Efund as college graduation gift?

[y4m]

SIL is graduating from nursing school this weekend.  We are insanely proud of her.  If you recall, she was in a boating accident in which she lost her left thumb last summer, and yet she's still managed to graduate on time, despite a lot of health complications, surgeries, etc.  

She's worked several odd jobs through school to pay for her expenses and the gap between her student loans and aid and the actual cost of school.  She's generally shown herself to be a good manager of the money she has, and to have a good head on her shoulders, and she's been very open to our financial advice, and proactively asked us to sit down with her and go over her post-graduation finances. We're really trying to help set her up for financial success (those who have been around awhile will recall that the ILs are not a very good model in this regard).

Anyway, we have $10K put aside as a graduation gift for her.  We really trust her to use it wisely however she chooses, but we'd like to encourage her to treat it as an emergency fund.  I would also prefer to keep this money as far from my ILs as possible, and I know they have access to all her accounts.  Is there a better way to structure it than just writing a check?  I was thinking something like opening an ING account in her name, but I don't think that's possible without giving us ongoing access, which we don't need or want.  Other ideas?

[LoveTrains]

I think an efund as a college graduation gift is an awesome and amazing present. Keep in mind that she might need to access some money if she needs first/last/security for an apartment, though. My parents gave me money for an apartment for college graduation (in addition to my diamond studs, I know, I know) and it was greatly appreciated.

[Deleted]

Why not just open an ING account for her and then tell her what it is for, you did not feel the need to have access to it, and she is free to do whatever necessary to remove you from the account. (Or she could leave you on in the event that she had an emergency and needed someone to access her money.)

Related: Each of my parents gave me $1,000 for law school graduation. Will you adopt me? kthxbai

[whitepicketfence]

What a fantastic graduation gift!

Does she currently have a savings account? If not, maybe you could write her a check for the $10K and then go with her to deposit it? Or, go with her to open an account/deposit the money?

[ijack]

do you want it to be a cash efund or do you want her to try and invest it? I think the ing or maybe fidelity/vanguard account would be a good idea.
And what a great gift!

[juliahenry]

Wow! That's a great gift!

I would make the gift include a trip to the bank where you help her to open an account in her name only and into which you deposit the 10k. Then take her to lunch and talk to her abut financial options. A fun day and a great way to help her get set up for financial ndependence.

[mbcdefg]

Wow! How generous and thoughtful of you

I'll ditto juliahenry.

[y4m]

Apr 30, 2013 10:33:36 GMT -5 juliahenry said:

Wow! That's a great gift!

I would make the gift include a trip to the bank where you help her to open an account in her name only and into which you deposit the 10k. Then take her to lunch and talk to her abut financial options. A fun day and a great way to help her get set up for financial ndependence.

I love this idea, except we don't live in the same city  I think it would probably be hard to fit all that in this weekend while we're together with all the other graduation festivities.

[awkwardpenguin]

ING used to have a way to gift an account. I did this for my sister for graduation. I don't see the option anymore when I go to the referral link. But basically I was able to send a referral link with a message that if she opened the account, then $X would be deposited into it by me.

If this isn't still an option, maybe you could have her open an ING account on her own (in her name only) and then transfer the money into her account? I think you can do this fairly easily if your accounts are both with the same bank.

[Pom]

An amazing gift and I am so happy for her. I remember you posting about her situation with the accident. Big congratulations!

[Deleted]

I think that's a great gift! I'd probably just write her a check and then talk to her in person about the value of an e-fund and suggest she open up a new account.

[niq]

That's very thoughtful of you.

Could you buy something like T-bonds in her name? I think there are ways to buy certain securities like that on behalf of someone else.

ETA and you could give her a copy of something like A Random Walk Down Wall Street or print out a copy of The Best Investment Advice You'll Never Get and give it to her .

[justjen]

Will you be my sister??

Seriously, my sister is graduating college next month, and I'm like "oh -- I guess I should get her something."

[Deleted]

I'm thinking along the lines of LovesTrains. When I graduated and moved out I needed a good chunk of change for first/last/security.

Also whether you agree with him or not, I've heard several people my age say the best graduation gift they got was Dave Ramsey's class.

[chia]

I'm jealous.
From my parents, I got graduation dinner of Domino's pizza and Miller Lite, and a pair of earrings from Zales.
And that was grad school.
My siblings didn't get me squat!

I love the idea of cash. Since you say she's responsible, I'd just set up a bank account, and give her the info.

[midnightmare81]

That's awesome! A great way to start her up and get her motivated to save as well! Great for her to be doing so well in school also! She sounds like a strong woman with a good head on her shoulders, and you are doing a wonderful and generous thing!

You mention she is good with money, but worry about the IL's having access. How does she feel about the IL's having access to her money? That would vary my opinion a lot. Why are they on her accounts? Does she plan to take them off now that she is graduated/on her own more of less? I would just worry she may add them to any account you open for this money originally only in her name. Would they pressure her to do this? Would she even be the type to mention to them?

[y4m]

All good things for us to discuss with her, midnight. I think the ILs are still on there now from high school, and it made sense in college so they could help her out occasionally. But it makes sense for that to end soon.

There've been horror stories on here about family stealing money and stuff. The ILs would never do that. But if they know she has it there will come a time when they need it, and we want them coming to us for help, not to her.