The Boston Globe article: Cold cash gains new warmth as holiday gift in hard times reports that cash is at the top of most gift lists.

And as the nation has rekindled its sense of thrift – today’s personal savings rate of 4.5 percent is double that of a year ago – financial institutions are offering a flurry of deals to entice shoppers looking for the perfect savings account, certificate of deposit, or stocks or gold bullion for their friends and family.

Hundreds of consumers have already taken up Citizens Bank on its “Gift of Savings’’ offer launched just a week ago, which features an extra $10 to people who open an account with at least $100 on behalf of a loved one. Service Credit Union in New Hampshire opened at 5 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving with doorbuster deals like a three-month CD with 10 percent interest. The bank sold 2,224 CDs in three hours, about 20 times the normal daily volume. Western Union recently slashed its fees to send $50 in cash from $12 to $5 and the company also expects an uptick in activity.

Americans used to consider giving cold, hard cash at Christmas too and impersonal. But the sheer need for liquidity during tough economic times – and people’s recognition that they ought to be better prepared in the future – has helped remove the stigma.

I have never thought to give gold bullion as a gift. Wonder what the appropriate way to wrap it is? Do you put it in a little pirate chest :)

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