It’s not often that you find someone who wants to take an unexpected windfall and give it away to those who need the money. It’s certainly a unique situation; however, the lessons learned and the tools available to this investor can be applied to nearly every set of financial circumstances.
I recently spoke with a young investor who was seeking help handling a substantial windfall she received from her father’s estate. She wanted to honor her father’s life passion of giving to charity by creating a plan for giving. She considered just stroking a check, but with such a sizeable amount, she wondered if there were ways to optimize the giving process.
The first step was to look at her financial plan. She had brushed off her own situation because her husband is successful, and they live comfortably. However, they are young, and at the point in their lives that laying out a financial plan would set a trajectory for their future. With so much of their life ahead of them, there was plenty of room for a lot of “what if” situations, and this windfall would put them in a position to be able to plan for a wide variety of outcomes.
We looked at how they were saving for retirement, the possibility of having children they’ll want to send to college, disability insurance should her or her husband become unable to work. With a few minor tweaks to their situation, they were able to create flexibility in their plan without using the inheritance to completely bankroll their lifestyle.
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