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Unexpected inheritance...

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Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel
Originally posted by: tfinch2
You mean you didn't get left 8 apartment complexes in Beverly Hills?
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I vaguely remember that thread - can't remember if it was later proved to be shens though.
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He did lie about it. I think it was finally caught when he made another thread about getting laid off and not having any income. He said that he made the post to get advice for a friend.
 
Originally posted by: Ichinisan
Scrapping the business idea isn't a big deal.

I thought it might be reasonable to buy a large quantity of items @ wholesale and sell for immediate profit. It would probably be too risky. My impression is that wholesale costs for movies and game software is extremely cheap, but there is a steep "minimum order" requirement. If it was SAFE to purchase wholesale items and sell immediately for a high profit, I would kick myself for not doing it. However, I wouldn't know where to start.

I guess a financial adviser would be the way to go.

Regarding the relative: My grandmother is much loved in our family. I am sad that she has passed, but I was never able to bond with her like the rest of my family that lives on her side of the country. I have only ever accumulated a few months with her in my life. The last significant amount of time I spent with her was when I was 12. I visited for a month. She has lived on the other side of the country and my mother, brother, and I were too poor to do any more traveling than that while I was growing up. By the time I was an adult, she was already being cared for by a family member and her age made it hard to have a conversation with. I have seen her a few of times since, but it was too late to grow a bonding relationship. She didn't even recognize the people that she lives with.
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My dad was in the video business 10 years ago. Trust me, it sucks.
 
Originally posted by: Ichinisan
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
1. yes you pay tax make sure it is taken care of first

2. Why does your mom have access to YOUR account

3. How old are you? see Q-2

4. Do not spend it, pay off you CC first and then cancel them and cut them up.

5. Are you 26 and live at home with 3 weeks of the hosue to yourself and don;t know what to do?
Click to expand...

My brother and I are turing 28 later this year. We are both extremely busy people, and our technical skills are always in great demand from everyone we associate with. We don't have time to bother with most things regarding finances, and it comes back to bite us sometimes. If our mother didn't have access to our accounts, a lot more would slip by us. I know it sounds strange, but we have dependency issues.

Once we can relieve some of our own responsibilities, we should have time to keep track of our own finances.

I have a loft apartment. My brother usually stays with me. My mother has her own place.
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Sounds like you're still very immature, lack any commonsense about finances or otherwise, and are still attached to your mother. Pay off your debts and sever any financial connections you have to anyone else (no sharing bank accounts with your parents for starters). I'm not trying to be rude, but this is the truth. Pay off your debts, you don't know what you're doing otherwise.
 
An inheritance is an accumulation of assets that took a family member a lifetime to accumulate. This money is best used as an investment to increase the quality of your life. It is the passing of assets from one generation to the next that can increase the quality of life for posterity. The best use of this money would be as a down payment for a home or for acquiring an asset that will not depreciate and will increase your quality of life. If you are not ready to purchase a home now, then invest it safely so none of it will be lost and it will be available for a responsible purchase later in life.

I would not use this money to pay current bills. Bills are part of your daily life and your expenses should be feasible within your current earnings. Your lifestyle needs to be regulated by your regular income, not by a single lump-sum gift. If you use your inheritance to pay bills now, then you will whittle away your inheritance little by little while increasing your living standard by spending more. This is the fastest way to effectively waste a relative's lifetime of hard work.

Inheritance is an asset to possess for your entire life or to pay for your education to allow greater earning potential and quality of life.

People find many reasons to spend money that belongs to other people. A parent, a wife, even siblings will all find reasons to spend your inheritance. Do not allow other people to influence your spending of your inheritance.

As a personal example, my brother's pregnant girlfriend demanded his inheritance be spent on wasteful luxuries such as a $2,000 wooden crib. Now he has nothing left from his inheritance. It can be difficult to say 'no' to a demanding, hormonal, pregnant woman. It can be similarly difficult to say 'no' to an insistent mother. I put my inheritance into a down payment for a home and I now have a home to live in.



A business venture is typically developed first, then money is accumulated to fund it. Obtaining money, then finding a business venture to spend that money is backwards and the money will be lost. Anyway, do not use your own money for a risky business venture. This is what business loans are for, so your own money is not at risk. This is also why corporations are legal business entities, so personal assets are not risked by business operations or failures. Your money is a personal asset. Do not involve personal assets in a business venture where rules have been defined to protect your personal assets from failed business decisions.



My advice is to put that money away in a stock index fund and forget that you ever had it. Use it later for a down payment for a home. The money will be lost if anything else is done with it.



The inheritance is going to you, not to a business entity. Your possible future business entity is not named in the will. Therefore, the check will be in your own name. You should not have to pay any federal taxes for this inheritance. I do not know about state taxes on inheritance.



CPA, thank you for providing the correct information on inheritance/probate taxes. My mind has been screaming while reading this thread but I do not have the solid knowledge that you have on this subject to allow me to correct anyone.
 
