Babies First Birthday Gift

"The product that has given the world its best-known taste was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local pharmacist, produced the syrup forCoca-Cola®, and carried a jug of the new product down the street to Jacobs' Pharmacy, where it was sampled, pronounced 'excellent' and placed on sale for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink. Carbonated water was teamed with the new syrup to produce a drink that was at once 'Delicious and Refreshing,' a theme that continues to echo today whereverCoca-Cola is enjoyed."

So, what does that have to do with a babies first birthday gift?  Well, let us say that you were invited to a baby shower, or men, your wife was invited to a baby shower.  There are billions if not thousands of gifts you can give that a baby  will never enjoy (unless you can say that babies enjoy clean diapers).  These gifts are fleeting and have no life-long benefit for the child.  Now, let's say you buy one share of Coca-Cola stock and explain that this child is not to touch this stock until he or she is 25.  What would you have actually given this child?

If I was given one share Coca-cola stock on my first birthday, the giver would have spent about $2.36.  A cheap gift. He should have given at least two.  Well, maybe two dollars would have been a lot back then, I can't remember.  Anyway, last July I would have had 32 shares of Coca-Cola!  That would equal $1,610.24.  That amount does not include all the dividends that would have been added to each stock.  I started calculating it but then realized I was only calculating it for one stock when in reality it would have been for each stock owned at the time.  Maybe I'll calculate it later to see how much I actually would have had in July. Anyway, that probably would have been enough to buy my first car (1989 Ford Probe $2,200).

Isn't that a dandy first birthday present?  I did not have this idea for my son... however, I do own share in Coca-cola so, perhaps I'll give him one of mine.  We'll see what it does in the next 25 years.  Right now, unfortunately, I've had it for a little over a year and five months and it's has gained a whopping 1.01% return.  But in today's market at least it's positive (unlike Walmart).

Oops, forgot a disclaimer:  I own shares of Coca-cola and therefore this blog post may benefit me.  I am not recommending, however, that you buy any stock unless you research the stock yourself and bla bla bla.  I can not and will not be held responsible for the money you lose or make purchasing any stocks.  That being said, Coca-cola has been around since the year 1886, so, you determine if this company know's what it is doing or not.  And Coke just tastes good.