Warren Buffett used to gift his family $10,000 each at Christmas-but when he noticed how fast they were spending it, he started buying them shares instead | Fortune

"As soon as we got home, we'd spend it, whoo!"

"Then, one Christmas there was an envelope with a letter from him. Instead of cash, he'd given us $10,000 worth of shares in a company he'd recently bought, a trust Coca-Cola had. He said to either cash them in or keep them."

"I thought 'Well, [this stock] is worth more than $10,000.' So I kept it, and it kept going up."

"If he bought the shares, she would then go and "buy more of it, because I knew it was going to go up.""

Warren Buffett historically gave family members $10,000 in hundred-dollar bills at Christmas, and recipients frequently spent the cash quickly. Buffett shifted to gifting $10,000 worth of company shares instead, including a Coca-Cola trust and later Wells Fargo stock. Recipients were told they could either cash the shares or keep them. Mary Buffett chose to retain the Coca-Cola shares and saw their value increase above the original cash amount. Mary began purchasing additional shares of companies Buffett bought, expecting continued appreciation. The family faced difficulty reciprocating gifts of comparable value for a billionaire.

Read at Fortune