A Stock Investment Could Be Your Best Bet For A Last-Minute Gift

If you’ve waited until the last minute to buy holiday gifts or just realized you left an important name off your shopping list, you might be scrambling to find something that is both available and doesn’t reek of desperation.

Fortunately, there’s one option that meets both demands — and is likely to thrill the recipient.

Giving the gift of stocks

Although Wall Street has had a particularly tumultuous 2022, most experts expect the stock market will rebound at some point next year. This could mean that buying when prices are low right now will reap serious benefits in the not-too-distant future.

As Wells Fargo wealth management executive Emily Irwin explained: "When there is a low or depressed market, giving stock can be advantageous because you are able to transfer a given stock at a price that is lower than it has historically been. This can be advantageous if funding a trust for someone where that stock is going to be held for a longer time period."

Reasons to consider it

Aside from getting more for your money right now, there are a few compelling arguments to support purchasing stocks as a gift for others (and maybe a few more to pad your own portfolio).

Here’s what the experts say:

• Last year, 65% of Americans said they would like to receive stock in a company as a gift.
• Purchasers can give away up to $16,000 in such gifts without a tax penalty.
• Although the recipient is on the hook for capital gains taxes, they do not apply to the purchaser.
• If you give to a charitable organization, no one will have to pay capital gains taxes — and the donor can often receive a tax deduction.
• Stock trading apps make the process easier than ever before.

Chris Agee December 23rd, 2022

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