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Graduation season is here! While most students fresh out of high school or college welcome a cash gift, you can go a step further by offering it in a way that helps them form good habits and sets them up for a bright financial future. Consider these options.
Give them a savings boost.
One of the best gifts you can give a young graduate is a jump-start on their savings. You could, for example, seed their emergency fund, giving them money to put in their savings account.
Or you could supplement their retirement savings. If the grad is earning income, they can fund a Roth IRA. Contributions to a Roth are made with after-tax money, but withdrawals of those contributions are tax- and penalty-free anytime.
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Once the owner reaches age 59½ and has had the account for at least five years, withdrawals of investment earnings are free of taxes and penalties, too.
Offer to make a matching contribution for every dollar that the grad puts into the Roth, suggests Cary Carbonaro, a certified financial planner and managing wealth adviser at Ashton Thomas Private Wealth in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The total contribution (including your gift) that those younger than 50 can make to a Roth IRA for 2026 is $7,500 or an amount equal to their earnings for the year, whichever is less.
Another option: Purchase a Series I savings bond from the U. S. Treasury website, at TreasuryDirect.gov, as a gift.
An I bond’s interest rate consists of a fixed rate that never changes and an inflation-based rate that adjusts every six months. The composite rate for bonds issued from May through October 2026 is 4.26%.
An I bond isn’t redeemable until the owner has had it for least a year. But it can be an excellent long-term savings tool, reaching full maturity after 30 years.
Whittle their debt.
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Student-loan debt can be a heavy burden. The median debt among individual borrowers was in the range of $20,000 to $25,000 in 2024, according to the Federal Reserve.
You might offer to cover, say, a few months of the grad’s loan payment, or a portion of the payment for a longer period.
If the graduate has credit card debt, assisting with those payments could be even more impactful. Average interest rates were recently about 22%, according to the Federal Reserve.
And young adults in their twenties have an average of $3,493 in card debt, according to credit-reporting company Experian.
Pay for a financial-planning session.
A graduate who has little in savings and investments may not come to mind as a prime candidate to sit down with a financial planner. But a visit with a professional can help a young adult set a strong foundation.
They might, for example, benefit from a planner’s guidance in crafting a budgeting and saving strategy, paying down debt, and reviewing insurance options.
Carbonaro suggests scheduling a one-time, 90-minute session with a CFP. Hourly rates typically run from $200 to $400, according to financial website NerdWallet.
Advisers in the Garrett Planning Network and XY Planning Network offer their services on a fee-only basis — that is, they are paid only by their clients and do not accept commissions for selling financial products — and they don’t require clients to meet certain asset minimums.
Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.
