How many have bought something "cool" after an inheritance?

[disneysteve]

My inheritance 'bought' me my early retirement...it put us over the top. That's pretty cool.

Exactly what I was going to say.


My cousin died May 17 and I inherited his estate. I gave notice on August 3 to drop to part time. If I'm happy doing that, great. If not, the next notice will be to go per diem and just work a few days a month for the heck of it.

 

[harllee]

Exactly what I was going to say.


My cousin died May 17 and I inherited his estate. I gave notice on August 3 to drop to part time. If I'm happy doing that, great. If not, the next notice will be to go per diem and just work a few days a month for the heck of it.

Good for you Steve, I know that your medical practice has been very stressful for you for the last 18 months.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Got a generous inheritance (IMO) but I banked every dime, didn’t buy a thing. ... I think our Dad’s last goal was to see how much he could leave, despite us telling him he should spend away - to which he just smirked every time…

Ditto. DB is using some of his share to fund his kids' IRAs. DW and I have no kids, so what's left over will go to charity when we kick. OTOH, LTC might take it all.

I did "buy" an increased feeling of security in ER. I FIRE'd two weeks before DF died, and although I was confident it sure feels nice to have an ample cushion.

 

[Andromeda]

I inherited $5000 from my paternal grandmother and received the money in 1984, when I was in university. (My parents had actually invested the smaller amount my grandmother left me 7 years earlier, and then passed along the money when I was in university.)

I bought a beautiful job interview outfit with about $150 of the funds, and used the rest to cover a portion of my living costs in my last two years of university. I do regret not investing a portion of the money.

A few years later I inherited about the same amount of money from maternal grandfather. This time, the money arrived while I was in law school. Perhaps I was starting my own tradition, but I decided again to spend about $250 on an interview suit and shoes etc. I wore that lucky suit and shoes to the interviews that resulted in a great (for the time) and well-paid BigLaw job. I used the rest to pay down a small student loan, and was able to graduate debt-free. (This was Canada, where my law school tuition was only about $1500 per year in my graduating year.) By this point, I should have known better and put some of the money into an RRSP - but at least I did the next best thing and paid down debt.

 

[Walt34]

I paid off my mortgage. Yes, I'm that boring.

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger because that's what we did. It wasn't enough to pay off the mortgage but it was enough to push us over the edge to doing so.

 

[Dreamer]

I have never inherited anything. Am I the only one?

We have not either. Both sets of our parents and grandparents are gone and most of our aunts and uncles. We will not inherit anything.

 

[athena53]

In 1983 my then-BF's mother died. It took awhile for the estate to settle and we married in mid-1984. He inherited about $300K. $100K went into the down payment on a house. I'd guess another $100K went for Stuff for him- a new Camaro, a $7K watch, $6K on a sound system (remember reel-to-reel tapes?). The rest got spent on what would have been his share of the household expenses after he lost his job and never found another one. Eventually that ran out and I was the sole support of the household (one child, HCOL area) for the last 5 years of the marriage.

He got 60% of the equity in the house when we divorced in 997 and I got 40%, which amounted to $100K. I put it down on another house, added a $250k mortgage and sold that place at a $200K profit in 1993. So, someone else's inheritance did give me a very good start although I'd been saving and investing on my own since I got out of college. The Ex refused any deal which would require him to pay child support, which was OK because I knew he'd never pay it.

Fast forward to last month. Dad died at age 90 after 18 months in LTC. He left far more than I expected (guess where I learned thrift and investing). My share after being split with 4 siblings is another 7% bump over what I already have, which was far more than I needed, so I'm giving it away over 10 years. Most likely 10% to charity and 90% to my grandchildren's 529 accounts. I may do a trip with DS. DDIL and the 3 kids but the youngest is only 2 1/2 and I want it to be something he'll remember- most likely a beach, possibly Costa Rica so no jet lag or long transatlantic flights. Waiting a couple of years would give the girls (ages 5 and 7 now) time to learn to swim- I want to go snorkeling with them.

There's nothing I really need or want that can't be funded with what I had before the inheritance. My mortgage balance is $62K t 3% fixed. Not worth paying off.

I'd already told Dad that when he left this earth I was likely to put anything I inherited into their 529s. He liked that idea.

 

[bluelight]

DH inherited a sizable amount from his parents who were the original LBYM couple. I was pretty shocked by the amount considering they lived their entire married lives in a small 2 bed / 1 bath cape. Their only splurge in the 20 years I knew them was a new Toyota every 4 or so years.

We put most of the inheritance in practical investments (mutual funds) which helped me pull the retirement plug a couple of years earlier than I expected to be able to. I also insisted that he take some of it for fun. He had told me many stories about his younger days with his Nissan 240Z. We purchased a 4 year old CPO Porsche Cayman with the "fun money". We've had it for 8 years and have never regretted buying it.

 

[bcbix001]

Bought a fishing boat and accessories, use it frequently and always am reminded of my father when I do so. Remainder is banked and will be spent on splurge vacations.

 

[Teacher Terry]

No inheritances for me. We told my mom to travel and have fun with her money which she did. My dad had to stop working at 53 due to a work related illness and by 59 he had a massive stroke and my mom quit working to take care of him. My mom went on a 2 week vacation yearly and I took care of my dad. At 73 he died and my mom lived until 89.

