Q As Christmas approaches, thoughts are more likely to be more on spending money rather than saving. That said, what 'financial' gifts should one consider for the young, middle-aged and grandparents?

A Everyone appreciates a gift and personally, I like the ones that increase in value such as a nice painting. For like-minded individuals, financial gifts should be those that also increase in value and ones that you should not be too disappointed with if their value unfortunately falls over a short period of time. I am referring to investments that should be considered for the medium to long term.

In the case of the young, i.e. those under, say 25, then you can consider giving them a really adventurous gift such as an investment into Asia or similar emerging markets. Alternatively, you could look towards a particular sector such as infrastructure, alternative energy or agriculture. The point here is that one should take the highest risk while younger as you have a longer time to recoup any unfortunate losses that may occur and at the same maximise your return over the long term. Any such investment must, however, be deemed 'not accessible', i.e. it is put away for the long term.

As a gift for your spouse, you may want to consider more than one. A suggestion may be to combine something adventurous with something more conservative, like a managed fund or some bonds. The purpose of combining these gifts is to create more of a balance between adventurous investments and the more cautious due to your age. While it may be nice to receive a bottle of perfume (conservative), this should be combined with something more personal (adventurous).

For the grandparent, the choice of gifts is more restricted - most grandparents are difficult to buy for, after all! With age, more caution should be taken and a good cash deposit is always a good start. Any adventurous gifts should only be small stocking fillers and certainly not their main gift. Your grandparents should take immediate enjoyment from their gifts such as a regular income from their investment as capital appreciation will not be a priority.

Whatever you choose - always be sure to ask the shop assistant (your financial adviser) for advice.

Mr Hollingsworth is the director of Hollingsworth International Financial Services Ltd, which is licensed by the MFSA to provide investment services under the Investment Services Act 1994 and enrolled insurance broker under article 13 of the Insurance Intermediaries Act (Registration No. C32457). This article does not intend to give investment advice and its contents should not be construed as such. Readers are encouraged to seek professional advice on their personal financial situation. (Tel: 2131 6298; e-mail: mh@hollingsworthint.com ; www.hollingsworth.eu.com )