To feel like this IS actually a decent safety net?

Your brother's a dick and it is definitely a very significant amount of money!

I would pay off the loan and either go part time or overpay my mortgage with the money I spent paying the loan . An enviable position enjoy it.

Invest that and get the capital to help pay down the mortgage, go 4 days a week if you can, buy yourself something nice or a holiday, pop some in a pension and delete your brothers number from your phone!!

Noted his “wife” earns lots so he’s just being a knob and flexing over you as he can’t flex over his wife. 🤣

What a lovely gift! My policy is to always ignore what brothers have to say - they are only useful if you want a lift anywhere. Park the money and continue to work full time for pension etc.

But also don’t go part time - it’ll ruin your pension and you're too young to be part time unless you’ve got health issues or kids.

Your brother is ungrateful and complacent. Lesson for you OP - don’t discuss money with anyone (not even family) and comparison is the thief of joy. Pay off debt, pay down the rest off the mortgage… enjoy it!

Your brother is a prick. That sum would be life changing for us. It would clear our mprtgage fund all of the up coming major roof repairs we have coming up and leave enough left over for a major holiday of a lifetime.

Agree. I wouldn't cut down on work.

That’s a ton of money - to anyone. Your DB sounds an ungrateful git.

Pay off your debt then use the remaining money to pay off your mortgage asap, then you’ll have permanent housing security. Maybe hold back £15k as your emergency savings fund.

This is why brothers should have a health warning attached to them. Every single opportunity they get to put their sister down 😡….

Congratulations OP, that’s lovely for you, don’t let your twat of a brother diminish your enjoyment!

Pay off your debt and change your mortgage to an offset. £110K offset against your mortgage interest and your mortgage will come down much quicker

I would be so happy if someone gave me £120K

Is going part time going to affect your future pension? I'm not sure why at 37 you'd want to go part time.

You really need the advice of a financial advisor

Of course it’s a substantial sum. But not enough to work part time, for me anyway.
pay off debt, then investments/mortgage/pension. You can re think working days when mortgage is paid off?

I wonder how the gift giver would feel knowing your brothers reaction. I’d regret giving such an incredible gift to someone so greedy and unthankful.
Undoubtedly he and his wife have a higher annual expenditure and therefore perhaps £120k isn’t such a big deal to them but his attitude and comments to you are beyond crass, and make him sound utterly tone deaf.
Congrats OP, enjoy your windfall and the positive changes it brings about to your life

@Hetplane he’s rather shown his character there hasn’t he? And it’s not pretty…

Don't compare yourself to your twatty brother who has no idea how the other half lives, cushioned by his wealthy wife's money. £120,000 would be a transformative amount of money for most people.

Your OP is a bit misleading ,having later said his reaction made you question plans to work part time. Its a lot of money and amazing to pay off your mortgage and debt. But maybe he was indirectly saying its easy to spend this kind of money and are you sure it is a good plan to go part time at work. I think he's been very clumsy about how he said it but sounds like he's trying to say be careful, Its not like a lottery win.

It's a fantastic safety net and most people would be thrilled. I agree with other posters that I don't think it would be sensible to reduce your hours unless you had a pressing need to if you can only save £300 a month on full time hours. Paying the £10,000 debt off would be the first thing to do, unless it's on 0% at the moment. If I were you I would keep £10 - £20,000 in savings and the rest would be some combination of investments, mortgage and pension. With the debt and some of your mortgage paid off and/or some income from investment you will be in a much more comfortable financial situation and you can continue to add to your savings. As other people have said a financial advisor might be a good idea.

Since your DB doesn't seem to think it's a substantial amount of money, and you're struggling to make ends meet, why doesn't he gift it to you? Surely it won't affect him so much since its only 'pocket money'?

I think your DB is being being awful, not least of all ungratefulto the gifter for what is a significant amount of money. Certainly not "pocket money"

this. All of this.

Meanwhile back in the real world…. Are you really asking if a gift of 120 grand is a bid deal? Seriously, 🙄. No you won’t be buying a yacht and quitting your job but it is a significant amount of money for you, so enjoy it.

But surely it depends on your priorities? Time, head space, the ability to pursue hobbies and spend more time with friends and family would be much more valuable to me than a very large house and an SUV.

That is a lot of money. I myself am very comfortable but no way would I think 120k is pocket money. If he felt it was pocket money he should not have accepted the money. Talk to a financial advisor. You could cut down to 4 days a week. If you were to pay 80/90k off of your mortgage how much would it reduce the monthly payments? Or you could keep the payments the same and reduce the term of the mortgage. You have plenty of options open to you. Also use some for a holiday etc.

I’m well off - we have a couple of properties, around £250k in savings, both work full time and both have good pensions.

Household income is in six figures.

I’m 35 with two children and would not dream of going part time.

We holiday well, the children have their clubs, we live in a five bedroom home, I’ve a white SUV 🙄 - we do not go without at all - but we still strictly budget, make slow cooker meals and hold out for the best deals in everything.

£120k is not enough to relax on. Pay off a chunk of your mortgage and set aside enough for a deposit for your child to get on the property market. Get money into your pension. Work smart with your money and make life easier when you get older.

Honestly, that amount of money would be life-changing for me. The fact that it isn't for him just goes to show how fortunate he is - but don't let that detract from how significant it is for you. He clearly doesn't understand what real life is like for the majority.