Originally posted by: chusteczka
An inheritance is an accumulation of assets that took a family member a lifetime to accumulate. This money is best used as an investment to increase the quality of your life. It is the passing of assets from one generation to the next that can increase the quality of life for posterity. The best use of this money would be as a down payment for a home or for acquiring an asset that will not depreciate and will increase your quality of life. If you are not ready to purchase a home now, then invest it safely so none of it will be lost and it will be available for a responsible purchase later in life.

I would not use this money to pay current bills. Bills are part of your daily life and your expenses should be feasible within your current earnings. Your lifestyle needs to be regulated by your regular income, not by a single lump-sum gift. If you use your inheritance to pay bills now, then you will whittle away your inheritance little by little while increasing your living standard by spending more. This is the fastest way to effectively waste a relative's lifetime of hard work.

Inheritance is an asset to possess for your entire life or to pay for your education to allow greater earning potential and quality of life.

People find many reasons to spend money that belongs to other people. A parent, a wife, even siblings will all find reasons to spend your inheritance. Do not allow other people to influence your spending of your inheritance.

As a personal example, my brother's pregnant girlfriend demanded his inheritance be spent on wasteful luxuries such as a $2,000 wooden crib. Now he has nothing left from his inheritance. It can be difficult to say 'no' to a demanding, hormonal, pregnant woman. It can be similarly difficult to say 'no' to an insistent mother. I put my inheritance into a down payment for a home and I now have a home to live in.



A business venture is typically developed first, then money is accumulated to fund it. Obtaining money, then finding a business venture to spend that money is backwards and the money will be lost. Anyway, do not use your own money for a risky business venture. This is what business loans are for, so your own money is not at risk. This is also why corporations are legal business entities, so personal assets are not risked by business operations or failures. Your money is a personal asset. Do not involve personal assets in a business venture where rules have been defined to protect your personal assets from failed business decisions.



My advice is to put that money away in a stock index fund and forget that you ever had it. Use it later for a down payment for a home. The money will be lost if anything else is done with it.



The inheritance is going to you, not to a business entity. Your possible future business entity is not named in the will. Therefore, the check will be in your own name. You should not have to pay any federal taxes for this inheritance. I do not know about state taxes on inheritance.



CPA, thank you for providing the correct information on inheritance/probate taxes. My mind has been screaming while reading this thread but I do not have the solid knowledge that you have on this subject to allow me to correct anyone.
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You said a lot of the things I was thinking. Thanks for the advice.
 
Go ahead and start your business venture. It'll keep this thread interesting as we follow your financial downfall day by day. 😎
 
Everyone is telling you to pay off your debt but only a few have mentioned the key second step. You need to sit down and get your head around *why* you have that debt in the first place, otherwise two or three years from now you will find yourself in the exact same situation you are in now. I don't know your situation, but it's doubtful that you will be running into money like this on a regular basis. Don't waste it.
 
What was your plan with the debt?

Just go along with your original plan and invest the money you received in a low risk low return investment.



And how do you have over 20K in debt?
 
Originally posted by: Ichinisan
Between my twin brother and I, we are getting about $24,000 inheritance from a family member. This could not have come at a better time for us. We are getting income tax refunds, economic stimulus checks, and an unexpected $2,100 from my employer...it's like a "perfect storm" of financial relief!

Paying off credit and other debts between my brother, mother, and I would immediately use it all up. It would probably make better sense to turn the cash into a profitable venture, so that the profits would provide financial relief, and eventually benefit.

My brother and I do not want our mother to know that we have received the money. Based on her past behavior, she *will* find a way to waste it. She was specifically excluded from the inheritance for this reason.

My family tells me that I should create a new bank account; one that she would not have any access to.

My main question is this: 1) Because we may want to start some kind of business venture, shouldn't we get some kind of business license or tax ID and open an account in the business name?

Also:

2) Is inheritance taxed?
3) Is it fraudulent to pass inheritance directly to a business to avoid excessive taxes?
4) If all is OK, would I have to ask that the executor of the will send a different check with the business name specified instead of my own?

With the combined technical skills of my brother and me, starting a business venture should be easy if we find someone competent to handle most of the business side of things.

Any advice is appreciated!
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Originally posted by: Ichinisan

My brother and I are turing 28 later this year. We are both extremely busy people, and our technical skills are always in great demand from everyone we associate with. We don't have time to bother with most things regarding finances, and it comes back to bite us sometimes. If our mother didn't have access to our accounts, a lot more would slip by us. I know it sounds strange, but we have dependency issues.

Once we can relieve some of our own responsibilities, we should have time to keep track of our own finances.

I have a loft apartment. My brother usually stays with me. My mother has her own place.
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You have made two statements, that I've bolded above, that are troublesome. Your mother is so irresponsible with money that her own mother wouldn't put her in her will. And yet you give your mother control of your finances.

