What to do with a big inheritance

[fortheloveofmoney]

I've just inherited 200k. I knew roughly what I'd be getting but I earn 20k a year so this is literally life-changing for me. I'm planning on seeing a financial advisor but I don't just want sensible advice about pensions, investing and mortgages.

What would you do? I'm 25 but I don't want to buy a house because I hate my job and I'm not sure where I want to "settle down". I suppose if I hadn't inheriting anything I'd be doing the normal thing of moving where the jobs are, working my way up the career ladder and slowly figuring out what my life would look like, but I'm also very tempted to just sack the job off and go travelling, but then this would leave me with crap career prospects when I eventually came home.

I don't think there are any "wrong" answers so feel free to tell me what you'd do, whether it's advice or a fantasy. I am so privileged to be in this financial position but at the end of the day my beloved mum is dead and I'd do anything to have her back.

I’d buy a house first, rent it if I didn’t want to live in it. Then I’d take a holiday.

And I’m sorry for your loss.

Ask an independent financial adviser to advise you.

I am sorry for your loss.

I would advise taking your time, particularly with any longer term plans. You can keep the money somewhere safe (splitting it across several institutions to protect it) and keep it relatively easy to access while you are thinking. You're going through a massive upheaval and it may be better to wait than to make big decisions just now.

In general you want to minimise paying tax and fees. So things like ISAs are good. If investing, this means looking into companies and products who will charge low fees, for example global index trackers rather than actively managed funds. There are many articles online that'll explain why, but basically its unlikely that any investment manager is lucky enough to do better than the market often enough to make it worth paying their fees.

When you are able to think about your values and hopes for the future, the answer to what to do with your inheritance may present itself. If you can't think about this yet (which is understandable) then you may find that it's not worth paying an IFA for advice yet. (You either pay fees upfront or they get their fees back through your investments).