How to invest an inheritance when you have no idea what you're doing
Inheriting money without any financial background creates intense pressure and leaves people completely unsure where to begin. Without the knowledge to evaluate options or choose safe funds, they are left guessing at a critical time when they are responsible for long-term planning.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- This comes up 13.6× more often in r/personalfinance than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
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How to invest an inheritance when you have no idea what you're doing
- 1asking ChatGPT for investment strategiesDid this help you?
- 2putting money into target date retirement fundsDid this help you?
- 3using managed accounts or financial advisorsDid this help you?
- 4talking to a fee-only fiduciary financial advisorDid this help you?
- 5getting power of attorney and co-owning accountsDid this help you?
- 6starting with a budgetDid this help you?
- 7creating a trust with a trust and estate lawyerDid this help you?
- 8Moving money to a savings accountDid this help you?
- 9Searching online or asking on forums like Reddit for guidanceDid this help you?
- 10Doing cursory research on Reddit and other forumsDid this help you?
- 11Asking friends for advice on car loans and credit scoresDid this help you?
- 12Looking into opening certificates of deposit (CDs)Did this help you?
- 13Investing the money into broad-based ETFs, stocks, or real estate instead of starting a businessDid this help you?
- 14Opening 529 accounts for childrenDid this help you?
- 15Turning an existing day job into a freelance consulting roleDid this help you?
- 16Acquiring career certifications or training to level up current income potentialDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I am not financially savvy. I make enough to cover my bills etc but neither of my parents taught us anything about finances so I’m starting at zero and now I’m responsible for financially planning for my mother’s future .”source ↗
“I have no idea what I’m doing….qnd this is a lot of pressure.”source ↗
“I have about 100k i received as an inheritance. I’d like to invest this money and really not sure where to begin.”source ↗
“I’d like to invest this money myself , looking for some relatively safe funds to park it and watch it grow. I’m just not well versed enough on my own and would love some advice and input.”source ↗
“I also am not sure what ultrashort or floating rate means or how to identify them”source ↗
“What would those diversified index funds look like? Individually packaged units that already have those funds built in, or am I researching them and adding all their funds piecemeal?”source ↗
“I’m very uneducated when it comes to banking and finances outside of paying bills and moving money to my savings account.”source ↗
“I’m just want to make sure I’m putting their money somewhere that it will either gain interest or however money people be making more money over the years (again uneducated).”source ↗
“So, I’ve come into $150k from an inheritance, I want to invest in a business that I can own, develop and build. I don’t have any business management experience, starting from scratch here.”source ↗
“Another wrinkle: I’m a single parent of 3 kids so a super heavy grind of 18 hour days isn’t really an option.”source ↗
“Any thoughts? I’d love to hear ideas on what I can do to build this money into an income.”source ↗