Did inheritance in middle age change your life?

[dragonsbbq]

We may or may not inherit in the future depending on circumstances, it could be very little or a substantial amount. I wonder how it would change things for us if we did inherit as we have already had to work hard to get on the housing ladder and our DC are nearly finished school. I think it might have made a bigger difference to inherit at a younger age. Has anyone inherited a substantial amount and how did it change things for you?

We received inheritance in our 30s from DH parents. Dh mum died when he was 25 followed by his dad when we was 34. We paid off our mortgage, changed our cars, new fence and shed and a big holiday which was lovely. My ds didn't know his grandparents so it was a nice present from them to him. As we have no mortgage, dh could change his job. He now works a normal 37.5 hr wk not 50 or 60 hours like he did. He earns less but that's ok. He still works shifts but has every other wkend off. For us, that is life changing to have him around more to be part of the family and marriage. That's what the inheritance has given us.

I inherited 50k aged 40

Paid for the extension we were self building and dh car

Not as life changing as I'd assumed 50k would be (we each earn 42k and 50k) but meant we avoided debt

I received a sum aged 45 that meant I could pay off £25k of my mortgage (was very low at that point and reduced my remaining term by 12 years, paid off in full now 3 years later). I've put the same amount again in savings for both my DC. This will give them a very decent chunk towards a deposit when they finally think about flying the nest, so I suppose life changing for them, but life-easing for me.

I have considered that any potential inheritance could be used to help DC further down the line, to buy property specifically. We have put some savings by for university costs but not for helping them with a deposit.

My DM inherited from her mother, when DM was 70. She didn’t need the money and, in an unbelievably generous gesture, varied the will so that it funded the house extension that we were struggling to build. That was absolutely life changing for us.
When I inherit from DM, which could possibly be substantial depending on care home fees etc, I intend to do the same for my adult DC. I hope that it gives them some options with their own lives that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. (If there is enough, I intend to have an amazing holiday of some sort, too!)

We were in our 60s before inheriting anything. We passed everything down a generation.

We received an inheritance that allowed us to fix up the house, new kitchen and bathroom, exactly the way we wanted and put in a garden office right before Covid hit. It’s been life changing in that we’ve had a better quality of life for living in a beautiful house and my husband can wfh full time.

We inherited a small amount when I was in my 50s, but more when I was in my 60s and my husband was in his 70s, by which time we had paid off our mortgage and retired.

We also passed most of it on to the next generation. It has helped our children, who are in their 20s, to get onto the property ladder when they wouldn’t otherwise have been able to do so.

Interesting that passing it down a generation seems to be quite common.

If we inherited now while our kids are young adults/ late teens we would feel much more confident in advising them to go to university and be able to maybe support them buying houses. Their futures would be much better set up.
Probably if we as inherited when they were little, we would have gone on nicer holidays and bought a bigger house. So for their lives, probably it's better to inherit now.

If it was a huge amount of money, we also might be able to retire earlier.
We were pretty skinned when they were the full, but we always managed to drag out a decent holiday as we prioritise that over having a car or anything new ever.

Around £250k in our 40ies. Late 40ies for DH.

Started a business and extended our house.

if i got some id use part of it for my projects eg container gardening

No, we paid it off the mortgage, but it was a drop in the ocean sadly.

Can I ask if you started a business that enabled you to leave your other jobs and if it ended up being a worthwhile move? As this is something I have also wondered about. I have never had capital for the initial boost a business would need.

I received a significant inheritance when I was 35. Enough to buy a large house in the SE outright, and do some extensive renovations to it, as well as take some amazing holidays. I also inherited a rental property. So yes it changed our lives to a large extent because it meant we could afford things we wouldn’t otherwise have been able to, and it enabled me to remain in part-time work permanently rather than having to go FT. It also means we will be able to help our two DCs buy properties, and hopefully leave them some inheritance when the time comes.

But it didn’t improve my mental health. Money can’t buy everything. But I do recognise my privilege.

Never received any inheritance (and not likely to ever to)…I’ve started putting my money into accounts for DS. I’d rather see him benefit from it than it just going to him when I die. Solves IHT challenge too.

I’ve gone from being middle class skint to being able to contemplate retiring at some point in my 60s. Tbh it’s probably better to have the money now, it gets harder and harder working.

To add- our DCs were 7 and 4 when we inherited so it was very timely.

My dad died in my early thirties and I inherited about £70k in another currency. It formed the majority of our housing deposit and let us onto the housing ladder about 3 years earlier than we would have managed ourselves. where we live is very expensive so alas it’s only about 1/7 of a house here.

my brother lives in a much cheaper area and its about 1/4 of his mortgage. I think he felt much more comfortable switching to a different joB with a much smaller mortgage

Yes, 6 years on it employs both of us and 4 others. It is hard work and a bit stressful at times, but worth doing.

Yes. DF left me 50k. To some, it may not seem much but it changed my life, because I stopped worrying about money for the first time ever. I could replace rotting windows, a broken fridge freezer and flooding washing machine without feeling sick at the cost, put in a new boiler, take DC on a big holiday and still have money in reserve. Weirdly, I seem to have spent it several times over. I kept topping up the savings account it was in whenever I could, so the safety net money that I never had before stays at around 15-20k.

Still waiting for any type of inheritance, determined to use it to give kids deposits for a housing then retire comfortable, I've waited my entire life not giving it all away.

Received £100k in 2008 paid off my mortgage, saved £10k in a 5 year tracker that paid out £15k in 2013 that paid for a 6 week holiday to Australia. Not sure where the rest went,

I totally agree with this. Not hoarding for inheritance but helping Dc as much as possible while they are young and need a start in life.

That 10 year tracker was a good investment. I've never done anything that might generate that much interest.