The Complete Guide to Gift Giving Etiquette

With a new year comes the urge to give new, meaningful gifts to those you love as you celebrate this very expressive season. The New Year holiday is symbolic; it represents fresh starts, brand new beginnings, and forward-thinking plans that are aligned with a new year full of success and prosperity. In short, the new year is a reminder of all of the positive things that are yet to come your way. This is why gifting someone with a heartfelt token of luck and well-being is such a great way to start the year off right! But what are some of the best gifts to give this New Year? Here are a few non-conventional ways to approach gift giving in 2018.

The 5-Gift Rule
No matter the occasion, it can be a struggle to pick the perfect gift for someone special, especially a gift for the New Year. Luckily, there is a very practical guide you can rely on for choosing gifts this year—it is the 5-gift rule. While many people use the five-gift rule for Christmas giving, this handy rule of thumb can actually be applied to any holiday. The five gift areas are: giving what the receiver wants, giving what they need, giving something they can read, giving something they can wear and giving something they are not even aware they need. While this does not necessarily mean that you will give your loved one five gifts at once, these simple principles can nonetheless help you choose the best presents during the course of 2018. 
For instance, you can never go wrong with giving someone a gift that they have said they want. A gift that the receiver has expressed interest in makes the exchange all the more meaningful. It means that you were paying attention to their desires and that you are willing to fulfill a wish of theirs because you care. The same concept applies to giving the receiver a useful gift that they need. The 5-gift rule is a fun and easy way to express your feelings of hopefulness with those who matter most in your life in this new year.

Gifts of Financial Wellness
Another not-so-common gift-giving strategy for the new year is to share gifts of financial wellness. These are gifts that go towards the receiver’s future. In other words, these are financial gifts that can help to secure the future for children, grandchildren and adult children alike. Relatives can encourage loved ones to invest in financial gifts like 529 contributions for college savings for their children, interest-bearing savings bonds, payments towards student loan debt, college gift cards, stocks, down payments on a first car or home, or even financial advice from a professional to help create a life plan. Financial gifts like these help the receiver achieve major goals for their long-term future, going far beyond just the current year.

What’s more is that monetary gifts such as these can open the receiver’s world up to so many other possibilities—they can experience home ownership, the may now have the ability travel, they will secure a prosperous career, or they will be able to live debt-free. No matter the amount, a gift of financial wellness for the new year is an excellent option that goes beyond traditional new year gift-giving norms.

When it comes to giving gifts in the new year, the bottom line is this—gift giving in 2018 can be a true act of love. Surprising your loved one with a unique gift based on either the 5-gift rule or a gift of financial wellness are both new ways to gift during this new year season! Such gifts demonstrate your commitment to your loved one’s well-being for the entire year long and beyond. Such sentimental gift ideas are a great way to continue to celebrate all the new beginnings that a new year signifies.