Any ideas on what to do with £200,000 inheritance

[LucyLoo1972]

as the title really, I will receive an inheritance of £200,000 and wondered whether people had any ideas about what would be sensible to do with it.

we dont have any debts to pay off. Some work is needed on our house - maybe £15K but other than that what would be a good plan to do with it. me and DH are both 53.

A loooong holiday lol

Ha ha - yes. well sadly at the moment im unable to work due to sever mental illness which is a while other sad story. my mum also left me half a share of her apartment in Italy which I loved going to but I cant face going becasue of what has happened to my mind but its an awful long and terrifying story.

Going by your second post, put it in a good pension, or stocks and shares.

And a good accountant!

Definitely do the work on your house so that home is how you want it.
Given your circumstances, you could spend some on private health treatment - private counselling or psychological therapy?
Do you already have a good pension pot? That’s another option - add to it if needed.
In general, if your mental health is restricting your ability to holiday or do “fun” things, then focus on creating a comfortable/relaxing/safe home.

this is a really interesting reply. I wonder what made you talk about the importance of the house being as I want it?

becasue you weren't to know it but one of the factors in my mental health decline was the state of my house. my husabnd opulent engage in any home improvements, or repairs, didnt like me having big plants and is a hoarder .my passion in life apart from my owrk academic work that I worked so very hard at for it to be taken away, was home design and architecture. he bones of he house are beautiful but it pained my soul to live in it as it was with hoards of junk everywhere and no organisation.

Speak to a financial advisor. They are able to advise on sensible investment opportunities and they can help you minimise how much tax you will pay.

Try and enjoy it! Do what you love rather than safe options.
Life is short 😘

It sounds like things may be difficult within your marriage.

That being the case do not merge this money into the family pot, keep it quite separate in your own name. That way you stand a much stronger chance of retaining this money should you divorce in future.

thank you - yes they are very difficult. I will keep it in a separate pot. I dont know if it is true but somebody told me that I should be able to keep my inheritance should we separate.

I am beyond beyond sad that things have taken such a bad turn in our marriage - it al only came about since my breakdwon but I lost absolutely everything when I had psychosis from stress and the complicating factor is that the psychologist treating me thinks a lot of the stress was Brough aobut by conditions in my marriage.

it is short - the painful thing is that my husavndvs extreme hoarding of money and frugality was one of the things that led ot my breakdwon and im no longer able to work in the elite career that was my passion in life. im at a loss.

You've had good advice on your previous threads. Often what stops women leaving is money worries so you're in a better position now.

Do you have children? When we got a sizeable inheritance we gave a big chunk of it to our daughter as a deposit for a flat ... our son's similar amount went into his savings account to buy a property one day.

I recognise your name and story.

Have you considered using your inheritance to leave your husband and start a life without him?

Personally if I was in your situation, I'd use the money to get myself out of the house and somewhere safe (mentally) to aid your recovery with a view to divorcing in the future.

In that case I'd use it to fund a divorce and fresh start. His hoarding is destroying your mental health. If you still love him stay married but live separately. B

thank you - yes I am although im not bale to owrk at the moment

thats very generous of you. but no we dont have children so nobody to give it to there

yes - im considering that and have been looking just now at right move to see what kind of property I could afford. im not able to work at the moment though sadly because of my mental health

Definitely use it to get out of your marriage and build a fresh start for yourself.

You can fund a large deposit for a small and perfect property and have it exactly how you want.

Then you can apply for PIP if your illness stops you working. I’m not an expert but there are calculators to look at what else you could entitled to.

This is the best thing that could have happened!

Do you have any trusted friends who could support you in the next steps?

If not and you’re feeling overwhelmed, can you break it down into very small steps and just start working your way through them?

I guess first off is deciding where you would like to move to and starting to browse on Rightmove to see what’s available.

you sound so positive - im just bereft becasue my mental illness is so severe and I was an amazing accomplished and highly capable perosn before who toed so hard to build this home for my husband.

I hadn't really considered using a deposit and having a small mortgage

I do have friends yes and one has offered to be a guarantor for any mortgage that is not covered by my funds

I think in your shoes I’d keep it in cash for now, if you think you might use it to end your marriage and make a fresh start. I would speak to a solicitor about the likely split of assets if you divorce and steps you should take to keep your inheritance separate (not mixing it into the family finances, but there may be other you can do as well). Split it across two instant access high interest savings accounts for now. Then once you’ve made some decisions about whether and how to leave, you can make some more concrete plans.

Agree with pp that some private health treatment or counselling might also be a good use.

In that case I would invest the money for yourself, especially if you are unable to work at the moment. It sounds like it would be a good idea to make an appointment with a solicitor, to discuss divorce as well and you could ask the implications of this money if you were to divorce.

thanks. I do already have private psychologist every week but I think im beyond help with all the losses ive had, its been really complex. my breakdown was partly related to my husbands reluctance to spend money bizarrely enough - it put me under immense strain

Listening to you, it seems to me that you have the best chance of recovery if you leave your husband. Maybe give this serious consideration. I’ve been in a very serious situation with my mental health. It improved (gradually) when I made a series of major changes to my life. Sorry, also meant to say, use the money to facilitate getting your own property.