Gifting Financial Security to Your Adult Children

This Thanksgiving, as we gather with loved ones to celebrate gratitude and connection, it’s also a wonderful time to reflect on the ways we can support the people we care about most.

I know there is nothing you want more than to help your children and grandchildren be happy and thrive. There are, of course, many aspects to what that entails, but I want to make a pitch that this holiday season, if you have the means, making financial gifts is a great way to help them build the security they deserve. And it’s the sort of gesture that becomes a part of your legacy.

If your children and/or grandchildren are adults, you want to respect their independence and not necessarily make gifts with strings attached. But you sure can let them know what your hope/intentions are for.

Let’s walk through some ideas:

First, in 2025, any individual can give another individual $19,000 without any tax reporting or any tax due for either the giver or the recipient. That’s a lot of runway to work with. I am not suggesting you gift that much. A gift of $50, $100, $1,000, or $10,000 is generous if that is what makes sense.

Next, I would ask them what financial goal they would love to make progress on. Listen to them. This is likely the biggest financial pressure point in their life. Don’t tell me a financial gift is boring or not in the holiday spirit. You are putting yourself in the position to gift someone you love some financial relief. That’s incredibly thoughtful. And to circle back to the legacy bit: This is the sort of thing that they will reflect on for the rest of their life.

Maybe it’s their student loans. Or it’s that the rent went up. Or that they worry about their job and have no emergency fund. Or perhaps you have a strong relationship where they confide they have expensive credit card debt.

If they have no ideas where to start, you can probably guess where I am going to suggest you focus: helping them build emergency savings. The younger they are, the less likely they are to grasp what a lifeline this can be.

I would start by gifting them the seed money for their emergency fund. Whatever amount is right for you. And then maybe consider making it a year-long gift: Every month you will send them another X dollars for them to add to their emergency savings fund, with the hope (no strings attached, remember, they are adults) that they will add another X from their own cash flow. What X is doesn’t matter. It’s that you are helping them form a habit that is going to help them be their best, secure, confident selves.