Remember how bewildered and disappointed you were as a kid when you got a savings bond from your grandparents during holidays.
Now startups and established financial companies make it easier to give stocks and other financial assets during the holiday season.
No guarantee your children or grandkids will not appreciate your present in the moment, but years from now they will be grateful for your generosity.
Here are some popular financial gifts that may be a little more thoughtful than cold hard cash, a perennial holiday favorite:
Stocks
You have numerous ways to hand out stock over the holiday season.
If you own shares, you can re-title your stock to a loved one through your broker.
People should consider giving stock that has appreciated to avoid capital gains taxes, said Douglas Kobak, a certifiied financial planner and principal at Main Line Group Wealth Management.
"If the child is in a lower tax bracket, they should gift the security to the child and have them sell it where there would be more available on an after-tax basis for the child's need," Kobak said.
Or you can set up a low-cost dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP). You will need to own a share to be eligible for a DRIP, which lets you purchase shares with a company's dividend at little or no cost.
Some well-known public companies with brands children would recognize offer DRIPs, such as Walt DIsney (DIS) and McDonald's (MCD), but many high-flying technology companies do not.
With share prices of Google's parent company Alphabet (GOOGL), Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) in the triple digits, you might want to get your kids or grandkids a gift card instead.
Stockpile allows people to buy physical gift cards for shares at retailers, such as Kmart and Toys 'R Us, in denominations ranging from $25 to $100. Or buy online gift cards in any amount.
"These gift cards are like a modern-day savings bond," said Avi Lele, Stockpile's CEO and co-founder.
Once people receive these cards, they need to redeem the cards on Stockpile, which is an online brokerage that allows users to buy fractions of a share. About 25 percent of Stockpile's customers are kids and teens, Lele said.
More from Holiday Central:
Gift card exchanges can save you up to 35 percent
Retailers with the best (and worst) return policies
Gift cards may not be personal, but they sure are practical
College savings plan contributions
With the rising cost of an education, more parents are crowdsourcing to fund their 529 college savings plans .
Some plans offer features that allow family and friends to gift money directly to the 529 plans, which are flexible and tax-advantaged accounts for qualified educational expenses. Ascensus College Savings, which administers 31 plans in 17 states, provides such a program called Ugift.