 

[Retired Expat]

By far the coolest thing I did was figure out how to covert some investment property our father had to income income producing property for his children (my siblings) under the 1031 program so the full value could be used to buy new properties and not the net of tax value. Now I know that my sisters who were not nearly as successful financially as I was will have a steady income every month!

Piece of mind is “cool”!

 

[davismills]

Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund

 

[rwdflynavy]

DW's mom passed a little over a year ago. We've received some of the inheritance and will receive more in the next year or so. We were already FIREd, so we have spent some on new vehicles and some house remodels as well as pumping up our investments.

We plan to use the money to delay needing to dip into our investments for a few more years.

 

[Ronstar]

I inherited half a house, paid off my sister, remodeled the house and sold it, then bought the lake lot where we live today.

 

[cathy63]

I inherited a $500 savings bond that my Grandmother had bought in my name to help pay for college. Apparently she bought these bonds for each of her nine grandchildren and then put them away and forgot about them. When she died and my aunt found them and handed them out, I had been out of school for 8 years. I decided not to cash it and kept it for my daughter to use when she want to college.

 

[euro]

I inherited a $500 savings bond that my Grandmother had bought in my name to help pay for college. Apparently she bought these bonds for each of her nine grandchildren and then put them away and forgot about them. When she died and my aunt found them and handed them out, I had been out of school for 8 years. I decided not to cash it and kept it for my daughter to use when she want to college.

Make sure you check how old the bonds are. They quit paying interest after 30 years.

 

[Out_the_Door]

an "inheritance" What's THAT

 

[RetiredHappy]

I just added my inheritance to my "pile". I am helping my son financially so the pile goes to him now and after I die.

 

[pacergal]

In the 1980's, DH received inheritances from his Grandmother/Mom ( they died months apart) and his Great Uncle. We bought some furniture, some nice jewelry, put the rest in CDs.
I received inheritance from my parents. We paid off Heloc, kids college loans, gave kids $10,000 and kept the rest in IRA and brokerage.

We'd give it all back in a nanosecond to have them all back with us though!

 

[harllee]

In the 1980's, DH received inheritances from his Grandmother/Mom ( they died months apart) and his Great Uncle. We bought some furniture, some nice jewelry, put the rest in CDs.
I received inheritance from my parents. We paid off Heloc, kids college loans, gave kids $10,000 and kept the rest in IRA and brokerage.

We'd give it all back in a nanosecond to have them all back with us though!

So true. I am likely to get some inheritance from my mother. However she is age 90 and doing great and I hope she continues to live and spend her money while she has good quality of life. I have always encouraged her to spend and I tell her I just hope she comes out even economically in the end.

On the other hand, DH's parents did not come out even in the end. Both of them used up the small amount of assets they had on medical expenses and at their death we had to pay for their funeral (and years later we are still waiting on DH's siblings to kick in their promised share of their funeral expenses).

When you have to pay for funeral expenses out of your own pocket is that a "negative inheritance"?

 

[Winemaker]

DW received a modest inheritance from "DF", which we used to pay off a second mortgage on our first house. We had borrowed from the seller the amount of a down payment. It was a 4 year balloon loan, interest only payments to their son, who was goint to college at the time. It was his monthly stipend. It worked out great for everyone; as DW was adopted, and found her "DF", right after we bought the house.

 

[COcheesehead]

I got a tiny inheritance from my Dad. My wife got a little more from her Dad, but both of the inheritances went into investments so we could retire early. So in a way, we bought early retirement.

 

[kgtest]

I inherited a 5gallon gas can when cleaning out Grandpa's apartment after he passed. Then I started a successful tree company and still use it to fill up my equipment. Sometimes I think of him when busting a$$ out in the woods. Its a side hustle on top of my IT gig. Apparently he carried it when he worked to clean all the rest stops along a 250 mile stretch after he was forced into disability retirement. Also inherited a couple of plastic toy train locomotives from him, only because my DS was about 1 at the time and showed an interest so the family gave them to us.

I will inherit 2 trust funds and a massive tax torpedo once DF and the DFIL pass along. Only plans are to buy a corvette but likely DF will buy that before he passes so I won't need to buy it and will just inherit his.

 

[kgtest]

DW inherited enough to put her through college, pay for her modest apartment while attending and then her first two automobiles, and a downpayment on a third car that she still drives today. Also inherited her Roth IRA that will push us past the ER goal posts. It really does pay to start saving early, as her grandma passed away almost 22 years ago. She has never had to pay for a car in her adult life. Totally grateful.

 

[youbet]

an "inheritance" What's THAT

+1 Yeah, us too!

When DW and I lost the last of our parents a few years ago (DW's mom), that stopped the significant outflow of money and time we experienced over the years helping them in various ways. Although we were glad to do it, it was tough at times. Now the challenge is trying to not feel guilty over being somewhat grateful that the almost daily trips to the NH (a half hour drive each way) and assorted expenditures are no more.........

You might say our inheritance had a negative value in terms of monetary value but the cessation of the money and time outflow has been a big positive in our lives.