More couples putting stocks on gift registry
Associated Press
NEW YORK — The big wedding trend this year was supposed to be the gift registry at home-improvement chain Home Depot Inc.
But another twist was introduced earlier this month, allowing future brides and grooms to register for gifts of Home Depot stock.
GiftsofStock.com was launched by financial publishing firm The Moneypaper Inc. in Rye, N.Y., as a way for people to more easily invest in dividend reinvestment plans, or DRIPs.
DRIPs are company-sponsored investment programs that let anyone with at least one share grow their stock holdings by reinvesting their dividends. DRIPs are a great investment tool for young investors, like newlyweds, who can't always afford more common methods of investing, such as brokerage accounts.
GiftsofStock.com can help people overcome the initial hurdles of DRIP investing. Rather than front the cost for the first shares yourself, you can receive them as gifts for a wedding, the birth of a newborn baby, a graduation, an anniversary or a birthday.
Melissa Longmire, a 21-year-old student from Houston, was already registered at shops like Target Corp. and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. for her wedding. But she made sure her family knew which gifts she preferred when she sent notice that she had registered with GiftsofStock.com.
"I told them I would much rather have shares of stock than a roasting pot or dishes," Longmire said.
GiftsofStock.com is part of a small but growing trend toward alternative wedding gifts, said Sharon Naylor, an author of wedding advice books.
She recommends people who break with tradition and ask for financial gifts for their wedding temper it with one or two traditional registries so that guests who are uncomfortable with the idea of giving money can still give kitchenware.
GiftsofStock.com offers choices of 56 different stocks — picked because they have low or no costs associated with setting up or making additional cash investments, said Vita Nelson, editor and publisher of MoneyPaper.
After picking the stocks, you can e-mail people to notify them that you have registered. When someone buys you a stock in your registry, GiftsofStock.com will mail you a mock certificate, along with information about how to get started with that company's DRIP. Once someone buys you a stock on your registry, no one else can buy it, so there's no danger of doubling up.
Companies like OneShare.com and Frame-A-Stock.com have a similar service, in that they let you buy one share of stock, which comes with a stock certificate, as gifts for other people. GiftsofStock.com also has that option — but is one of a few that also has a registry service.
