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Original poster

Young adult inheriting money - what to do with it?

112 replies

UnexpectedlyRetired · 01/04/2026 19:22

Hi everyone,

A bit of background here. DC is late 20s with a degree, but has been out of work for a couple of years and there seems to be nothing on the horizon. Every now and then she gets an interview (first these were in her chosen field, IT, but now it's more likely to be shop work etc.). She never gets the job. She has too much in savings to claim UC, so basically has zero income.

She is due to get an inheritance of a few 10s of thousand. What would you advise? Is there a way to improve her situation? She is really not entrepreneurial, and neither am I, so I can't help her there.

I've been thinking

  • deposit on a buy to let - but it seems the time has passed to do this and everyone is now pulling out. I'm not sure if she would get a mortgage for this with no income, and near us you'd be looking at £200k+ to buy somewhere. She'd have the deposit though, if income wasn't required.
  • investing the money in retraining - in what? It would need to be something with a high likelihood of a job afterwards in order to be worthwhile. Are there any fields with shortages now?
  • invest the money in ISAs etc - simplest but probably the lowest return, and doesn't solve the overall problem of moving on with her life

Any ideas?

OP posts:
SuburbanKel · 01/04/2026 19:26

If she is not going to work anytime soon, she's going to need it to live off. I know full well the state of the job market for graduates but a 'couple of years' is a long time to be out of work. My own 24yr old took 5 months to find a new role, which she has just started. Retraining sounds very much like a good idea.

Usernamenotfound1 · 01/04/2026 19:36

does she want to retrain?

she could use it to live off for a few months while she volunteers/temps in her chosen field to get some experience.

or expand her search country wide and use it to relocate?

everyoldsock · 01/04/2026 19:43

I would want to know why she’s getting through to interview stages but not being successful at getting the job. Has she asked for feedback? I do mean this gently when I say that maybe she’s not getting jobs because she’s (possibly) living an easy life at home, has an income of her own (savings) and therefore not motivated, especially knowing she has an inheritance coming in? Two years is a hell of a long time to be out of work and this won’t be making her attractive to potential employers.

How about social work? The care industry are also always looking for people.

BruFord · 01/04/2026 19:48

I would want to know why she’s getting through to interview stages but not being successful at getting the job. Has she asked for feedback?

@everyoldsock I agree, she needs to find out why she’s not progressing to shortlists, something is holding her back. What is she doing with her time aside from job hunting?

Could she get further training in IT to update her skills?

Original poster
UnexpectedlyRetired · 01/04/2026 19:51

Some answers

  • She doesn't need it to live on (she is living at home).
  • I'm not sure social work is a good fit - she is ND and is not really a people person. IT was a good fit for her but is now in the doldrums, she's not the only IT person I know out of work.
  • She is happy to relocate and has applied for jobs all over the country (professional ones anyway, for casual ones she has applied locally)
  • I know 2 years is way too long to be out of work, but what the hell can she do about that? She does apply for jobs, she's not just sitting and waiting for them to land in her lap.
  • Feedback on interviews - she has asked numerous times, and they never bother to reply. The last one (hotel) did actually respond, and said she did a great interview but other candidates had more relevant experience. Of course they did, but how can she fix that? She has been volunteering, but that hasn't helped.
OP posts:
Cismyfatarse · 01/04/2026 19:52

If retraining she should look at the trades. Electrician. Plumber. Even painter and decorator. These are all in incredibly short supply, pay well and offer the option of self-employment.

Original poster
UnexpectedlyRetired · 01/04/2026 19:55

BruFord · 01/04/2026 19:48

I would want to know why she’s getting through to interview stages but not being successful at getting the job. Has she asked for feedback?

@everyoldsock I agree, she needs to find out why she’s not progressing to shortlists, something is holding her back. What is she doing with her time aside from job hunting?

Could she get further training in IT to update her skills?

As above, employers mostly can't be bothered to give her feedback. Hmm Sometimes they don't even bother to tell her she didn't get the job. Hmm She's done a couple of further IT courses but having had one experienced IT friend end up as a barista and another still out of work after 18 months unemployed I'm wondering if she should abandon IT and look at other options.

OP posts:
BruFord · 01/04/2026 19:57

@UnexpectedlyRetired Ah, it does sound as if a change of direction might be best.

Original poster
UnexpectedlyRetired · 01/04/2026 19:58

Cismyfatarse · 01/04/2026 19:52

If retraining she should look at the trades. Electrician. Plumber. Even painter and decorator. These are all in incredibly short supply, pay well and offer the option of self-employment.

Definitely worth considering.

