From a household perspective, moderate use of credit promotes a rise in your credit rating, which makes debt far cheaper to acquire. This can mean huge savings when buying a home, or when you can't step back from the precipice and jump into $200k of college debt per child. A young person might start out on this journey by financing a car, and end up paying several thousand extra in financing fees, then use that debt to acquire credit cards (which get paid at the end of each month, costing $0), and finally translate that into a home loan (an appreciating asset that doubles as necessary shelter) that saves tens of thousands over the life of the loan due to superior credit.
Of course, you're not going to get wealthy this way. To get wealthy, you need to take big risks, preferably with somebody else's money.
The assumption being that one needs a credit rating. The only reason to have a credit rating is so that you can aquire more debt.....so you can have a better credit rating....so you can acquire more debt....
There are still mortgage companies that manually underwrite home loans at reasonable rates for people with a zero credit rating. Everything else (and preferably the home too) save up and pay cash, everywhere I know stilll takes it.
To be rich doesn't take big risks, slow and steady also wins the race....and a lot more often than taking big risks. I might suggest the book, "The Millionare Next Door"
Yes, there are a lot of thought patterns to possibly teach your children concerning money. All I ask is that you look at how many times people have gotten into deep trouble with debt....and how many times they get into deep financial and marital trouble with debt, and how man times people get into deep financial and marital trouble by having no debt. Seems and open and shut case to me but you're free to apply your own logic.....their your kids you're teaching for the future.
