Will you give cash as a gift this holiday season?
The holidays are supposed to be a time for fun – snowball fighting/hot chocolate drinking/Red-Ryder BB gun-giving fun.
The holidays are not supposed to be a time to think about money. Not your crippled investment portfolio, not your mounting credit card debt, none of it.
Yet in this festive season, one seemingly defined by our recession-sponsored economic frugality, it’s become tougher and tougher to just let go.
A new report in the Boston Globe claims more people will focus on finance these holidays, especially in the arena of gift giving.
According to the story, more than 44 per cent of consumers will give cash – long considered the most distant, impersonal gift of choice – to friends or family in the coming weeks.
Some households are even more inclined to offer certificates of deposit or college savings accounts as presents this year, too.
“People are asking for more cash. Consumers are saying they have other priorities,” NPD Group’s chief retail analyst told the Globe.
“They would love the gift, but they need to pay off their grocery bill before they start worrying about a Polo shirt.”
Indeed, while adults could stomach the importance of a CD or cash envelope in lieu of a conventional gift, could kids?
The Globe reports many parents and grandparents are ditching toys and video game presents and choosing to open savings accounts for the young people on their holiday lists.
Responsible? Absolutely. A better gift? That’s up for some debate.
Putting $100 bucks in a high interest savings account each year is likely a more conscientious present in the long-term. But, does it sacrifice the idea of the holidays for many kids – children too young to care about mass layoffs and the importance of a balanced portfolio?
Will you be giving money to anyone on your list this year?
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Lisa | Dec 8, 2021 8:42:01 AM
What's wrong with being responsible...and maybe TEACHING responsibility at the same time?
Yes, I'll definitely be giving my kids money this year. MONEY is what my kids, (and I) look forward to MORE than the gifts! Why? Well, the "receiver" gets to figure out for themselves what they want to do with the money. Isn't that MORE fun and MORE rewarding?
For kids 8 and under, I would still give gifts, if it applied to me. (They don't understand concepts of spending yet.) Happy money giving!
Posted by: lolly | Dec 10, 2021 2:47:17 PM
We tend to give gifts that match their needs and personalities, and also cash or a Gift cert..
I can stretch a dollar far further than my kids can, but then I grew up in a family of 9..in a small fishing village..we even made our own board games, skated on the lake, built snowmen, went sledding on "suicide hill"..all free and fun, and we got our exercize..lol
One of our children would go without a warm coat all winter and buy fake nails instead, but HEY..life is a series of LESSONS, and I cant learn them FOR her..lol
When she gets COLD enough, she will figure it out..;)