If you listen closely, you can almost hear the sleigh being uncovered and given its yearly spruce up, while Rudolph's nose is being polished. The elves are working double shifts and the toy factory has been running 24 hours a day for the last month.
Yes, the jolly fat man in his red suit will be on his round-the-world trip in a little under 6 days. If you've been good, Santa might just have some presents for you. If not, you might just have to go shopping for yourself.
Either way, if you're looking for some Christmas presents for people in your life, here's a shopping list to get you started!
For the babies
The baby in your life won't know what shares you're buying, but if you're looking for Christmas presents, you can't do much better than quality shares for the youngsters. It's not exciting or pretty, but they'll thank you in the decades to come if you buy well.
They don't know or care what you buy, but if it's going to last until an 18th or 21st birthday, you want to make sure they company will be around, and delivering. Diversified investment company Washington H. Soul Pattinson (ASX:SOL) fits the bill, as does dominant grocer-cum-hotelier Woolworths (ASX:WOW).
Shares for kids
If the kids are old enough to understand the concept of owning a little bit of a real business, then well-chosen shares should not only make them money, but help them understand about the power of investing and compounding. Lest they think it's too boring, though, buy them shares of a company whose products or services they use.
Consider the aforementioned Woolies, or Premier Investments (ASX:PMV), the holding company behind Smiggle and Just Jeans. Then, every time you walk past (or shop there), remind your youngster that they make a little bit of money every time someone shops there. It won't take long until they smile every time they see the shop.
Teenagers
The teenager in your life might be at the door-closing and/or grunting phase — so let's see if a few shares can make them smile. They're probably glued to their phone, tablet and/or computer, so throwing some Telstra (ASX:TLS), TPG (ASX:TPM) or iiNet (ASX:IIN) shares their way should keep them thinking.
And at least those hours spent glued to their favourite device won't be completely without benefit!
For the big kids
The adults in the family are hopefully already starting to feather their own nest with quality investments, so you shouldn't need to do too much cajoling. You mightn't want to buy shares for them, but why not buy yourself a Christmas present.
If you're a conservative investor, or just like the sound of virtual cash arriving in your bank account, dividend-paying shares are the gift that just keeps on giving. Telstra gets another guernsey here, but speaking of sportswear, you might want to look at the company that runs The Athlete's Foot, RCG Group (ASX:RCG) if regular dividends are your thing.
Adults who have their portfolio's foundations in good order might want to buy themselves something spicier this festive season. Smaller companies make for higher risk, but potentially higher return options. In an era of iEverything, maybe check out two companies taking Australian online classified know-how to Asia — the real estate portal iProperty (ASX:IPP) and the automotive sales business iCar Asia (ASX:ICQ).
