40th Birthday Gift Ideas for Your Brother

Your brother turning 40 is a good excuse to do more than a card and a beer. The best 40th birthday gift for a brother marks the milestone with something he will use for years or a story he will keep retelling. These 12 ideas range from free to a proper splurge. Our top pick is a song about his first 40 years, because it can hold the jokes and the pride at the same time.

Press play on a real Songbond song

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry his name and your stories.

12 40th birthday gift ideas for your brother

1. A song about his first 40 years ($39.90). Give us the childhood stories, the nickname that stuck, the job he fell into and the family he built. Songbond turns it into an original song, ready within 24 hours.
2. A roast dinner in his honor. Host it at your place, invite the people who have known him longest and let each one tell a story. You cover the food.
3. A good bottle and two engraved glasses. If he drinks whiskey or bourbon, pick a bottle one step above his usual and have the glasses marked with his birth year. Usually $60 to $150.
4. A leather weekender bag. The bag he takes on every trip for the next 20 years. Expect $100 to $250.
5. Race entries for the two of you. A 10k, a charity bike ride or an obstacle course. Train together and cross the line together. Usually $40 to $100 each.
6. A record player and albums from the year he was born. Start his collection with three records: one from the year he was born, one he wore out as a teenager and one he has never heard. About $100 to $250 all in.
7. A track day or driving experience. A few laps in something fast, with an instructor in the passenger seat. Usually $200 to $500.
8. A video of 40 people saying one thing. Friends, cousins and old teammates each film a short clip. Stitch them together and play it at the party. It is free, but start a month ahead.
9. A fitness watch. Useful if 40 is the year he has promised to get back in shape. Charge it and set it up before you wrap it so it works the moment he opens it. Around $100 to $300.
10. A hot-towel shave and haircut. An unhurried hour in an old-school barbershop. Usually $40 to $80.
11. A tailored shirt. Measured to fit, in a color he would not pick himself. About $80 to $200.
12. A brothers' weekend away. A cabin, a lake, a deck of cards and no schedule. Split the cost, usually $200 to $500.

How to choose his 40th gift

At 40, your brother is probably busy with work and family and rarely spends money on himself. Pick the gift that gives him a break or something to be proud of. If he already has everything he needs, look for something he will do rather than own.

• If he is a busy dad: the brothers' weekend, the barbershop hour or the video.
• If he is a thrill seeker: the track day or the race entries.
• If he is the quiet type: the record player, the engraved glasses or the song.

How to run a 40th roast that stays kind

A roast works when everyone leaves laughing, including him. Keep the speakers to four or five, with two minutes each. Ask every speaker for one tease and one sincere line, in that order, and send them the rules a week ahead so nobody improvises. Rule out his marriage, his money and his job unless he already jokes about them himself. Go last, keep yours short, and finish by playing his song. That way the night ends on something warm instead of the loudest joke.

Make his 40th birthday song

Create a 40th birthday song for your brother. Send us his story, and his song is ready within 24 hours. If the party is tonight, express delivery gets it to you in about an hour.

Also in the Journal: 40th birthday songs and songs for a brother.