Financial Gifts to Kids
Parents and grandparents once thought it was cute to gift a child a single share of Disney or a savings bond. It was practical, and besides introducing a new generation to stocks, the pictures on the stock certificate made it a good gift for children. Today, few people actually take ownership of stock certificates. Instead, stocks are generally held in brokerage accounts or in mutual funds. “It’s a digital world now,” says Greg Hammer, president of Hammer Financial Group in Schererville, Indiana. “You can’t even buy a physical savings bond anymore. There’s no more paper, no more certificates. When you buy a stock today it’s bought through a brokerage.
Rodney Brooks
An award-winning journalist, writer and author and my specialty is retirement planning and other personal finance issues. I have written for many national publications, including USA TODAY, The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, AARP and National Geographic. I am available to speak on personal finance, financial literacy and the racial wealth gap.
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The author tells the history of the Freedman’s Savings Bank, how it grew much too quickly, why it failed and the impact on Black America. The Freedman’s Bank offered a safe depository for formerly enslaved people, expanded quickly and gained millions in deposits – mostly ranging from $5 to $50. But inexperience and corruption doomed it to failure, costing may of the small depositors their savings.
