What to Give Your Investment Enthusiast for the Holidays

Someone in your life got very interested (dare we say: invested) in investing over the course of the last year, and for this holiday season, you want to give them something that says you support and appreciate their new hobby. But what do you get an investor who already has a balanced portfolio?

Here are a few gift ideas for the savvy investor you love:

Investing Books

Investing is something a person can just jump into — but that doesn’t mean they should. Because the investment world is so complex and so fraught with risk, it is much better to learn as much as possible about investing before diving in with real money.

Fortunately, there is a near-uncountable number of resources for beginner investors looking to educate themselves. One of the best ways to help an investor is by providing them with new books that have new perspectives on markets and strategies. A few of the best options to add to your investor’s library include:

• The Intelligent Investor. First published in 1949, the wisdom of this book endures to the modern day. This is considered the bible of investing, and it is a staple for any beginner investor.
• The Essays of Warren Buffett. This book is a curated list of Buffett’s writing, from Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters to Buffett’s speeches and more.
• Think and Grow Rich. Based on more than 20 years of interviews with America’s wealthiest figures, this book offers insight into the psychology of success.
• The Coffeehouse Investor. If your investor feels intimidated by the stock market, this book makes investing more approachable and applicable to regular, everyday people.

Better Investing Tech

Most investing platforms have some rudimentary tools to make investing easier for their users, but real investors utilize more robust investment tracking programs that provide greater insight into the movement of the market, the health of the portfolio and the greater impacts on personal financial wellbeing. If your investor has been relying on dinky, freemium smartphone apps, you might spring for a more professional investing setup, like Quicken or Investor Junkie.

Investment Art

While securities like stocks and bonds are the most convenient investments for beginner investors, if you have some extra cash, you might consider diversifying your investments with some art. Fine art is a long-term investment; it doesn’t build value overnight, but it can become immensely valuable over a lifetime. You might buy your investor their first great art piece to start a new collection.

Then again, if you are on a tighter budget, you might help them improve their investing space with decorative pieces that recall their new hobby. For example, you can buy a miniature replica of the Wall Street bull sculpture to place beside their computer and remind them of a healthy market.

Financial Games

If you are struggling to appreciate the excitement your investor feels regarding their new pastime, you might try to better understand their experience with a gift that everyone in the family can appreciate: a game. The stock market has influenced a large number of game architects, some of whom have striven to help beginner investors with games that teach investment strategy. Some of the best include:

• Stocks and Bonds. A simple board game that gives players $5,000 and a bevy of fictional stocks, this game is a bit more like gambling than actual investing — but it is no less fun.
• Millionary. Best reserved for the most experienced board game players and the most intense investors, Millionary is a gigantic and complex game that uses real companies as mechanics. Though the rules are written in German, English translations are available online.
• Wall Street Survivor. This video game is more like investor training, with $100,000 of virtual cash and countless tools and resources for determining which in-game stocks are worth your money.

Gold, Silver, Cash

An investor’s biggest and brightest dream is to be wealthy beyond imagination. Though you can’t make your investor better at investments, you can give their wealth a boost in the form of gold, silver or some extra cash. Both gold and silver can come in coins, bars or jewelry, all of which are fun to unwrap and show off. You might also consider giving your investor the gift of Bitcoin or some other lucrative cryptocurrency. Most of these options are pretty significant investments, so you might need to save up to give them.

It isn’t uncommon for people of a certain age to become infatuated with the idea of investing. It’s true: Investments can radically increase earnings and improve lifestyles — but only if the right investments are made at the right time. You can encourage the investor in your life with any of these gifts related to their hobby, or you can give them the gift of your unwavering love and support as they navigate this new and complicated world.