If you inherited a sheet load of money...

[Shoe City Thinker]

... what would you do now that your net worth is more than what you made in salary in the past 4 years? Take a new career direction? Go on sabbatical?

 

[DocHunter]

Originally Posted by Shoe City Thinker

... what would you do now that your net worth is more than what you made in salary in the past 4 years? Take a new career direction? Go on sabbatical?

This happened to me a few years back. Quit my job. Did some traveling and then looked for a new career that would be more fulfilling. I now love my job, and even though I took a nice long trip around the US and Europe, still have most of the money I inherited.

I was frugal before my inheritance, and I continued to be frugal after it. I slept on couches and in ****** hotels/hostels when I traveled. I suppose I didn't have to, but that's just the way I am. I hated my job, so it afforded me the ability to find a new job and travel a little. That was all it really changed for me. That and I don't sweat my mortgage payments anymore.

I could've gone out and blown it with some fabulous times, but what a waste of money. The family member that gave it to me would roll over in their grave if I wasted their money. Just try to continue to be yourself without the worries of meeting bills etc. would be my advice. Do something nice like a trip to Europe or take your loved ones on a special trip or even just out to a few nice dinners.

And save, save, save. It's 2010. Things are expensive. Unless you're talking more than $1 million, it's not going to last nearly as long as you think it will.

 

[acidboy]

in general, do everything that you've been putting off for the past few years because of time and money constraints. thats what you do.

 

[bing]

a colleague of mine is going through this right now.... he's 24 and just inherited over $2M in cash and assets... and he's got another similar sized inheritance coming in a decade or so....

it'll be interesting to see how he manages it.

 

[ter1413]

Buy a nice green breast wallet from Hermes!

 

[MrGoodBytes]

concentrate on converting alcohol to urine.

 

[Douglas]

Depends on who you are and where you are in your career. This sounds like a fair amount of money, but it's not "f*ck you money" or permanent vacation money.

If you're 23 and not invested in what you're doing, I'd definitely take some time to travel, maybe a few months or even up to a year. But don't blow it all, and don't waste too much time. Eventually you will have to re-enter the work force and a huge gap in employment will dull your skills and make potential employers wary.

If you're 30 and entrenched in a career, I doubt it's worth throwing that away. Maybe take a vacation you've always wanted to. Pay off some bills, maybe buy a house, augment your rainy day fund or start a savings program for future children or retirement.

If you've got kids, just put it in the college fund.

Whatever you do:

a) Try to save or invest at least 75% of it, probably more. Exception is if you use it to put equity into a reasonable home.

b) Please don't go buy a fancy car.

 

[Joe Cool]

 

[Connemara]

I would immediately pay off all of my debts in full.

 

[Mandrake9072]

Ditto on paying off all my debt. In addition, I'd pay for my little brother's college, as a token of appreciation for how much my parents have sacrificed to send me to college.

I still would go straight into job market. But it allows me to travel the world in the future without worrying about funds a whole lot.

 

[Prada_Ferragamo]

I guarantee that a lot of these people will go bankrupt w/n a few years.

 

[CouttsClient]

This question has been asked and answered before...

I would do nothing. I would put that money with the rest of my money and continue on with my life.

 

[gort]

It really depends on what you mean by "sheet load" in your OP.

A few hundred grand I'd probably just pay off my condo and carry on life as usual. If it were in the 7 figure range it might be a little different.

 

[jenlain]

I work at a company that is primarily controlled by one family. Several of our employees are members of the founding family and they individually own stock worth 9-10 figures. They show up every day and work their asses off (they are also pretty normal and live fairly pedestrian lives). It is pretty inspiring and has convinced me that a large inflow of cash probably would not cause me to change my life too significantly.

 

[Prada_Ferragamo]

The only thing I would do is pay off my student loans and my mom's mortgage, and keep the rest of the money and go on with my normal life regardless of how much money.