And my favorite thing: When you want to withdraw money, the robot says: "I hope you have a good reason for withdrawing your savings."
Brilliant -- a bank with some common money sense, which is in short supply these days.
The bank, which costs $19.95, is recommended for children 8 and up. To order the bank online, go to www.sharperimage.com.
• Financial Planning Organizer. This holiday give someone the gift of order -- for his or her financial affairs, that is. I recommend the "Homefile Financial Planning Organizer Kit" by J. Michael Martin and Mary E. Martin (Homefile Publishing, $24.95). You may remember I selected this kit for the Color of Money Book Club in October. The 48-page handbook walks you through setting up and maintaining your financial files. The financial planning organizer kit is available by calling 800-695-3453 or online at www.homefile.net.
• Financial books. I know it's easy to fall back on buying someone the current bestseller. But look past the fiction aisle. Instead, consider choosing a personal finance book. For example, my all-time favorite and the first one I picked for the Color of Money Book Club is "The Richest Man in Babylon" by George S. Clason. This book is a classic and full of time-tested advice on saving and investing. Check out other book club selections at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/legacy/bookclubpage.htm.
• A subscription to a personal finance magazine. This is a low-cost way of helping someone get financially straight. I know. It's not People magazine. But what's the point of reading about Paris Hilton's latest folly or the sexiest people alive? Those people aren't going to help your friend or relative pay bills. I like Money and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. And Consumer Reports, while not specifically a personal finance magazine, is a great gift for folks who want to spend wisely.
• ShareBuilder Investor Starter Kit. This is like a box lunch for investing. ShareBuilder (www.sharebuilder.com) is an online brokerage company that has set up a low-cost system for investing in the stock market. Individual transactions start at just $4. Or you can choose from two subscription programs that offer multiple stock purchases at even lower costs per transaction. The starter kit sells for $29.95, but its contents are worth more than $100, including a $25 certificate that can be used in a ShareBuilder account, a copy of "The Automatic Millionaire" by best-selling author David Bach and a one-year subscription to Smart Money magazine.
Finding the right gift is often tough. But any one of my financial favorites will at least increase someone's financial knowledge or help him or her become money-wise.
Michelle Singletary discusses personal finance Tuesdays on NPR's "Day to Day" program and online at www.npr.org. Readers can write to her at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 or send e-mail to singletarym@washpost.com. Comments and questions are welcome, but due to the volume of mail, personal responses may not be possible. Please also note that comments or questions may be used in a future column, with the writer's name, unless a specific request to do otherwise is indicated.
