Skip to main content

Christmas Present Tips for Guys

Christmas Shopping Tips for Guys

giftgreen1Most of us guys are useless at Christmas shopping. Here's a few tips I've picked up over the years.

Ladies, you might want to share this with the men in your family to avoid getting an undesirable and badly wrapped present this Christmas.

  1. Buying your Christmas presents at a petrol station or dairy on Christmas morning really isn't the done thing - apparently not everyone wants a funnel, box of biscuits or a car care kit. Don't do it.
  2. Get started early, no not on Christmas Eve, yesterday was already too late.
  3. First thing in the morning is the best time to Christmas shop, and I mean first thing, teenagers are still in bed.
  4. It's not the thought that counts, it's how MUCH thought that counts.
  5. Cash is a GREAT present for teenagers - and me.
  6. If you must give gift vouchers make sure they are from a shop the recipient actually shops in and try and avoid those with an expiry date.
  7. Wrapping and cards are important, you and I know it's just paper but for some reason they are important.
  8. Before you start browsing in a shop check that it does gift wrapping and accept the service - wait if necessary. If the shop doesn't do gift wrapping move on to the next. Unless you are an expert present wrapper - Yeah Right!
  9. Even if every present you buy is gift wrapped, buy plenty of wrapping paper and sellotape. You are going to need it because dairy's and petrol stations don't gift wrap and being a bloke you'll probably ignore number 1.

Guys ignore the above at your peril and have a wonderful Christmas.

Posted in Commentary on the Investment Environment.

3 Investing Home Truths

The markets are always volatile – jumping about from one day to the next as they swing on sentiment. Here are the basic home truths any long term investor needs to always bear in mind, and which keep all the short term noise and volatility in perspective.

Your investing timeframe matters – not anybody else's

When markets swing in the short term it is because other people with different timeframes need to act. If your time frame is different, then you don't need to act at all – other than perhaps looking to take advantage of their despondency or short term desperation to sell assets at a discount.

The greatest gains come from the riskiest assets

Investing in sharemarkets involves risk. The downside can be abrupt and look drastic...but the upside is just as drastic and often quick. Historically it is one of the best performing asset classes for those who ride the wave. Similarly, property investing with leverage – borrowing to buy an investment property – introduces sometimes dramatic gains and losses. These riskiest assets are the ones which will generally produce outstanding returns for the patient investor over a reasonable time frame though.

Remember to think big picture

What happens in the short term in any particular investment often doesn't matter enormously if you have a well constructed portfolio. It is the well constructed portfolio which matters more than what happens with any individual investment within the portfolio. Stay focussed on the big picture: getting the long term balance right of how much should be in what types of investments, and then trying t manage the proportions to stay about right.

  • Last updated on .