Man Excited by Windfall

Imagine that you have inherited a cool $50 million. What do you do with it? Before you go blowing it all on a fancy cruise vacation, new house, BMW, new car, or yes, avocado toast, take some time to collect your thoughts and let the fact that you’ve inherited a fortune sink in. That’s what Ken from Sacramento did. After inheriting $50 million dollars from his parents, he called into the Dave Ramsey show to gain some perspective on how to manage his money. You can learn from Ken on what to do if you ever wind up in the same situation. Here are a few tips on managing inheritance that we’d like to share:

Stay calm and don’t be in a rush to spend your money

See professional advice

Set clear financial goals

Pay off debts and pad your emergency fund

Invest your money wisely

Don’t blow it all

Giving back

1. Take a Breath and Don’t Rush

This one should be obvious: don’t rush to blow it all. When Ken reached out to the Dave Ramsey show about how to spend his $50 million dollar inheritance, Ramsey offered the following advice: spend some, save some, invest some, give some of the money to charity, etc. The news of an unexpected inheritance can be overwhelming, triggering a flurry of emotions. Try to adjust to your new financial reality before making any rash decisions.

2. Seek Professional Advice

One of the first things you may want to do is to seek out professional advice from a financial advisor. While Ken Consider consulting with a financial advisor, accountant, or lawyer who specializes in inheritance matters. That is why the caller called into the Dave Ramsey show: to receive advice from a professional on what to do with his inheritance. A financial advisor can help you grasp the full picture of dealing with taxes, investments, any fees, bills to pay off, debts, etc. An advisor can offer the best strategies for managing or investing your assets. A financial advisor may also help you tackle paying for everything in this era of high inflation. You may want to consult with an advisor you are really comfortable with, and who you have a good relationship with. You don’t want to stick with the SAME advisor just because that particular person is someone who your parents used (IF your parents had one).

3. Set Clear Goals

Once you’ve gathered the necessary information, it’s time to set clear goals for what you want to achieve with your inheritance. You may want to look at paying everything off you owe before deciding to (wisely) use the money to invest, renovate your house, travel, etc. Specific goals are the key: whether it be diversifying your portfolio, or planning your estate.

4. Pay Off Debts and Build Emergency Fund

This one goes without saying: If you have any outstanding debts (student loans, credit card debt, etc.), consider using a portion of your inheritance to pay them off. Even if you comb through your finances with a financial advisor, you still shouldn’t touch that money and just brazenly spend it all. When you pay off your all of your debts, you can relax and focus on investing for the future. It’s a practical way to secure your financial future and relieve the burden of debt. It’s also good to prioritize an building up an emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses. You don’t have to have a specific amount between three to six months of savings, but if you have an inheritance and are looking to save for the future, it’s always wise to do following: pay off debt and have an emergency fund. It sounds obvious, but when you actually have access to the money, it’s tempting to simply blow it all. You might also underestimate how much money you really need to live on and invest for your future.

5. Invest Wisely

Consider diversifying your inheritance into investments to mitigate risks and maximize returns. Consult with a financial advisor to develop an investment strategy. Whether you invest in stocks, bonds, real estate, or put money into mutual funds, TFSAs, or RRSPs, make informed decisions.

6. Plan for the Future

Once you have used that money to plan for YOUR future and invest wisely, you may also want to spread the wealth (to your family members and loved ones, that is). You may want to use some of that inheritance to fund your children’s education. You may not have a million to your name, but estate planning is always valuable. Take the time to create or update your estate plan, including Wills, trusts, and beneficiaries. Planning ahead ensures that your assets are distributed.

7. Enjoy Responsibly

It sounds like a beer slogan, but it’s true: enjoy your money responsibly. Treat yourself to something special, but avoid overspending or making impulsive decisions that could deplete your inheritance. Stories abound about lottery winners who blow through their money within a decade and wind up broke. If you’re not careful, the same could happen to you, regardless of how you come across your windfall (i.e. lottery or inheritance).

8. Give Back

Lastly, many people who have their Wills drawn up often consider leaving something for charity. Many people do this in their Wills, but if you ever come across a significant windfall, you may want to consider donating the money right away. That money you donate will surely have a meaningful impact on others around you.

Whether you inherit a million, or a small windfall, just be sure to manage it carefully.

Be sure to seek out advice, like Ken from Sacramento.

A fistful of money

Inheritance: everyone dreams of inheriting oodles of money from a rich aunt or uncle. But what happens when you actually get the money? It might not be everything you wish for.

Marlene Engelhorn is exactly in that position: she inherited a whopping $36.6 million dollar (in Canadian dollars) from her rich grandmother. She should be set for life, right?

Instead, the wealthy heiress is quite unhappy with the princely sum of money.

Inheriting the money was bittersweet for Engelhorn; it’s enough to live on for the rest of her life, but it left the heiress with a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Engelhorn felt conflicted: “I am only wealthy because I was born in a rich family. And I think in a democratic society of the 21st century, birth should not be the one thing that determines whether or not you’re gonna get to lead a very good life,” Engelhorn was reported as saying.

