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My mother has dropped a bit of a bombshell on her grandchildren this year. She has offered each of them £1000 as a Christmas present.
However, there are strings attached. It has to be spent on something that they can keep and pass down through their own families. Not technology, not an investment, a physical thing that will hopefully appreciate in value over time.
My eldest son's (he is 31) instinct is a nice watch. My younger one (25) fancies gold coins. They both have indicated that they would be interested in some art, but they simply don't know what to buy.
Now it is a lovely problem to have and both of them have turned to me for advice, but I am at a loss.
So WWSTW do?
Thanks
Nick.
P.S. She is buying me a new jumper from M&S it is only the grandkids who are benefiting from her largesse.
Diesel?
Coins are very nice and will gain in value, a watch however you arent set and it's going too be difficult to predict which brand will do well in the future.
Christ, sounds like a headache more than a present!
NFT's
Those monkey ones.
Family grave plot.
Classic knickknack/bike/motorbike
Vintage or bespoke piece of furniture (small so it doesn't become a problem to fit into their next/offsprings house)
Musical instrument
Whisky 🙂 (you can buy a young barrel and leave it with the distillery to age can't you?)
Family grave plot
Cost more than two grand, only get them for 50 years here (burying my dad next week so just paid for one)
Grandmother in law left me £1000 this year, so far I’ve bought a vase that caught my eye and the rest will be going on an expensive walking stick / staff.
Watch for a £1000 might not be the most collectible but if it becomes a treasured daily wearer it will hopefully gather family history
Guitar?
Gold
Some high quality furniture?
Lego?
As one wants a watch, and the other some coins, I'd say problem solved. If it's to be passed down the family, it needs to be quality and durable. Valuable is only important when you stop passing it down the line and sell it.
I think I'd be saying something like "rather than spunk two grand up the wall on some random crap that your frankly weird 'strings' dictate, we'll put it in the bank until we can find something we actually want." Though paraphrased slightly. 😁
Because, WTF is a 25-year old going to with a grand's worth of bullion? And a thousand pound watch that'll spend its entire life in a drawer because he'll be too scared to ever wear it? Madness, they'd be better off putting it towards a house deposit.
The answer to "I don't know what to spend a grand on" is "well don't, then." IMHO, etc etc. You don't create heirlooms by throwing money at something fairly arbitrarily, they evolve from something loved and treasured. My grandfather's legacy to me was his old tea mug, it eventually died but I got daily pleasure from it for years. I could be wrong but don't think it cost a grand.
C+H’s! Then buy a Casio digital watch
Well that sounds like a very presumptious string to be attached to a present. What if they don't wish to have children?
not an investment, a physical thing that will hopefully appreciate in value over time.
confused by this bit.
Agreed does sound a headache to be honest
Literally anything that comes with a receipt to keep granny happy, then quick return to cash out for coke and hookers no?
I was gifted a similar amount around 2005 and bought an Omega Seamaster. Wear it everyday and remember who those lovely people are when I look at it.
premium bonds.
Gnomes
If going for art - it's irrelevant what they buy as long as they like it, and will stick it on a wall....
Go to a couple of gallery's and speak to the staff..
My son got his great great great grandfather's watch.
My son is currently 3 and playing with a helicopter. I'm not sure how much value he is getting from the watch
I thought a sold silver 3 generation old watch would be worth loads. It's worth £70 so it's not paying his uni fees 🙄
No idea what that watch would hav cost originally. I suspect some shares for a similar cost might well have bought something useful.
I can't imagine in 3 generations someone wouldn't have needed the cash and the shares would be unlikely to still be in the family
premium bonds.
No,they said as an investment 😆
Wot cougar said.
It's a very "old school" set of stipulations. My dad is a bit of a collector of "collectibles" and most, if not all, of it is basically worthless.
My sister and I don't see any heirloom value in any of it, and my kids don't give a monkeys.
The idea of get rich slow has been and gone. I knew one guy whose retirement planning was Rolf Harris paintings, which went well
Times have changed. Just blow the cash. Or long term investment in shares or high interest account and hope it pays for a bit of uni.
has to be spent on something that they can keep and pass down through their own families. Not technology, not an investment, a physical thing that will hopefully appreciate in value over time.
What a tedious ballache. So they have to work out what to buy, take care of it through the generations, but nobody is actually allowed to ever realise the asset and use it for something useful?
Great. Thanks granny.
I reckon a half krugerand is probably the easiest option. And then when granny croaks the kids can sell it and buy something useful, like 1/400th of a house.
