In a couple of weeks I am going to the bar mitzvah of the son of a dear friend. In my mind cash is the stereotypical bar/bat mitzvah gift, and indeed mom said cash would be perfect (preferably in some multiple of 18, which I had to have explained to me :) ) However, it immediately occurred to me that it would be even better to give him a gift that, rather than being plain cash, gave him an active start on investing, whether retirement-focused or not. I don't think it is practical, or perhaps even possible, for me to actually open an account for him somewhere since I am not one of his parents (but maybe I am wrong!) and I cannot donate a big starting fund. But I think that surely there is a way that I can help.
Can some of y'all suggest good options for this, whether something I can do myself or guidance for his mom (she thought it was a great idea, but realistically I know this is more likely to happen with some help/guidance) AFAIK something like a Vanguard account has a starting minimum that is certainly way too high for me to help with, and probably too high for what his mom could start with, too.
I have always been a saver but got a really late start on investing. I've also always been pretty conservative and seem to have picked up some growing-up-in-the-Depression style habits of thought, even though I had quite a comfortable and privileged childhood. Among other things, this meant that my savings were heavily biased towards cash. My parents didn't impart the importance of investing to us when we were teenagers, something I (and my mom) wished they had done. My girlfriend, who is terrific with money, has a 401k that her dad opened for her when she was 15 or so and he contributed to it until she started working full-time on her own. Better late than never for me, but why not early for the bar mitzvah boy?
Pardon me if this has been covered - I haven't been on the forum in quite a while (you can't see everything on the internet, after all).