Innovative Gift Ideas for Festivals & Other Functions

Sweets, crackers, gold coins, and jewels are the items that come to our mind when we think about Diwali gifts. Let me unbundle some unusual Diwali gift ideas for this Diwali. Let’s give some gifts that will really add value, this season.

Table of contents:

• Gift Ideas for Children
• Gift Ideas for the Spouse
• Gift Ideas for Parents
• Gift Ideas for Siblings
• Gift Ideas for Servants
• Gift Ideas for Friends
• Gift Ideas for Others

Gift ideas for children

1) Piggy bank:

This may not be a great idea when you are thinking about a Diwali gift. But can be done in a different fashion to make it a good Diwali gift idea. One of the simplest ways to teach kids about savings is a piggy bank. That is you gift a piggy bank to a child with 90 one rupee coins on this Diwali as a gift. Set a target for the child to make it to Rs.100 in a month. This motivates the child to save Rs.10 extra to make it Rs.100. Like-wise you can set a target for a year. Also, announce some bonuses when the child achieves a particular target. Say when it reaches Rs.1000 give the child a bonus of Rs.100. The idea is not only to gift the piggy bank and to encourage and motivate them to save.

They can have this money when they need it. This creates a mentality of saving at a very young age.

2) Savings account for kids:

Open a savings account for the kid. It gives a great feeling to the gift when the kid gets a bank account in his/her own name. Whatever cash gifts, the kid gets for Diwali, Christmas, New Year, birthday, and other special occasions can be deposited in this account. Even the amount you wish to gift your child can be deposited in this account. This will earn interest and provide your child with a source of income.

Whenever the account balance crosses a particular limit say Rs.10,000 or Rs.25,000 can be withdrawn and invested in mutual funds or FDs in the kid’s name.

This creates awareness among the kid about savings and investments. You are laying a strong foundation on personal finance management for your kid this Diwali in the form of a gift.

3) Board Games:

There is a board game known as Trade or Business. A game like this will be very helpful to the kids in understanding the value of money, buying assets, spending less, saving more, investing, and the like. It could be a monopoly or any such game. Click here to find out what are the other games. These games are classified according to age. So you can get them these games according to their age.

There are also so many online games like this. These games can teach complete money management in a fun-filled way. Diwali is also celebrated as Lakshmi pooja. It is nice to start money management lessons on this auspicious day of Diwali.

Your children can become financially aware and also learn to manage their finances efficiently in the future. This is not taught in schools. This is a skill gained through observation and daily practices.

4) Mutual Fund SIP:

You can start a mutual fund SIP in the name of the child. You contribute only for the first-month installment and ask your kid to pay out of his or her pocket money for the subsequent installments. This way you will teach your kid about the stock market nuances also.

SIP is also better than investing in a lump sum. The investment amount can be as low as Rs.500 in mutual funds. This is a very convenient and low-cost way of investing in stocks.

5) Financial books

There are a lot of books on savings. You can gift these books. It also helps improve their vocabulary. You can get them the books according to their age category.

Gift ideas for the spouse

1) Lifestyle Assurance:

How your spouse will feel when you give a gift that assures the present lifestyle forever. You are here today earning and providing a lifestyle to your family. If you retire, can the same lifestyle be maintained? If any mishappening to you in between, can the same lifestyle be maintained by your family?

To protect the lifestyle of your family after your retirement, you need to do a detailed retirement plan. I am not advocating here about the unit-linked pension plan. No. I am talking about a comprehensive retirement plan.

To protect the lifestyle of your family from your premature death, take a pure term insurance plan . I am not talking about ULIPs here. Pure term insurance plan. Calculate in detail your human life value and then cover that amount of value with a term insurance policy.

Professional financial planners will be of assistance to you in drawing a retirement plan as well as finding your human life value.

2) Gold ETF:

Gold has always been a mark of wealth. It is looked at as a safe investment in times of economic uncertainties. It always has emotional value, especially in Indians, passed on to generations. This festive season, If you are planning to gift gold coin, jewelry, or gold bar to your spouse, think about gifting Gold ETFs . Easy to buy and sell. No need to safeguard. These Diwali gift ideas will really surprise your spouse.

Gift ideas for parents

Giving gifts to parents on the day of Diwali is something every responsible child would like to do. But the right kinds of gift ideas for parents are fewer. I am revealing two gift ideas for parents below.

1) Monthly Income:

Your parents ine old age need monthly income. Gift them an investment option that gives a monthly income to them. You can get monthly income by investing in Fixed Deposits (FDs), Post Office Monthly Income Schemes (POMIS), mutual fund Monthly Income Plans (MIPs), and the like. Your parents may not be depending on you, but till then, this extra cash flow out of your investment gift will make them enjoy their life more in old age.

2) Health Insurance:

Most Insurance companies are ready to cover senior citizens with an extra premium or with a co-payment option. Co-payment is when a claim comes the insurance company will pay some predetermined percentage of the claim and the balance will be co-paid by the claimant.

It is very difficult to find good servants these days. Even if you find one, it is very difficult to retain them. If you pay the renewal premium on their behalf of them every year, they will be very loyal to you. They will think twice, before quitting the job with you.

You can choose to gift some good personal finance books to your friend or colleague. Instead of sending them e-cards, you can surprise them by emailing a personal finance article with your Diwali wishes. Even this article itself can be mailed to your near and dear instead of an e-greeting

You can also pay for a meeting with a financial advisor if they are interested. Or enroll your friend in an investment-related workshop or a webinar. You could even get them e-subscriptions to a few investment-related magazines.

These Diwali gift ideas for parents will be of immense help to them.

Gift ideas for siblings

1) PPF

PPF is one of the best tax-saving instruments. This could be gifted to your siblings. Click this link to know more about PPF.

2) Personal finance books

You can also gift your sibling, basic books on personal finance and money management. This can create financial independence and also give them a lot of knowledge of finance.

Gift ideas for servants

Gifting a mediclaim policy to your maid servant is a good idea. They may not be thought about that and they could have thought that those things are costly. Along with the mediclaim policy, you can add accidental insurance for your driver.

It is really very difficult to find good servants these days. Even if you find one, it is really very difficult to retain them. If you pay the renewal premium on behalf of them every year, they will be very loyal to you. They will think twice, before quitting the job with you.

These Diwali gifts will delight them.

Gift ideas for friends

You can choose to gift some good personal finance book for your friend or colleague. Instead of sending them e-cards, you can surprise them by emailing a personal finance article with your Diwali wishes. Even this article itself can be mailed to your near and dear instead of an e-greeting

You can also pay for a meeting with a financial advisor if they are really interested. Or enroll your friend in an investment-related workshop or a webinar. You could even get them e-subscriptions to a few investment-related magazines.

These Diwali gifts will make them understand more about personal finance.

Gift ideas for others

Instead of gifting money or gold, it is a good idea to gift bluechip company shares. Even a single share can be gifted. As it is a gift, people sentimentally will not sell them immediately and keep it for the long term. A single share can grow with bonuses over a period of time.

Let us start surprising our loved ones this Diwali with these unusual Diwali gifts. Don’t you think these gifts would be of immense value and help your loved ones? Many of them have already started giving financial gifts to their loved ones, have you? If you haven’t been gifted any financial gifts, it’s time you think of it.

Have you ever thought about gifting yourself? The best gift for you during this festive season is to get a customized financial plan for your and your family. To create this master financial plan which helps you take all other financial and investment decisions of your life, we are offering

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