Q:
A: I think the answer depends on a couple of factors: 1) What will your finances allow you to give? 2) What is your relationship like with your son? 3) How many other kids do you have and how soon will they be graduating? (Can you afford to do this amount x the total # of kids?) 4) What are your son's plans for after high school? Appropriate gifts for someone going off to college might be completely different than someone preparing to enter the workforce. Keeping all those considerations in mind, something of about $100 value or above would be appropriate. It might be smart to earmark it toward a specific purpose or goal rather than just giving him cash that he might spend frivolously. For instance, open a savings account or Roth IRA with an initial deposit in the amount you choose. Your $100 now would be worth way more in the future this way, and you could also add additional deposits for future milestones such as college graduation, holidays, marriage, etc. if you wanted. Take out a life insurance policy for him. Again, the value of a small premium today would be worth way more in the future. He might not get excited about this type of gift, but it would be a smart investment he might never make for himself. Or what about a gift card to a specific store, such as a gas card, a card to buy electronics/office supplies for college, or to a campus bookstore to buy textbooks? This way you can control how the $$ is spent. I may be uptight or old-fashioned, but I don't like giving teens cash--they could use it to buy drugs for all I know. I try to tie the gift to something practical, or at least put some sort of restrictions on it so I know it is going to a useful (legal!) purpose.