts to have at least one store credit card of some type, and the best type is a department store. In an emergency you might need clothes, and even if the interest rates can be higher on store cards having the ability to get clothes where the monthly payments will be lower than normal credit cards can be crucial.

There you go, some thoughts on why having a credit card might be worthwhile. Let us know your thoughts on this.