Shares in Twitter? 😀
Why not find an artist they like and commission them to paint something meaningful to them.
depends what floats their boats I guess, but some decent antique jewellery perhaps, or ceramics, at least then it can be admired and enjoyed, and may accrue value, but who knows what the future holds anyway for any of us...
A decent secondhand guitar.
Ballache.
Tell her you want the money to spend as you see fit.
C & H
C+H’s!
Should be able to pass that down the family too!
Yamaha LL6
with a grand’s worth of bullion
A pair of earrings then. A bag of sand doesn't go far in the gold market these days.
A watch seems like a fine suggestion. It's vanishingly unlikely that anything at that pricepoint will actually appreciate, but your son could certainly get a fine Hamilton/Longines/Tissot.
If it was for me and my family, with those conditions I'd get four prints from local artists. One each for my two children to go in their rooms, and two more for the house. I'd spend maybe ~£300 on the prints for the childrens rooms, the rest on the two for the house, which eventually would go to my children. Would visit several local galleries to see artwork first hand, drawing a shortlist, then another visit another time to whittle it down.
I remember growing up looking at a few paintings by my grandfather, I didn't like them all that much, but I saw them and looked at them a lot and later in life learned to appreciate them. I guess they were just one of those constants throughout my early life.
Art is so subjective and would likey offer zero in return.
I'd go for two vintage Hamilton watches.
A suit/nice coat or shoes.
Art is so subjective and would likey offer zero in return.
That's exactly the value of it, as something subjective prominent in your home. You're nothing but a heathen <some other derogatory word> if you think that offers no return. Something that you might not immediately appreciate is even better.
Gnomes
This is what #1 child asked for for Christmas when asked what kind of token gift they’d like.
Gnomes are not cheap!
As several have said, this sounds like a PITA. Why can’t grandma do the thinking and get the kids a gift? Making it ‘heirloom’-like is strange. Best could be £1,000 of Vanguard tracker fund each. That could give a reasonable inheritable return.
Or art - as long as they like looking at it it doesn’t really matter whether it is heirloom value or tat to be disposed of on death.
If the kids have already said what they want - watch and gold then it’s all sorted.
I was gifted a similar amount around 2005 and bought an Omega Seamaster. Wear it everyday and remember who those lovely people are when I look at it.
I was thinking this.
Tbh I get grannies best intentions but it’s a bit of funny one as other than a watch there’s not much you can enjoy and pass on well other than a nice gold chain 🙂
I do like a bit of artwork but tbh you want a name and not sure you’ll get a Warhol print for that money.
£1k will score them 20g of gold apparently.
What you do with it is the real question then. They've got to store it, and hight value metal filings are hardly an 'heirloom'...
A watch like a solid investment, if £1k
I'm reminded by the conversation with my mum
and auntie for my 18th birthday present. It didn’t go well when I asked for a pair of Rockshox Mag 21s 😁
I think my aunt was most bothered by it TBH and bought me some utter cack from Elizabeth Duke to "keep".
Poor Granny! She sounds like she's being cast as some Scrooge McGran and getting a bit of a roasting. Could it be possible that she said she'd like to get something nice for the grandkids, something they want and will keep that they could maybe pass on to their kids. Rather than the matriarchal zealot trying to ruin everyones life? I'm hoping the message from conversation with the op to forum post to forumites interpretation has been twisted along the way.
Depending on thier living circumstances;a nice kitchen table? A potentially lasting item that becomes the centre of the house
That's not a bad shout - but I'd tweak the table idea and say - pool table!
watch or jewelry
Just to be clear, I share the PITA feelings, but her heart is in the right place and she has done a huge amount of family research to plot her family tree and one of her regrets is that she has nothing from her parents and grandparents generations.
I have researched a bit and son 2 could get three gold sovereigns from our local auction house. Son 1 is on the look out for the right vintage watch, again from auction rather than retail. I am aware of the potential issues with buying at auction, but my wife runs a home clearance company so we are comfortable with the risks. We are also very aware that most stuff ends up worthless in the end.
As for the kitchen table, the eldest needs a house to put one in, and we bought the younger one just that as a housewarming present when he moved into his first home.
one of her regrets is that she has nothing from her parents and grandparents generations.
Totally understandable but, as I said before, would she really want something from her ancestors' generations that has little sentimental value other than they went out and spent a lot of money once?
With respect, she's going about this all wrong IMHO. Her 'strings' should be to go and find something that they love and will treasure, not merely an asset. "Hey son, this gold coin used to belong to your gran, it's been in the family for ages." - "Umm... thanks?"
