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

[MarieIG]

DW took all the old ladies watches from my side of family and her's, and took them to a family friend, who was a jeweler designer/repairman. Made a custom bracelet from about 7 watches and some extra gold. Fabulous piece, valued over $20,000 !

How very creative of her, that sounds lovely!

 

[steveark]

My brother and I each inherited one million dollars from our parents. I did spend about $14,500 on a side by side ATV and $21,000 on a new fishing boat. My wife is my riding and fishing partner so we were both wanting to upgrade our sketchy, unreliable hobby gear. However, the other 95% of it went into stocks and bonds and hasn't been touched in the last 8 years. We were already multimillionaires before the inheritance by leading frugal lives. But sometimes you have to splurge a little!

 

[Ginger15]

As an only child (now retired and married 48 years) , my father was a saver from the depression era of course. He had a blue collar job and we lived comfortably. I was NOT the spoiled brat I was called by being an only child, they made sure of that. Fast forward to 2019. Parents lived in house next door to us, in OUR retirement community. I took care of them for 12 years. They were in their 90’s, married 70 years. Mom fell and I had some health issues that I could not lift or take care of her. Reluctantly she went to a beautiful assisted living apartment. My dad had saved money to pass on to me and my children but agreed to pay the $6K a month that my mom would be taken care of and enjoy her time there. She didn’t. My dad stayed in the house next door to me which really made my illness worse (the stress) until he declined so bad missing my mother, hospice became involved. He died 6 months later. I alone sold their house and possessions and it went into my mothers care fund. Covid hit the world, I was diagnosed with cancer, couldn’t see my mom but for 4 times outside that year, and she passed this past summer. They were both in 90’s. I inherited a couple hundred thousand $$$ thanks to my dad. My husband also has cancer. We have no where to go or anything to spend it on. We have helped our adult kids out of debt a couple times so we have decided to keep the inheritance because we may need to go into assisted living/memory care sometime soon. Kids will get what’s left over. My dad would be so sad to know that his saving is going for my healthcare.

 

[UKadventurer]

Without exaggeration, I have to say my generous inheritance from my parents changed my life for the better. It allowed me to FIRE when otherwise I would've worked until I was 67 when my UK and US pensions kicked in. So I was able to retire 9 years earlier.

Furthermore, it will allow me to buy land and build and a home on land in the mountains of Mongolia. We're in the process of buying some land in Mongolia (about 5000m/2 or about 1.25 acres). The land is surrounded by wilderness so it's not really necessary to buy more. The land price is $12k and that will leave more than enough to build a house which I plan to do and possibly a small eco-tourist yurt camp. It's actually a whole project which should keep me busy for many years. I love projects and without them I'd become a Netflix sloth.

I bought a couple of vehicles - I hadn't needed them before as a city dweller in Asian mega-cities. A 14 year old 4WD truck for $4000 and a Surron Storm Bee which is an electric dirt bike. The former is essential for a mountain life, off-road and off-grid. The latter is a toy but a fun one, also suited to mountain life where there are no roads but lots of rideable terrain.

I hope to have projects for solar electricity on site, composting toilets etc and growing some useful stuff like vegetables.

I'd post photos but the forum doesn't really make that easy. Suffice it to say, I thank my late parents every day for giving me the opportunity to FIRE.

 

[NextInLine]

Interesting subject. I inherited about $120K from my mom (who lived soooo below her means) and I was her last remaining child. Both my brothers (who lived way above their means) died around this time so I gave it all to my SIL's who were not left with a lot of assets. I did not need any $ but they did. Neither brother knew much about their financial matters yet their DW's assumed they did!! It gave me great satisfaction in helping them out. For the first time I could say it was worth far more than the money.

That’s a noble and generous move. Lot of people can find way to use that money, even if they don’t need it.

 

[albundyz]

I'm a minimalist. I don't need much to be happy. My small inheritance went to pay for one son's college expenses.

although...... I may have bought a 12-pack of Coors Light

 

[TKDenver]

Only inheritance to date was from my grandfather. Just enough to buy a new car. I have always been a big Camaro fan and got one of the first off the production line when they started making them again in 2010. Drove it for 2 years and had about 2,500 miles on it. Decided to sell it to make it possible to quit at Megacorp and work part-time. Still think about that car and my grandfather!

 

[davidfin]

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

Exactly!

 

[Broland]

Inheritance sharing

Great thread! Several years wife's parents passed and left a small inheritance to her. Wife decided to give half to our children (which I supported at the time). 4 of the 5 kids blew it almost right away, the youngest actually saved it and ultimately bought a house with the down payment that provided.

