Inheritance - how would you spend?

[lisaross]

My advice is get out of debt!!

Frequent poster - temporary account since I would rather not have people know my debt

I am getting a very unexpected inheritance of $40,000 to $45,000. Just wondering what others would do with the money. I have my thoughts - just curious what others would do.

Currently have our house on the market prior to knowing I would get this inheritance. Had to deal with some maintenance/upgrade issues to get the house ready and most of it went on credit with the intent to pay it off with some of the equity when we sold the house. That is about $12K.

other credit card debit of about $4K - old stupid purchasing debt that I have just been rolling over onto 0% interest credit cards so haven't focused much on paying it off.

one car paid off, other car owe about $13K at 3% interest, $295 a month

braces - $200 a month, about $3K left to pay off,0% interest

that's the total debt

not much in the kids college accounts 4- 7 years out. Maybe $10K each. 401K is in good shape (until the next stock market drop, ha). I am pushing toward community college for the first year or two.

And, to be honest, I would like to have some of it to be found fun money - a trip? some new things for the new home when we finally sell our house?

So - what would you do with the windfall? Any fun money spending?

 

[EPCOTatNight]

Save it.

Sent from my IPad using DisBoards.

 

[tinatark]

On the other hand, how feasible is it that you will be able to save $40,000 anytime soon. My family would have such peace of mind knowing that even if we did not save anything on a month to month basis that money was there growing steadily if invested properly for a true emergency or for the future.
Perhaps down the road it can be used for education.

I agree with this - we have a lump sum in savings - enough to pay off debt with $$ left over... but do not want to dip into savings - those $$ are hard to replace! Another consideration for the savings route - if your kids are 4-8 years from college - they're 2-4 from cars - help them get into decent used cars - $4-6k each, instead of starting out with junkers or car payments.

 

[Lisa71]

Pay off debt then some in the 529 plans for the kids, some in savings, and a modest trip to Disney.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I'd pay off bills first, then allot 1K for DH and 1K for me to spend as we'd like on whatever we'd like - but that's because we've already got our vacation funding in place. If we hadn't, we'd likely allot a nice sum for vacation. Then put the rest into something like a mutual fund until we decide what we'll do in retirement, then take it out to buy land or a retirement home.

It's about twenty years away, but we're thinking about what we will do in retirement already. . .a healthy chunk of change not tied up in retirement, but that could be used for our retirement would be very appealing! (Huh. Now I know what I'm doing with next year's tax refund check, lol! It won't be tens of thousands, but it will be a nice chunk to start investing.)

 

[LilyWDW]

I recently came into a bit of money myself. Mine was life insurance that my mom had plus her 401K. The only debt I have is student loans which is more then the money I received. After much thought and deliberation, here is what I did (and am doing):

1) Traded in my car and her car (they were both in her AND my dad's name so it was legal) and payed cash for a new car. I have no car payments on a brand new 2014 Subaru Forester. This is something my mom suggested I do before she passed so I would have a reliable vehicle especially since I am hoping to move back north and having the all the time all wheel drive will help.

2) Used a bunch of it at two separate funeral homes. One to do the body preparation and another for the actual spot for her as she will be inurned in Indiana and not Tennessee where I currently live. Luckily, a Catholic Church in the town my family lives in in Indiana was more then willing to hold her funeral even though we were never members there personally. They were amazing. ALso in this are fees for my lawyer and accountant to help me through the wonderful world of probate.

3) I am putting aside enough to have a 10%-15% down payment on a house in about a year. Since I do not want a huge house (2 bed, 2 bath min and 3 bed, 3 bath max) I have more then enough for this ready to go.

4) I have an amount put aside to take a couple of trips to Disney the next couple of years including the ability to take my cousin, her husband, and their 2 little boys in 2015. This was a wish of my mother's before she passed. She wanted me to be able to take those kids to experience a place SHE loved.

5) The rest is put aside for emergencies and "other" things. Some will be used when I move for sure as I would need to hire a truck and help as I don't have family that can help with the actual drive up. I have family that can help at the destination unload the truck though. Some will also be used to pay a deposit for an apartment to start. Things like that.

 

[DawnM]

I personally would do some needed work on my house (I would like to add two bedrooms and bump out the back end of the house.)

However, in your situation I would pay off all debts and put the rest aside until your house sells and then have a bit of fun.

Dawn

 

[meajuly5]

Loved the suggestion of paying off debt and putting some money into m 529 or savings if needed and then using some of the money you would have allocated towards the above for saving for a vaca-- you get ahead, have piece of mind and have something fun to look forward to. The money for Ed would be a priority for me with your kids so close to going.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

After my Grandma passed away, my mom got/is getting money.
She paid off all of her credit cards and my school loan
She wants to get herself, my dad and me new cars
She will probably put a pretty good down payment on a house

I would definitely use some for fun money

But I'd also put some away in savings

 

[davedmaine]

Forget about what everyone thinks you should do with it.

What would the person who left it have wanted you to do with it?

 

[ShayBells]

I would pay off debt (or at least some) and than I would buy a car (I'm in desperate need of one that doesn't break down on me at every turn) and than I'd plan a trip to Disney!!

Good luck with your decision. Money like that seems to fly fast.

:

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards