I had some family members buy stock in my name when I was younger that sat in a brokerage account. In the first years I was working they were helpful because they’d dropped in value enough to give me a long-term capital loss carryover on my taxes, which meant I got some big refunds when my salaries were lower. Additionally, as a shareholder of some now-defunct companies, I get a not-insignificant amount of letters about class action suits I’d never heard about.