OP posts:
Usernamenotfound1 · 01/04/2026 20:07

Has she tried public sector?

police, for example- if she’s interested in investigation and crime IT and digital forensics is a rapidly expanding field. It’s been a good fit for my ND friends as the application process is very tick box- you have a set of criteria to match and he who scores highest gets the job. They also find the police as a whole is very supportive, you can usually find a contact to guide her through the process, invite her for a site visit etc. Feedback is nearly always given if wanted.

most is on the job training so she wouldn’t need to retrain. There’s also a lot of more standard IT jobs in the public sector as there are databases everywhere.

Usernamenotfound1 · 01/04/2026 20:07

Has she tried public sector?

police, for example- if she’s interested in investigation and crime IT and digital forensics is a rapidly expanding field. It’s been a good fit for my ND friends as the application process is very tick box- you have a set of criteria to match and he who scores highest gets the job. They also find the police as a whole is very supportive, you can usually find a contact to guide her through the process, invite her for a site visit etc. Feedback is nearly always given if wanted.

most is on the job training so she wouldn’t need to retrain. There’s also a lot of more standard IT jobs in the public sector as there are databases everywhere.

pimplebum · 01/04/2026 20:11

she may benefit from getting interview training from a ND charity or a kindly friend who can mock up an interview situation and coach her to come across better . Id put money on her coming across ND in her interviews and no one is going to give feed back of “ she was a bit off maybe autistic?” Are they ?

there are charities ( used be referred by the dole office but not sure what the situation is now ) that can help - good luck its a tough situation out there at the moment

as for the money i would always invest in a property - can you not get a buy to let in your name and invest it for her ? Get advice regarding your will and allowances

basically get advice from several financial advisors and take it from there

Original poster
UnexpectedlyRetired · 01/04/2026 20:19

@Usernamenotfound1 I think she has, yes. For a long time she refused to keep us in the loop about her job search - she is a very private person - so I don't know the details, but she's applied to a lot of places.

@pimplebum, yes investing it on her behalf would be an option, perhaps, though really I don't want to run her life, I want to help her find her way.

OP posts:
DierdreDaphne · 01/04/2026 20:21

Cismyfatarse · 01/04/2026 19:52

If retraining she should look at the trades. Electrician. Plumber. Even painter and decorator. These are all in incredibly short supply, pay well and offer the option of self-employment.

Second this.

Octavia64 · 01/04/2026 20:23

not recommending this but my dc spent it on five guitars a drum kit and a load of music recording and editing equipment and then spent a year doing the local pubs with a variety of mates.

he kept all the music tech stuff and sold the guitars (for a better drum kit, natch).

Original poster
UnexpectedlyRetired · 01/04/2026 20:24

@pimplebum I'm pretty sure you're right about her coming across as ND. In fact I'm coming to the conclusion that all the education in the world isn't worth as much, employment-wise, as having a winning personality and the ability to convince people you are worth hiring.

OP posts:
DierdreDaphne · 01/04/2026 20:24

And plumbing and electrical work both require a high level of nimeracy to do well..If she's good at that she could learn to design systems.as well as install them (things like aircon, underfloor heating etc all need calculations to do them well)

Specialagentblond · 01/04/2026 20:26

Has she looked at apprenticeships? She can start off with something eg office admin or accounts and work her way up. There’s even things like dental nursing, teaching assistants etc.

Original poster
UnexpectedlyRetired · 01/04/2026 20:28

Specialagentblond · 01/04/2026 20:26

Has she looked at apprenticeships? She can start off with something eg office admin or accounts and work her way up. There’s even things like dental nursing, teaching assistants etc.

I'm not sure, I'll talk to her. Apprenticeship would be ideal I think, but a lot of apprenticeships seem to be aimed at school leavers, or people on UC, or people with no qualifications. An opportunity come up through one of her volunteering groups, but only under-24s could apply...

OP posts:
Original poster
UnexpectedlyRetired · 01/04/2026 20:29

@Octavia64 that sounds like a great way to spend a year!

OP posts:
redfishcat · 01/04/2026 20:30

Radiography or sonography, the news said there was a shortage qualified practitioners only last week.

blankcanvas3 · 01/04/2026 20:34

IT - is she well versed in vulnerability? As it’s extremely hot right now because of a BT fine. There’s a lot of jobs for vulnerability managers. I can see 111 just for Manchester on LinkedIn.

Original poster
UnexpectedlyRetired · 01/04/2026 20:36

@blankcanvas3 I don't think she is, no. Of course, she's been out of work a while now so she also won't be seen as current. She's not had an IT interview in over 6 months as far as I know.

OP posts:
Original poster
UnexpectedlyRetired · 01/04/2026 20:36

redfishcat · 01/04/2026 20:30

Radiography or sonography, the news said there was a shortage qualified practitioners only last week.

I could see her doing that, thanks for the suggestion.

OP posts:
SundayMondayMyDay · 01/04/2026 20:39

Would teaching at secondary level be a good fit for her (maths / Computer science?). There are various programmes to get people into the profession. I have also seen a lot of data science type training programmes, quite a lot of them free -not sure what the employment prospects are like though..

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