The holidays are just around the corner. If you’re still looking for ideas for gifts, we’ve got a couple that can give your loved ones a head start on improving their finances and building wealth.

1. Personal finance books: there are plenty of books that can provide a basic introduction to personal finance, as well as those that can provide a more advanced education on investing and other money topics. There are a quite a few different authors and companies that routinely crank out books on financial topics. In particular, I would recommend the many Motley Fool books — there’s a book for just about every financial situation and they’re high quality with sold information.
2. EE Savings Bonds: The U.S. Treasury recommends EE Savings  Bonds as gifts — they’re reliable and low-risk investments. Personally, I think savings bonds are a particularly good gift for children, especially if you explain how the investment works. You can purchase EE Savings Bonds on the Treasury’s website, which we have discussed in depth. The site does not offer paper bonds, however — if you want to purchase the paper version, you will need to do so through a local financial institution.
3. Time: For some people, time (or lack thereof) is making it harder for them to achieve their goals. Maybe a friend or relative needs a babysitter or someone to cook up a few meals so that they can just get ahead of things. If you’re a little short on time yourself, you can purchase an absolutely amazing list of services both online and locally. A personal chef will come by, cook up a few meals and stick them in the freezer. A maid service will come by and take care of the laundry. Most companies will allow you to buy services for a friend or family member in a block and save them some time.
4. Money management software: I’m not talking about Quicken or other big software packages (although if it’s on someone’s holiday wishlist, more power to them). There are plenty of small money management tools that can help out in a big way. Shoeboxed, for instance, can get all your receipts organized for you. Expensr can help track expenses. There are thousands of other tools and at least one is probably perfect for your friends and family.
5. Anything business-related: If you want to give a gift to a family member with even the slightest entrepreneurial bent, ask what they need for the next step of their business. Maybe a year’s worth of website hosting can help them more than anything else, or maybe there’s something even more useful. Asking can help you find a gift that truly can move the recipient along the path to his or her goals.

Note that I didn’t actually include money in the list above. For some people it might make an ideal gift, but I know that others feel that a gift should be selected with a person in mind. I do think that money makes a better gift than a gift card, financially speaking: gift cards have so many limitations that cash isn’t subject to. Money is just more useful than a gift card.

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