As graduation season comes around, you may be on the lookout for Graduation Gift Ideas that add value and have a lasting financial effect.

After all, there are so many inspirational plaques and trinkets with a graduation year on them that a person can collect.

Yes, you can always give cash (and there are plenty of unique ways to give cash), but how about some gifts that help set up your graduate for financial success?

Here are a few graduation Gift Ideas that do just that, and they can work for graduates at the high school or college level.

1. Gift Card for the Real Money Method Budgeting System

The Real Money Method is a budgeting course that combines the mentality of the old-fashioned cash envelope system with the technology of digital payments. (I mean, let’s bring things into the 21st century, right?)

For young people, this will keep their spending within their available cash – not just within their credit card balance or within arbitrary budgeting numbers on a screen – and as a result they will develop strong cash management and spending habits.

Purchase a Real Money Method gift card for your recipient here.

2. Stocks

Yes, you can actually buy stock as a gift as an alternative to giving cash or a gift card.

Stockpile allows you to buy stock as a gift card for as little as $5. This is possible because Stockpile allows you to buy fractional shares of stocks instead of a full share. And if your graduate is an adult, they will have full control over the account.

Think of it as a savings bond upgrade: instead of just giving money, you buy a Stockpile gift card that allows them to buy stock in a company that genuinely interests them. Choose from Amazon, Disney, Google, Nike, Tesla, and more, or let the graduate pick if you are confident that won’t overwhelm them.

With Stockpile, there are no fees and no minimums, and if your recipient wants to invest more of their own money in the future, they can do so for just $0.99 per trade.

You can order a physical gift card for an extra fee or choose an e-gift card and print it out at home to avoid that upcharge and receive your gift card more quickly.

3. Gift Card for 10x Investing Course

If investing-related gifts are of interest to you, then help your grad get a solid understanding of investing through the 10x Investing Course. They will learn terminology, conservative best practices, and be guided step-by-step on where and how to open their own investment accounts with as little as $100.

This is our newest course offering, but we are hearing great things from students who felt like investing was an alphabet soup of gobbly gook, but now have a clear path forward and have taken the first steps toward a diversified investment portfolio.

Purchase a 10x Investing Course gift card for your recipient here.

4. Books

Chances are good that the graduate has already done plenty of reading in their coursework, but they can continue their education on their own, especially in personal finance.

Here are a couple of very impactful books to get you started:

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki was one of the first financial books I read, and it inspired me to start getting control of my money.

Yes, it has been controversial in the personal finance community because the author mostly goes against the traditional views of “wise money management.”

Still, I think he hits the nail right on the head with some of the lessons in this book especially for graduates from working-class and middle-class families. For me, it helped me break out of the “I will always be poor” mindset, and I hope it would have a similar effect on your new grad.

The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach is easy-to-understand and distills the basics of financial management with an eye on having a million in the bank at retirement. Your graduate is probably not thinking too hard about retirement, but I expect the idea of becoming a millionaire would pique their interest.

One aspect of this book that’s helpful for graduates is that it encourages financial discipline and lays out simple step-by-step instructions for retiring with a million dollars in the bank. It helped me realize that this stuff really isn’t as difficult as some people make it seem.

With either of these books, you could personalize the gift a bit with some handwritten financial advice for graduates inside the front cover.

I hope these graduation gift ideas helped inspire you to encourage your new grad in their financial success as they set off into this next season of life!

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