Avoid the dog box and buy your nearest and dearest a really nice piece of gold jewelry. So its not an EFT or a share certificate or a tiny fraction of a huge managed fund – so what?

What you do have is a piece of art that can be worn and enjoyed by your partner and admired by their friends. Whenever it is comes out of its place of safekeeping the fact that you were late will dissipate and life will run smoothly again.

Be warned though, you must go for quality and not just buy it for its weight, stop thinking like an investor for a moment and look for craftsmanship. Also have the piece valued by a respected professional and insured accordingly, be covered for the moment you realize that the organic champagne took a grip and your investment, Oops, sorry present has been left behind in the wash room of that expensive restaurant!

When shopping we tend to buy what we like to look at, like decorating the house, I would like to see my teams colours everywhere! But, somehow that doesn’t appeal to my better half. It’s the same with jewelry, get the shop owner to talk to you about what you are trying to achieve and try to incorporate their views before splashing out.

Finally, and this is very important: you need an exit strategy. I know I just said that this is not an investment but…..

Back when gold hit the $800.0 level I was working in The Netherlands and the TV regularly reported people who were rushing in to the jewellers and selling a family heirloom for its value in gold. The jewellers for 5 times the price then sold these pieces. Your exit strategy needs to bear this in mind. Like shares do not be panicked into selling with the herd.

However, the chances are that you will never get the opportunity to sell them anyway, so enjoy them while you have them and you can always cut and run with them should our respective governments continue to print dollars as though it is an Olympic event.

Go mad on this one!

19 October 2006