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
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”.
If you want to give cash, your safest choice may be to make a bank transfer to your recipient. For children, ask the parents if they have a junior individual savings account (Jisa) you could pay your Christmas present into. If they don’t yet have a Jisa, note that Coventry Building Society is currently offering the best rate on a cash Jisa: 2.95%. These accounts can’t be accessed until the child turns 18, however, so an investment Isa is likely to deliver better returns over the long term.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
If you want to give something more exciting than cash, consider whisky, says Sam Brodbeck in The Daily Telegraph. Estate agent Knight Frank’s 2020 wealth report reveals which luxury investments have performed the best. “Over the past decade it is rare whisky that comes out on top – with prices up more than sixfold, some way ahead of the rest of the pack.” The report found that rare whisky prices have increased by 564% over the past ten years, compared with 141% for art or 77% for coloured diamonds. The most valuable whisky comes from the Macallan distillery: “its bottles keep breaking records”. One 28-year-old funded a deposit for a house after he “cashed in his collection of Macallan single malts for £44,000”. His father had spent £5,000 buying the bottles for birthdays.
Finally, don’t forget the oldest of all Christmas gifts: gold. Gold has appreciated by 34% over the past decade and by 400% in 20 years. The Royal Mint is selling gold bullion with prices starting at £75 for a one-gramme Christmas gold bar.
-
Energy, healthcare and utilities: how to tap into AI in the real economyAI promises to add to the productivity and profitability of much of the economy beyond tech. Here’s two themes to tap into AI in the real economy.
-
How Junior ISAs could help with inheritance tax planningLooming inheritance tax changes will limit how much pension wealth can be passed on but more people may be maxing out their loved ones’ JISA allowance instead
-
NS&I February Premium Bonds winners revealed – did you win £1 million?More than 2.7 million historic Premium Bonds prizes are still waiting to be claimed, NS&I says
-
Why it might be time to switch your pension strategyYour pension strategy may need tweaking – with many pension experts now arguing that 75 should be the pivotal age in your retirement planning.
-
Rachel Reeves is rediscovering the Laffer curveOpinion If you keep raising taxes, at some point, you start to bring in less revenue. Rachel Reeves has shown the way, says Matthew Lynn
-
ISA reforms will destroy the last relic of the Thatcher eraOpinion With the ISA under attack, the Labour government has now started to destroy the last relic of the Thatcher era, returning the economy to the dysfunctional 1970s
-
Investing in forestry: a tax-efficient way to grow your wealthRecord sums are pouring into forestry funds. It makes sense to join the rush, says David Prosser
-
'Expect more policy U-turns from Keir Starmer'Opinion Keir Starmer’s government quickly changes its mind as soon as it runs into any opposition. It isn't hard to work out where the next U-turns will come from
-
Why pension transfers are so trickyInvestors could lose out when they do a pension transfer, as the process is fraught with risk and requires advice, says David Prosser
-
Modern Monetary Theory and the return of magical thinkingThe Modern Monetary Theory is back in fashion again. How worried should we be?
