The holiday shopping season is fast approaching, and it is generally a time when we feel generous and can often indulge ourselves and others by buying and giving gifts. This year, let us aim to do things a bit differently and be deliberate about the gifts you give to family and friends and how you spend money on yourself. Your gift could start the wealth-building foundation for a loved one and set yourself up so that the new year does not start off with you broke or excessively indebted.

One of the soundest ways to do this is by gifting assets, not just any assets – but assets that will appreciate in value. These are “the gift that will keep on giving”. The story is told of Warren Buffet, world-famous investor, and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, who would give each family member $10,000 in 100-dollar bills at Christmas. Really nice gift, huh? However, he recognised that most of the family members were actually spending the money, and this caused him to change his Christmas approach to gifting. On one particular Christmas, he gave his loved ones each $10,000 worth of shares in a company he had invested in. Given Buffet’s acumen for choosing great investments, these are the gifts that surely kept on giving. This holiday season let us take a page from Buffet’s book and give gifts that will appreciate in value over time!

Here are three ideas for assets to gift your family, friends, or even yourself this festive season that will grow in value:

Shares in great businesses:

Start this holiday season by gifting shares of stocks to your loved ones. Shares of stocks represent partial ownership of companies that trade publicly on the stock market. Like Warren Buffet, you can gift someone, for example, J$10,000 worth of shares in a company you are already invested in. So, instead of gifting money, the person can retain it as an investment. We all have family traditions, but we can adapt this practical and strategic form of gift-giving. Further, you can still give traditional gifts, whether it is a card or chocolate, alongside the shares of stock. The important thing is opting to gift shares over cash would be a strategic decision that provides your loved one with a valuable asset and a subtle lesson in the importance of making sound financial choices. Gifting stocks is also a prudent way to introduce your loved ones to investing for long-term wealth creation.

Real estate:

Real estate is an appreciating asset that is popularly used as a vehicle for wealth creation, as it holds and increases in value over time. Gifting someone a residential real estate property is a wise financial gift option to build wealth by holding a functional investment that will appreciate over time. However, for the vast majority of us, gifting real estate is way out of our reach. However, you can still give real estate as a gift by giving your loved one units in a real estate fund. A real estate fund is a type of mutual fund that invests in securities offered by public real estate companies. These funds provide a more practical alternative than giving someone a house. NCB Capital Markets Limited (NCBCM) currently has its real estate fund (rE Fund), which offers income distribution and medium to long-term capital appreciation by providing investors with a broad range of income as well as growth producing real estate assets. The fund focuses on a diversified portfolio of high quality commercial and residential real estate assets. Therefore, if you decide to gift your loved one units in the rE Fund, they can own their own piece of Jamaica’s commercial property segment and benefit from the capital appreciation from owning and investing in this fund.

Insurance:

Health insurance, life insurance? You could choose any or both as your gift this Christmas. Life insurance protects the financial interests of your loved ones. They also help accumulate funds for various short and long-term goals. You can gift a term plan that will ensure people close to you are not in a lurch in case of an untoward incident. A term life insurance policy offers a high life cover at an affordable premium. You can also contemplate gifting an insurance policy that also has an investment component. The aim is to provide your family with the necessary financial security in the unfortunate event of a health crisis and mounting bills. Therefore, you can buy a policy for your family or friend and pay three to six months or a year of the premium, or you can make the payment for them over time if you are financially able to cover the entire policy.

With financial gifts such as shares of stocks, real estate funds, and insurance, you can give a unique holiday gift that provides security, safety, or financial benefits that last long after the holidays have come and gone. Speak to your wealth adviser about these gift options as you get into the habit of giving gifts that appreciate in value over time.