How grads plan to spend cash gifts

Congratulations cards given to recent college grads stuffed with wellwishes, cash and checks added up to an average windfall of $1,847 per graduate.

But the even-better news is that most members of the class of 2018 lucky enough to receive a cash gift as a reward for their academic accomplishment (48 percent said they did) won’t squander the newfound cash on a shopping spree that would do little to improve their financial situation.

Instead, they did what personal-finance pros say is the right thing to do:

20 percent used the windfall to “invest” for the future, nearly 25 percent said they’ll “pay off debt” and 28 percent said they’ll “save it.” Fewer than 6 percent said they’ll “spend it on something I always wanted,” and less than 5 percent said they will “use it to travel.”

Those are the key findings of a recent survey of 1,000 Americans between 18 and 24 who graduated from a four-year college in 2018 by Lend EDU, an online marketplace for student loans and other types of borrowing.

Here’s how the gift recipients said they will invest the cash:

❚ Online brokerage account: 33.3 percent

❚ Financial adviser: 32.3 percent

❚ 401(k) or retirement account: 12.5 percent

❚ Robo-adviser: 5.2 percent

❚ Other: 16.7 percent

Of college grads who said they will pay down debt, 59.3 percent said they will target student loans, 28.8 percent will reduce their credit card balances and 5.1 percent will use the cash to reduce their auto loans.