The best financial gifts to give this Christmas

Christmas is coming and most of us are now planning presents. If you are thinking about giving a financial gift this year, then there are a few things you need to be aware of, says Ruth Jackson Kirby

Royal Mint Christmas gold-bar gift packs
Gold has gained 400% in 20 years
(Image credit: © Royal Mint)

One thing you definitely want to avoid this Christmas is gift cards. When a company goes bust gift cards are rendered worthless and there is no way to get the money back. This year several high-street names have collapsed into administration, most recently Debenhams and the Arcadia group that includes Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis, among other brands. People with gift cards for the Arcadia group are rapidly discovering how little control they have over spending their vouchers. The group has put a limit on gift cards so you can only use them to pay for 50% of purchases. “If you’re thinking of giving gift vouchers this Christmas, let this be a warning to you,” says MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis. With “so many retailers in trouble... give [people] money to spend... instead”.

Another option is Premium Bonds. You can now buy a bond for someone else for as little as £25. But the odds of winning have lengthened considerably from 24,500 to one to 34,500 to one. There have also been many administrative problems with National Savings & Investments (NS&I), the Treasury-backed bank that operates Premium Bonds, as we noted last week. After trying to buy Premium Bonds for his nephew, The Times’ James Coney was so bamboozled by administrative requests and an inability to get through on the phone that he gave up and said he was “not going to bother trying again”.

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Ruth Jackson-Kirby

Ruth Jackson-Kirby is a freelance personal finance journalist with 17 years’ experience, writing about everything from savings accounts and credit cards to pensions, property and pet insurance.

Ruth started her career at MoneyWeek after graduating with an MA from the University of St Andrews, and she continues to contribute regular articles to our personal finance section. After leaving MoneyWeek she went on to become deputy editor of Moneywise before becoming a freelance journalist.

Ruth writes regularly for national publications including The Sunday Times, The Times, The Mail on Sunday and Good Housekeeping, among many other titles both online and offline.