Engelhorn began a campaign for heavier taxes on the wealthy in Austria; this included campaigning for an inheritance tax. Her pleas to the Austrian government fell on deaf ears; the tax inheritance laws that Engelhorn was hoping for didn’t come to fruition. She has therefore decided to spearhead a grass-roots campaign for heavier taxes to be levied against the wealthy in Austria.

Partnering with the Foresight Institute in Austria, Engelhorn is looking to have a committee of Austrian residents tackle economy inequality by redistributing the €25 million ($36.6 million Cdn) she is generously giving the committee to play with.

How does this work?

Engelhorn and the Foresight Institute invited 10,000 Austrian residents over the age of 16. The number will be whittled down to a lucky 50 residents, who will be randomly selected to form the “Good Council.” These members will decide (over a period of six weekends) as to how the money will be spent.

Engelhorn also continues to work with charitable groups, like Millionaires for Humanity and Tax Me Now.

She continues to lament that “the Austrian system shouldn’t allow her to accumulate so much wealth.” But without any inheritances taxes in sight, Engelhorn is left to her own devices to distribute her own wealth.

Until that changes, Engelhorn plans to give away most of her inheritance.

You can read more, here.

A rendition of the house from Home Alone


Remember the “Home Alone” movie? Of course you do! You probably watched it several times as a kid. You probably watched the movie every Christmas, and have all of the lines memorized. At the very least, you know the name of hero in the movie: Kevin McCallister. The beloved Christmas comedy was released in 1990, and tells the story of Kevin McCallister, the 8-year-old boy who is the black sheep of his family. He’s left behind at home when his family rushes off to Paris for Christmas. If this movie took place in 2023, the mother would be frantically texting her son at home, or searching for him via social media. In any case, Kevin is initially excited to be left alone in a house that looks like a gigantic mansion. Hijinx ensue when two burglars try to rob the place when Kevin is left home alone. The ingenious eight-year-old arms the house with a series of booby traps, turning the house into a formidable fortress.

The biggest question that movie leaves unanswered however, is how did the Kevin’s father afford that giant mansion in the movie? (If you haven’t seen the movie, checkout clips on YouTube to see how massive the “home” is.) The Federal Reserves an answer: Kevin McCallister’s family is part of the one percent of Chicago’s residents (or perhaps mobsters, as some have speculated.)

 The New York Times now has an answer to as the Federal Reserves has determined Kevin MCallister’s family is in the one percent of Chicago residents based on the value of their home.

According to the New York Times: “In 1990, the house was affordable only for the top 1 percent of Chicago household incomes, and that would still be the case today.” For a house as massive as the one in “Home Alone,” The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago estimates that the home would have likely have been affordable with an income of $305,000 in 1990. In today’s terms, that’s roughly about $665,000 as of 2022. ($300k is likely considered chump change for a home today, in certain places.)

Peter and his wife, Kate McCallister would have had to have been earning at least $305,000 annually in 1990 to afford the massive mansion, which sits on the North shore of Chicago.

It is also not cheap to take fifteen family members for a Christmas vacation to Paris. No wonder fans of the beloved movie Fans have constantly speculated on how rich the McCallister family is. The movie, of course, never reveals what his father does for a living (hence the speculation that his father was a mobster in the movie.)

You can read more about the McCallister family here.

A car only rich people could afford

Wealth: we all chase after it. We all want to be debt-free, worry-free, and provide for our family and friends.

People are grappling with high inflation, stagnant wages, skyrocketing housing, and working “side hustles” to pay the bills. Did you know that even wealthy people are feeling this way? In 2023, 59% of what could be described as “affluent” U.S. citizens, feel secure in their assets. Compare this to the whopping 72% of Americans who felt the same, just a year before that, in 2022.

The wealthy are like us: worrying about rampant inflation. They’re not investing, they’re not taking risks with their money: they’re holding on to it, which could be a sign of how shaky the economy is right now.

The wealthy are saddled with substantial debts: they (much like the average joe) is struggling to pay off their mortgages, car loans, and wipe out their credit card balances. Yes, they probably struggle less than the average joe to pay their debts off, but struggling to pay off debts may lead to excessive borrowing. Just like the average joe, the wealthy too, should avoid maintaining credit card debts and pay off loans they have as soon as possible (easier said than done.)

One of the most pressing concerns for wealthy Americans is how much they have saved for retirement. Not just retirement, but their overall estate planning, which includes: paying taxes, paying off loans, ensuring that you have good life insurance, managing issues surrounding health, etc.

These are all things that people across every generation should think about, even cash-strapped Millennials and GenZ.

Taxes are going to become a concern heading into 2024: many taxes could increase in U.S. households. There are a number of taxes from 2016 that are set to expire in 2026. This means that taxes would increase for a number of families. Getting creative with estate planning is the answer.

One way to get around these tax cuts is to gift large trusts to children and other family members.

Hopefully, you’re off to a good start in 2024. You may be able to increase your wealth if you follow sound advice and do your research on estate planning.