It's graduation time for high school students and college students everywhere—which means that you may be trying to decide on a gift for a grad that you know and love. While engraved pens are iconic gifts, graduates may appreciate cash a bit more—especially if they're about to move onto a higher education or out on their own for the first time this fall. Here are a few nice ways to pass your favorite new graduate some money.

Origami Designs

If you have a sense of humor (and a little spare time), make your gift as fun to give as it is to receive. U.S. currency is the perfect size for several different origami designs that are fairly easy to do. Whether you have a stack of $1s or a stack of $100s, each bill can be folded into fun designs like hearts, butterflies, or elephants.

Gift Certificates

Gift certificates can be an awesome gift if you don't want to give cash but don't know what someone needs. If the graduate in question is moving away to college or moving into his or her own place, gift certificates for home goods stores can help buy everything from curtains to microwaves. If you think all of the basics are covered, you can give your graduate gift cards for any of the chain restaurants in the area he or she will living—that way you know that he or she will be able to have a few nice meals while away from home. Just make sure that you ask if the gift cards have an expiration rate or start to devalue over time.

Certificates Of Deposit

CDs are great gifts, especially if you're able to offer a generation donation to your graduate's future. A CD will provide your graduate with a series of timed payments, based on the interest rate that's being used, which will give the graduate access to a little regular money without handing over the whole sum. If the graduate in question has never handled a lot of money before, he or she may have a hard time budgeting, so that prevents the balance of the CD from being spent right away. Your graduate will have access to the balance when the term of the CD is up—by which point, he or she will hopefully have the maturity to handle a large sum.

Before you give any large monetary gift, make sure that you talk to your financial advisor about any tax consequences involved. You may want to keep in mind that the annual exclusion for 2016 is $14,000 per person, so any amount under that isn't an issue. Contact a business, such as Rio Grande Credit Union, for more information.   

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