Recently we received an inheritance and we're fortunate to not need the money and so we were considering passing (at least some) of it to our children. However, the more I've thought about I think it would just be wasted on junk and things that aren't good for them (vagueness intentional).

I'm sure others have similar concerns ... Is there a way others here have used to mitigate this? I'm (somewhat) familiar with trust funds, but I'm seeking other options from this savvy group! Thanks.

 

[BubbaChris]

Similar to RobotMom, we went the RV route. DW's uncle passed without children and each of his 4 nephews and nieces received $25K. DW grew up RVing, but I had almost zero experience. So I was introduced to it 7 years ago when we bought a travel trailer.

That had a major impact on our life as 2 years prior we moved to a region where outdoor beauty is often just a short drive away (we will camp as close as 15 miles from home), and at the time of our purchase we weren't having success finding VRBO destinations for dog-friendly vacations (which worked for us in our old location).

I fell in love with how things worked out for us, and we kept doing it more and more, usually averaging more than 50-nights of camping each year. And since the second half of my career was spent in retail, it gave me practice at setting boundaries around family time.

We upgraded to a fifth wheel over 2 years ago, and it became our mobile social-distancing unit last year. We ended the year with more than 100 nights of camping.

So to the OP's question, buying an RV was cool purchase and we're thrilled to have made that initial investment.

Best regards,
Chris

 

[RetiredHappy]

Great thread! Several years wife's parents passed and left a small inheritance to her. Wife decided to give half to our children (which I supported at the time). 4 of the 5 kids blew it almost right away, the youngest actually saved it and ultimately bought a house with the down payment that provided.

Recently we received an inheritance and we're fortunate to not need the money and so we were considering passing (at least some) of it to our children. However, the more I've thought about I think it would just be wasted on junk and things that aren't good for them (vagueness intentional).

I'm sure others have similar concerns ... Is there a way others here have used to mitigate this? I'm (somewhat) familiar with trust funds, but I'm seeking other options from this savvy group! Thanks.

If the sum is large enough, then a irrevocable trust fund for the children can be set up. Unfortunately, irrevocable trust funds come with huge taxes. I would think that you can leave the money to the estate and hopefully by then they mature and not be stupid with the inheritance. If they continue to be stupid in years to come, you can change your trust/will to leave money to charity.

 

[athena53]

If the sum is large enough, then a irrevocable trust fund for the children can be set up. Unfortunately, irrevocable trust funds come with huge taxes.

A revocable trust might be simpler and the IRS pretty much ignores them- in other words, if the trust is in your name and has investment income, it's treated the same was as income from any other after-tax account with investments. It's also- well- revocable! You'll need to name a trustee and that can be a bank, but you can limit how much they get every year, for example. I've dealt with two good trust attorneys (the first one retired) and they seem to have been there/done that and know the horror stories so if you describe your situation they should be able to design something with appropriate constraints.

 

[Bamaman]

My aunt died 6 years ago when she was 3 mos. short of 100 years old. At the time, our RV was 20+ years old, our pontoon boat was 28 years old and my SeaDoo was 20+ years old. We replaced them with a fifth wheel camper, a new Bennington tritoon and a Yamaha Waverunner.

My parents had died, and I inherited half of their lake house. My aunt allowed me to buy out my sister's interest in the property. It was the best money spent as lake fron prices have skyrocketed.

I was also able to buy my daughter a 2800 square foot house and do some real estate flips without borrowing.

Now that I'm 71 years old, we're shutting down on spending and we are in our forever home. My chronic building is about to stop, and we're just sticking to international travel in the future. Our cool purchases will never be replaced.

 

[Extra Medium]

After DFIL passed several years ago, we put $100k into the mortgage before refinancing, and $220k into two commercial real estate syndications, essentially part-owners of two strip malls. These pay us handsomely and will be key to our RE when it happens.

We’d so much rather have him here, enriching our lives in other ways, but have been determined to honor his wishes for our prosperity by using his gift wisely, and not blowing it. He was pretty frugal, too, and inspirational in many other ways.

 

[mountainsoft]

When my dad died we had just purchased our property and was getting ready to start developing it. Once his estate was settled I inherited about $5000. That was enough to have our septic system installed and buy a good quality tiller, lawnmower, and brush cutter. Despite the small inheritance, it was a pivotal factor that allowed us to start our new home.

I also inherited his cheap little table saw. It probably cost my uncle more to ship it to me than it was worth, but it got me started on my woodworking hobby and lasted me several years before I could finally upgrade. We used that table saw a lot while we were building our house and garage.

Small things, but they all made a big and meaningful impact in our life.

My mom is still alive and is spending the last of her money on assisted living. Unless she suddenly takes a turn for the worst, her money will be gone before she is.