The next generation isn't going to care about a piece of artwork mum bought that they've likely hated all their lives or a posh watch that's spent its life in a cupboard. If you're lucky enough that they give the remotest of tosses at all then what they're going to treasure is something that actually meant something to their parents / grandparents. Hurrying to spend two grand on "something" before Christmas is a mistake IMHO, if you are going to look for a special thing then that could take years.
Titanium frame, obviously
Chris King hubs - theyll last a lifetime!
Tbf I can see her point. Someone gave me a grand at 20 I'd have pissed it up the wall.
If I'd been told I had to spend it on something I'd not have wasted it I'd have some thoughts.
Here's an odd thought, hand tools. Nice set of spanners or something they'll last forever. I've some of my dad's kit and I love it.
Even things like a set of kitchen knives etc
“Hey son, this gold coin used to belong to your gran, it’s been in the family for ages.”
You can pick up Chagall (a friend of Matisse, painting at the same time) works for under £1000, Joan Miro (a contemporary of Picasso) Lithographs can come on for less than £500. You can pick up David Hockney Lithographs for about a grand, Constable Engravings are surprisingly cheap as well. Reprints of Worhol regularly come up for £750.00. Living artists work can be had for under a grand. even larger Norman Ackroyd etchings are available for £800-950 ( and he's really old, so bound to be worth more when he snuffs it!)
I think the point is something that can be handed down to the next generation. Im not sure shes getting at buying an investment, i think shes getting at something with more sentimental value that will be used by the person.
Yes, buy a watch/ring/chain/pocke****ch/(insert here what you like and would use keep and cherish) with the money, new or secondhand, get it engraved and wear/use it for the next few decades. Something that your children and great grandchildren would like and can say 'this was my dads/grandads'
Mrs SSS has a pocket watch handed down from her grandfather. Its not expensive not worth much, and it was mass produced in the early 1900s. But he used it everyday and it is engraved and has great sentimental value, and will be handed down.
@Cougar - I think what she is trying to avoid is them going out and buying a new TV, I-pad, Laptop etc. Something that will be useless, out of date in a couple of years. Maybe I phrased it wrong in my original post.
when the wife got a small unexpected windfall we bought some art we liked. amazingly its actually gone up in value. and other people like it (we like it too!)
Not quite a grand but I have my great grandad's tie (he was quite short so it's pretty neat on me) and my granny's rolling pin (It's now helped feed 5 generations).
A gun?
Would be a cool thing to inherit too.
Aside from the rather misguided strings attached (how hard is it find something for a grand that will appreciate?), I'd go for something unique rather than some ratty watch. I have a friend who buys a lot of art and has picked up pieces at degree shows etc (or those anonymous artist sales) that are now £20k or more but you have to get lucky. Personally, I'd commission a beautiful piece of furniture from someone like Angus Ross but looks like his dining tables start from £5k. You could get a bike for that.
Hand tools as suggested above
What is the smallest patch of land that can be purchased? Buy a 10cmx10cm plot and plant a tree
A properly professional family photo? Give up any attempt at the appreciate ove time stipulation.
Some kit that will always be at least a bit useful? Camping stove etc
Lifetime national trust membership
Just had a bright idea. A classic Chess/Backgammon board game - fun for all the family.... Took a look on Harrods. Gasped and threw that idea out the window, but you could get 1.8 sets of Traditional Pub Dominoes, maybe?
Nice furniture is a good call. The decent stuff I have inherited is already coveted by the next generation. I think it imprints on people as sitting round a table forms a memory.
I’d commission a beautiful piece of furniture from someone like Angus Ross but looks like his dining tables start from £5k.
Angus Ross was showing at Pittenweem arts festival this year. Absolutely lovely pieces, if only I could afford them.
If it was me, I'd tell your mother to spend the money on herself, to enjoy it in her old age... Or to stop trying to force her old fashioned beliefs onto a modern generation.
The absolute last thing most youngsters want is a pointless keepsake that they have no interest in that in some way they are supposed to be bound to out of a sense of duty... I'd rather nothing than that!
Life is short and precious... Don't overburden others out of your own sense of duty to feel bound by your standards... Give them the gift of liberty, be that by giving them sweet FA or by giving them something actually really bloody useful in the first place... The cash itself!
@Cougar – I think what she is trying to avoid is them going out and buying a new TV, I-pad, Laptop etc. Something that will be useless, out of date in a couple of years. Maybe I phrased it wrong in my original post.
Sure. I can totally get behind "I want to give them some money but don't want them to waste it." But I'm kinda struggling to see how gold coins doesn't tick the "useless" box.
IMHO they'd be better off spending it on a holiday or some other experience. Memories and stories last longer than things.
Mint Sauce key ring?