What to do with £100,000 inheritance?

[Pitstop1986]

This is not meant to be a show off post...

I was brought up in a very poor household. We never had money, went without and really struggled. I worked since I was 13 years old. Always saved, I went to college, but also worked alingside studying,. I went straight into full time work after college, and worked a second job in the evenings and saved. I bought my first property at 19 and always made mortgage overpayments and continued to save. At 25, I put myself through uni, got a better job and worked really hard.

Now in my early 40s, I am married with 2 kids, own my house outright, own my car outright and have enough money left over from my wages to put into savings/investments each month. Saying that, i don't spend frivolously, i am still in the "i am poor" mindset that i grew up in and don't like to waste money. I have just found out that i am due to inherit approximately £100,000 and I don't know what to do with it...

Would you invest, splurge on a holiday, do some work in the garden (my house was only built 5 years ago, so I don't need to do any home improvements) plus, I don't need a new car- i'm happy to drive mine until it falls apart.

What would you do, if you were financially comfortable and was about to get a quite substantial sum of money?! I do love holidays, but we usually only go once every 18 months or so.

Firstly well done, your hard work and savvy has got you to a good place at your age. My suggestions:
Spend a few thousand for a nice family holiday.
Look at pensions/investments and tax avoidance where possible. It might be worth using an advisor just for tax avoidance. Mine saved me paying a chunk of tax I wouldn't have avoided paying through my own ignorance.

I would be very careful about keeping quiet about the money; people can be grasping and worse.

There is the emotional side to consider to, where has the inheritance come from/how close were you to them. Whist there are some very sensible ideas here I would want to know whether the person who left the money gave any indication of what to do with it. Were they someone who worked hard all their lives, scrimped and valued thrift and steady finances. Or someone who enjoyed life to the max and wanted to give you some joy with their gift.

You sound like you are very financially cautious and comfortable, you are well away with the sensible future planning. Why not put chunk of this, say £10-15k to enjoy with your family on more frivolous things that you may not feel able to justify (mentally) from your usual income: a memorable family holiday (Disney, Canada, Lapland what ever floats your boat), Disney on Ice, personal shopping experience and makeover, family photoshoot, cookery course, Open University, buy all the camping kit you need to take your kids away for years to come. Obviously tailored to your interests!

If you were struggling then of course the right thing to do would be to invest it all in your kids or your pension, but you are financially stable already so it's ok to have some fun as well.

Do you have funding set aside for your kids potential University costs?

I’d prob split between topping up pensions and S&S isa. Don’t think it’s big enough to need a IFA.

its not a life changing amount. Park into ISAs and pensions and move on without telling a soul.