 

[dm]

My wife got a small inheritance this year. $22,000. She is buying some artwork.

My dad is still alive, but his money is going to assisted living. He’s been moved to the memory care center, and at $8,000 a month it won’t be long till he’s tapped out.

 

[Dtail]

A revocable trust might be simpler and the IRS pretty much ignores them- in other words, if the trust is in your name and has investment income, it's treated the same was as income from any other after-tax account with investments. It's also- well- revocable! You'll need to name a trustee and that can be a bank, but you can limit how much they get every year, for example. I've dealt with two good trust attorneys (the first one retired) and they seem to have been there/done that and know the horror stories so if you describe your situation they should be able to design something with appropriate constraints.

Not sure, but I think if the irrevocable trust is classified as a Simple Trust, then the income generated from it still passes through via the K1 distribution to the 1040 return.

 

[athena53]

Not sure, but I think if the irrevocable trust is classified as a Simple Trust, then the income generated from it still passes through via the K1 distribution to the 1040 return.

Thanks for that detail. I'm not sure how mine is classified but my brother who's a tax CPA told me that the type I have has no impact on my taxes- investment results are all treated as personal income, just as if they weren't in the trust. I have two after-tax brokerage accounts in the trust and each had the paperwork to see how the trust was structured and they don't issue K-1s. I hope they're right!

 

[RetiredHappy]

Thanks for that detail. I'm not sure how mine is classified but my brother who's a tax CPA told me that the type I have has no impact on my taxes- investment results are all treated as personal income, just as if they weren't in the trust. I have two after-tax brokerage accounts in the trust and each had the paperwork to see how the trust was structured and they don't issue K-1s. I hope they're right!

I think you are both right. We have revocable trust currently and it is treated as a regular account for tax purposes. I don't even know why I suggested irrevocable trust, which is very expensive for tax purposes, other than no one can touch the funds inside it, but having an independent trustee for a revocable trust does the same as far as distribution of money goes.

 

[Retch The Grate]

Heh, I inherited a decent chunk for that time in my life from my dad's father, and my mom gave us a portion of her inheritance from her mother. All told it was a substantial boost to my investments and really got the ball rolling on my investment returns driving net wealth for the last 13 years. Since money is all fungible, we can think of it and its compounding as having funded the money we put into the house we bought last december, which is actually a really nice way to think about it.

 

[Gumby]

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

The only thing I inherited was a bad attitude.

 

[aja8888]

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

See post #69. Sometimes nothing is not a bad outcome.

 

[Koolau]

I still recall when my granddad passed, mom inherited (wait for it) almost $20K. That was ca 1963 so it was a decent chunk of change. We had lived in an old farm house that had been surrounded by new city. It was a bit better than a slum, but not by much. Because the family business was more or less next to the house, mom and dad didn't want to move very far, but they DID want to move. We moved 2 houses away to an existing but relatively new house. We must have been a site, carrying all our worldlies up the street each evening after school/w*rk.

Ironically, the old farm house is still there and I (plus DW) have lived in it, off-and-on for the past 50 years. We've fixed it up to make it quite livable over the years. It's the old home-stead which is still in the family - we rent it full time to have a mainland spot to land each year (clothes, furniture, TV, etc. etc ready to go when we arrive.) Inheritances CAN be a real blessing.

Our only inheritance was when DW's "rich" uncle died. He left every cousin $10K. That was 3 years ago, so not a fortune. In reality, we didn't need it for our life-style and couldn't seem to spend it for something "frivolous" like 1st class upgrade on our yearly travel. So, we donated it to our favorite charity. That brought us way more joy than new furniture or a cruise.

Since money is such a personal thing, YMMV.

 

[harllee]

See post #69. Sometimes nothing is not a bad outcome.

Yes DH would have been better off with inheriting "nothing." When DH's mother died she had no assets. DH and I paid for the funeral, the funeral cost much more than it should have because DH's 2 siblings talked him into it and told DH they would pay him back for their share of the funeral costs. That was over 10 years ago and DH has never received a penny toward the funeral from either sibling. So DH's inheritance was significantly less than nothing.

 

[reneeh63]

No inheritances, no big gifts along the way. Many of my older relatives died after being in nursing homes for many years. When my great aunt's will was read she didn't have a penny but my mom pointed out all the "remembrances" she'd made in the will of what she had wanted to give everyone back when she wrote her will.

I had another aunt on my father's side who left my sister $30k back in the late '80's but because my sister was on SSDI she didn't get to keep any of it. My aunt didn't know that it should have gone into a trust for her, so money down the tubes. It sure would've been a helluva down payment on a house for me at that time.