Dec 20, 2019 3 min read

During Christmas season, many people are busy preparing for the holiday and buying gifts. This may be a good time to reflect on a book that was later made into a movie, “The Ultimate Gift.” It was written by Jim Stovall, a humanitarian who happened to be blind. Maybe these conditions gave him a unique perspective on gifting.

The story is based on a fictional billionaire named Red Stevens. Red was a larger-than-life Texas oil and cattle tycoon who discovered, at the end of his life, he had given his family all of this material wealth, but had spoiled them in the process.

When Red passed away, his relatives traveled to Boston to meet with estate lawyer Ted Hamilton. They were eager to learn how much Red had left to each of them. Jason, his 24-year-old grand-nephew, thought his uncle was playing a trick when he made him earn his inheritance by completing a 12-month process to learn what the inheritance would be.

These 12 tasks had to be completed in sequential order. We will not cover all of them, but can learn some valuable lessons. Jason had enjoyed a life of leisure because of his great uncle’s generosity. But because of this, he had not learned the value of hard work. He was required to do tough manual labor for 30 days on a cattle ranch. Spending days digging fence holes and setting barbed wire taught him the true satisfaction for an honest day of hard work.

Red knew that Jason had always had money, but he was sure that he never appreciated its true value. One of Jason’s tasks was to give away $1,500 in small gifts to people in need. Among the people he helped was a couple having trouble paying their rent. He helped others whose only means of transportation was not working properly. From these acts of kindness, he developed an appreciation of how fortunate he had been.

The last tasks we will recount involve helping to solve people’s problems. Uncle Red’s wealth had shielded Jason from many of life’s issues. In a sense, his uncle took away Jason’s opportunities to learn to solve tough times. During this task, Jason met people dealing with terminal illness or the unexpected loss of a job. He was able to learn that tough times can become an opportunity to grow and become stronger.

We are not going to discuss the ending of the story. I suggest you read the book or watch the movie with your children and grandchildren. It is available on Amazon Prime.

The holidays are a great time to instill good values in family members, help those who are struggling, and be thankful for all you have accomplished. Celebrate together and enjoy this holiday season.

Gary Boatman is a Monessen-based certified financial planner and the author of “Your Financial Compass: Safe passage through the turbulent waters of taxes, income planning and market volatility.”

To submit columns on financial planning or investing, email Rick Shrum at rshrum@observer-reporter.com.