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Investing and Inheritance: Take Your Time … Emotions Will Be Involved
December 28, 2018

Plus Three Other Key Considerations

If you’ve received a windfall in the form of an inheritance, you might be surprised at the emotional aspect of the news. Being involved in an inheritance means many decisions, and investing an inheritance can be a complicated process.

Take some time. While you may feel an urgency to look at investment decisions quickly and plan to wait for later to work through your emotions, the opposite may be healthier. Most experts agree that taking some time before any action can be beneficial in the process.

Choose advisors wisely. You may have people all around you, and once they hear that you’ve received an inheritance, they’ll have a lot of opinions about the “right way” to handle the money. Be sure to work with a professional that you trust, and it might be a good idea to come up with a standard response for well-meaning friends and family that want to share their ideas (i.e., “I’ll bring that up to my advisor, thanks.”).

Keep the process positive. Hiring an investment professional to handle the estate can avoid surprise disagreements and keep the process positive for everyone. Long before the time comes for an inheritance to be passed along, it often helps to have an intergenerational meeting in which the plans for the inheritance are disclosed. A neutral advisor can help open the door to good communication and efficiency.

Think through financial categories. You may be tempted to start by scheduling a trip or buying that piece of property you’ve been thinking about for years, but it’s better to do some cool-headed planning in the early months following a windfall. Take a look at these four categories as a suggestion, and determine where you may need to contribute part of the money:

Safety: includes medical, transportation, home repair and insurance

Fun: vacations, entertainment

Future: money that won’t be touched in the near future

Cushion: for true emergencies

You could also include charity as an optional category. Each category does not need to be equal, nor does it need to be decided quickly. Fill out some ideas and then revisit the list in a few days or weeks and make adjustments.

If you have questions and concerns related to a financial windfall, such as an inheritance of the sale of a business, contact us at Lawson Kroeker. Our professional team is trained for investing an inheritance and in the art of building trust through diligence and a focused strategy. At Lawson Kroeker, we not only understand the need to take your time; we encourage it.

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