Exciting inheritance! How to hold it?

[Lionessadmirer]

My lovely uncle has left me and my two brothers £450k each after inheritance tax (we have just sent off IHT400).

For my brothers this is life changing. And it means I won’t have to support them financially.

My husband and I have a specific long term financial ambition to do with our house. But until the time comes to action that, we don’t need the money. We are both busy working full time.

my uncle self-invested nearly all his money via hsbc and ii. Given what I say above, is the sensible thing to do the same?

lastly, how should isas be used here please?

thank you and please raise a glass to our uncle who lived well and died content.

Don't agree.

Nonetheless - the Trending algorithm has been approved by MN - it is their responsibility to manage it and the consequences are when you ask for help or support on a forum allocated to your particular need the Trending algorithm means you might as well post in AIBU or chat.
Give MN an out if you wish, assume they are naive but I think it's about generating traffic and £££.
And then you get a MN moderator coming on to a thread with some crap about comments not being in the spirit of MN and not being supportive - they are the masters of the pile on - they know exactly what they are doing.

This is incorrect.

For money/investments held in an ISA there is no tax to pay. Not on dividends, interest, capital gains or withdrawals.

If held in a pension there is no tax on interest, dividends or capital gains, but withdrawals from the pension - over and above the tax free 25% - are subject to income tax.

Savings accounts and general investment accounts are all subject to dividend/interest tax (as relevant to investment type) - regardless of whether the money is withdrawn or is rolled up in an accumulation fund (the latter makes tax harder to calculate, so income funds are better in a GIA). Investments in a GIA are also subject to capital gains tax when sold. But these are not subject to income tax if the funds are withdrawn.

The fact that the op starts her post with the words ‘my lovely uncle…’ gives a pretty clear indication.

Sorry for your loss OP but what a gift your Uncle has left you & your brothers. It is a shame he never got to see your reactions as I bet he would have the biggest smile ever and to have lived well and been thoughtful enough to have left his niece and nephews such a huge life changing amount is bloody exciting.

Please help your brother as your Uncle would not want him struggling but to live worry free.

Yes it’s important to save and do all the important stuff but OP you only have 1 life so pls go out there and do the 1 thing you have always wanted to do if you ever came into money……😉

Live well like your Uncle did and pass on that wealth so your children and their children will always have a financial cushion to fall back on should they ever need it!!!

This is a fabulous start to 2026 for you all & I am really happy for you & your brothers.

Oh that’s very useful, thank you.

Lucky you

The pension part is.

The ISA part would be, if it were true. It only applies during probate; when the money transfers to you it is removed from.the ISA wrapper.

Delighted to see another "Rebel" on here - I agree that a FA is not absolutely necessary. Depends if the OP has the time to watch the YouTube videos. I've not used a FA, but friends have, and have unfortunately ended up with St James Place (boo). I'd also add - take your time in deciding what to do !

May I ask what you deem, small low fee. It really infuriates me as an independent financial advisor who has studied hundreds of hours, spent thousands on exams and study material, pays out a third of my earnings to a network for compliance, legal and regulatory support each month plus additional costs on a monthly basis on research software, cash flow forecasting software, plus my tax and NI to have belittle our experience and expertise by suggesting our fees are expensive.

If your car was faulty would you go to a mechanic or the local petrol station and speak with the attendant.

The OP has a significant, life changing amount of money and needs skilled guidance and advice and by the sounds of it so do her siblings.

Please do not go around undermining what we do because we add significant value to our clients.

Thank you. Rant over. Have a good evening.

I had to leave this thread as it has been totally derailed by posters who think they’re in AIBU and others giving the usual ‘advice’ about premium bonds.

OP, if you don’t have time to watch something like Rebel Finance School, the best thing you can do is find a really reputable, completely independent financial advisor who will agree (for a set fee) to give you initial advice based on your individual circumstances. Do not agree to any arrangement that involves an ongoing percentage based fee.

Absolutely agree that with the amount in question you have to engage a certified and approved IFA to ensure investment that is diversified and works for your holistic needs and covered with respect to HMRC elements.
Make sure you spoil yourself in doing something you've always wished for and that'll make you happy and to raise a glass at ever opportunity to your uncle.
Also, how lovely to support your siblings.

I don’t consider paying someone to manage my portfolio a waste of money any more than to do my cleaning - another of MN’s favourite “waste of money”.

I think the reason why people are advising against spending on IFAs / wealth management is because so many of them are complete crap. They're not personally criticising you! A good advisor is priceless, a poor one can lose you a significant sum while earning a large commission at your expense.

And that’s fine as long as you’re informed.

An actively managed fund will rarely outperform the market and coupled with ‘high’ fees which erode the compounding effect can mean your retirement pot is many thousands of pounds lower than it would otherwise be. If you’re happy with that outcome based on the fact you are taking a hands-off approach, then all well and good.

If you’re paying someone to manage your money because you think this means your money will perform better, you are being naive.

My pension pot is fine, my investments are fine. I simply do not have time to manage a diverse portfolio with a variety of asset classes. It will definitely perform better for paying someone to manage it properly.

Maybe google ‘why dead investors make the best investors’ - you’d be surprised how not managing your money is often a better long term strategy.

At first I would put it in a high interest saver. That's what I did with my Grandma's inheritance. It wasn't nearly that much but we had discussed together what we going to do with it. If you have an idea in your head that you wouldn't normally be able to afford then do that, I got Invisalign, we also put some towards our mortgage and a nice holiday. I'm sure he's left you this money to enjoy so do enjoy it.

What is your fee?

I'd also question whether paying an IFA to manage £450k is worth it. If you're bright, intelligent and willing to do a bit of research you'll soon work out what your best strategy is. It astonishes me how many people happily give away control of their savings to people they have no real means of vetting or holding accountable. If you don't understand your finances well enough to manage, you probably don't understand them well enough to check whether you're being hoodwinked into thinking you've been receiving gold star service, when actually all that's happened is that your IFA has taken tens of thousands for investing your cash in an index tracker!

My inlaws were like this - FIL/MIL always saying their investments had done 'really well' with St. James Place, but no idea how it compared to how the market had done generally (i.e. significantly less well after fees!).

Oh do give it a rest and get over it.

You can start up as a financial advisor with just a Level 4 Diploma qualification recognised by the FCA. That's the equivalent of a first year of a degree. It's pretty basic stuff, but IFAs like to make it sound like a complicated dark art!

Fair enough. I tried my best.

I recently inherited a large amount and am still waiting for probate to go through before I can begin to do anything with it.
My initial advice would be ISAs for this year and next (from 6/4) .. for you and your husband separately if you’re happy to do that, And then max on premium bonds, which I think is currently £50k per person.
If you just wanted to invest for yourself that’s £70k and £140k if you do the same in your husband’s name.
A good financial adviser will suggest options for the rest. I have a small managed investment fund (pre inheritance) which has been running at 14% ish this year so there are good returns out there.
But. Do something fun with some of the money? Just to remember your uncle… the memories of what you do will always remind you of him.

Unnecessary!