Is a personal finance book a good gift?
I read a short article about giving the gift of a personal finance book. In the article, the author Eileen Ambrose writes about which books several financial professionals recommend. They’re the usual suspects - The Richest Man in Babylon, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, The Millionaire Next Door - nothing out of the mainstream.
I wonder if it’s a good idea and/or acceptable to give a personal finance book to someone? If so, under what circumstances? I can think of a couple of possibilities - wedding, college graduation. I’m not sure I’d be completely comfortable giving someone that as a ‘gift’ for such an occasion. It’s a really practical idea. I mean, typically people in those circumstances need to learn the basics. It’s just that I can imagine most people’s reaction to opening something like that the day after their wedding.
I think maybe a better choice might be buying an hour of time with a fee-only financial planner. My brother’s getting married next year. Maybe I’ll look into doing that.
April 25th, 2007 at 11:41 am
To me, in certain circumstances, people might take it the wrong way. It’s like when someone offers you a piece of gum. “What, do I have bad breath?”
I think it’s a fantastic gift for graduation. I also think you could give it to a newly married couple, but I would not make that my primary gift to them. People get persnickety about their registries - gotta buy something off the registry