Hi Reader!

Graduation season often comes with gifts, celebrations, and well wishes for the future.

We send our young adults into their next chapter with money, gift cards, electronics, furniture, and lots of things intended to help them begin their next journey.

And while those gifts can be helpful, I’ve been thinking:

What if some of the most important graduation gifts aren't things at all?

What if some of the gifts that last the longest are life skills?

One of the biggest life skills we often don’t teach or talk about is managing your money.

Money affects every area of our lives, yet many young adults leave high school or college without learning some of the basics—saving, investing, credit, debt, and spending—along with something I believe is equally, if not more important:

Awareness

Information is abundantly available everywhere now, but what often gets missed is the emotional side of money.

Long before someone earns a paycheck or opens a credit card, they are already having experiences with money.

They’ve been watching, listening, and absorbing words and messages from the environments around them throughout their lives:

“Money is stressful”
“You have to work hard to get ahead”
“The economy is terrible”
“I’ll never be able to afford what I want”

Without realizing it, those experiences can shape habits, choices, and expectations.

Most clients I work with don’t develop awareness around money until something significant happens—a life change or challenge—and suddenly they think:

"I need to figure this money thing out."

But why wait?

Why not begin developing awareness and healthy money habits before a change or challenge occurs?

Healthy money habits are relevant no matter where life takes you, or how much money you have.

• Spending consciously
• Saving intentionally
• Understanding credit and debt
• Building a support system and financial team

And here's something else I've noticed:

As parents, grandparents, family members, and mentors, we sometimes unintentionally look at young adults through our own lens. What made sense for us when we were their age may not make sense for them now.

Their goals, dreams, and opportunities may look different.

Today there are many paths:

• College
• Trades
• Entrepreneurship
• Gig work
• Creative work
• Businesses started from a phone

Opportunities that didn't exist years ago.

So, rather than starting with our expectations, what if we started with their dreams?

Have conversations with young adults asking them what they are hoping for—whether it’s a first apartment or car, travel, independence, building a career, or starting a business.

Then help them understand what those goals may require financially.

Also, have conversations around what they believe, because beliefs influence choices, and choices shape our experience with money.

It can be as simple as asking:

“What matters most to you right now?”
“What do you want to save for?”
“What do you believe about money?”

Then listen—not from a place of trying to fix or give an opinion, but from a place of understanding.

Making Money Habits Relevant

This week someone asked me a great question:

"What’s one money habit you've seen make the biggest positive impact on a young adult’s confidence?"

Two immediately came to mind:

1. Create a Savings Goal

Saving becomes much easier when you have a purpose behind it.

Helping young adults understand the difference between short-term and long-term savings goals—and introducing the idea that money can grow over time through compound interest—helps make saving more meaningful.

2. Create a Spending Plan That Fits Their Life

I don’t generally use the word budget because a budget can feel like a diet, or restrictive.

A spending plan is more about directing or redirecting how and where you spend your money.

Young adults may not relate to some of the traditional spending categories that make sense later in life, so I encourage them to create a spending plan based on what’s important and relevant in their life right now.

Young adults can start with:

• Expenses they incur now
• Expenses related to what they are working toward
• Expenses based on the lifestyle they want to experience

What’s important isn't just learning money habits. It’s making money habits relevant.

Because information becomes more powerful when it becomes personal.

We teach our children many life skills throughout their lives—from brushing their teeth to driving a car—and creating money and mindset habits are life skills too.

They're actually lifelong skills, making them the graduation gifts that can last a lifetime.

Looking for a way to begin the conversation?

If you're looking for a meaningful graduation gift or a way to help guide conversations around money, goals, and life skills, many of these foundational topics can be found in my book, Poor by Choice?​

At the end of each chapter, you'll find reflection questions and action steps designed to help create awareness and encourage meaningful conversations.

This three-part book includes:

• My personal story and journey
• Simple yet effective ways to manage money
  (including spending plans, saving, investing, and credit/debt)
• Practical steps to achieve goals and dreams

My hope is that it helps readers move beyond simply receiving information to creating awareness, building healthy habits, and taking meaningful action toward financial peace.

Until next time,

Estelle Gibson- CPA, ACC
TED Speaker. Author. Holistic Financial Coach​
​www.estellegibson.com​