You're 28 years old. You're old enough to sit down and make up a budget and stick to it. You can put most or all of your monthly bills on automatic billpay, so that you won't be late paying any of them. Do it. Know how much you make and how much gets spent on bills each month, and allocate a reasonable amount for things you must buy out of pocket, like gasoline, food, etc. Don't go over your limit on these items and you should never overdraft your account. Open a new checking account to do all of these things and close the account that your mother has access to. All of these things should take no more than a few hours to do, and then you're set up until you need to make any changes to the bills.

If you're accumulating debt on credit cards, then it's time to sit down and set up all of your finances using Money or Quicken. Download all of your bank account transactions frequently and track your spending. Get control over your money. You're much too old to be behaving like a college student with regard to money. I don't believe you when you say that you have no time to deal with this. You can take a few hours out and just handle it. Skip going out one day and take care of your business. Don't pass control over matters this important to someone who is more irresponsible than you are.
 
Time to cut the cord from mom. This is the only way you will become more responsible financially. It's obvious it has been because someone else has been doing it for you, but it really is not that hard. This is coming from someone who hates finance, but getting the numbers in order are a necessity to staying organized. Don't keep letting someone else do it for you.

And one more thing, pay off the debt even if it is low-interest. Loan later for a business venture WHEN YOU ARE READY.
 
Originally posted by: rh71
Time to cut the cord from mom. This is the only way you will become more responsible financially. It's obvious it has been because someone else has been doing it for you, but it really is not that hard. This is coming from someone who hates finance, but getting the numbers in order are a necessity to staying organized. Don't keep letting someone else do it for you.

And one more thing, pay off the debt even if it is low-interest. Loan later for a business venture WHEN YOU ARE READY.
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Although this is pure speculation, left to his own devices, the op may already be financially responsible. It looks like the real problem is emotional responsibility.
 
Something tells me at the end of the day some of this money is going to find its way into his moms hands. I think the OP is too emotionally attached to her to hurt her feelings by not telling her about it, and he's not strong enough to cut the ambilical cord and put his accounts in his name only.
 
I cannot believe that not even ONE other poster has suggested that you pay off your debt, that you cut out your mom and take control of your own finances or that you see an financial adviser.

Weird.

MotionMan
 
You have a bank account and you mother has access to it? Close that account immediately. It don't matter what history she may have, you do not give others free access to your funds, period.
 
Originally posted by: Ichinisan
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
1. yes you pay tax make sure it is taken care of first

2. Why does your mom have access to YOUR account

3. How old are you? see Q-2

4. Do not spend it, pay off you CC first and then cancel them and cut them up.

5. Are you 26 and live at home with 3 weeks of the hosue to yourself and don;t know what to do?
Click to expand...

My brother and I are turing 28 later this year. We are both extremely busy people, and our technical skills are always in great demand from everyone we associate with. We don't have time to bother with most things regarding finances, and it comes back to bite us sometimes. If our mother didn't have access to our accounts, a lot more would slip by us. I know it sounds strange, but we have dependency issues.

Once we can relieve some of our own responsibilities, we should have time to keep track of our own finances.

I have a loft apartment. My brother usually stays with me. My mother has her own place.
Click to expand...

What are these high demand technical skills you have?
 
God dammit, what IS it with ATOT? You just knew it'd devolve into something bizarre and inexplicable. This question was almost normal, and then all of a sudden it turned into "Our mom does our finances even though we're 28, because we're so busy and in demand that we can't be bothered to pay our own bills. Also, our mom is horrible with finances. SUCK IT NORMAL PEOPLE!!!"

Pay off your credit cards and other debts. If you can't pay you own bills, you DEFINITELY cannot run your own business. Also, look into getting those "dependency issues" resolved and start paying your bills the big-boy way.
 
Originally posted by: chusteczka
An inheritance is an accumulation of assets that took a family member a lifetime to accumulate. This money is best used as an investment to increase the quality of your life. It is the passing of assets from one generation to the next that can increase the quality of life for posterity. The best use of this money would be as a down payment for a home or for acquiring an asset that will not depreciate and will increase your quality of life. If you are not ready to purchase a home now, then invest it safely so none of it will be lost and it will be available for a responsible purchase later in life.

I would not use this money to pay current bills. Bills are part of your daily life and your expenses should be feasible within your current earnings. Your lifestyle needs to be regulated by your regular income, not by a single lump-sum gift. If you use your inheritance to pay bills now, then you will whittle away your inheritance little by little while increasing your living standard by spending more. This is the fastest way to effectively waste a relative's lifetime of hard work.

Inheritance is an asset to possess for your entire life or to pay for your education to allow greater earning potential and quality of life.

People find many reasons to spend money that belongs to other people. A parent, a wife, even siblings will all find reasons to spend your inheritance. Do not allow other people to influence your spending of your inheritance.

As a personal example, my brother's pregnant girlfriend demanded his inheritance be spent on wasteful luxuries such as a $2,000 wooden crib. Now he has nothing left from his inheritance. It can be difficult to say 'no' to a demanding, hormonal, pregnant woman. It can be similarly difficult to say 'no' to an insistent mother. I put my inheritance into a down payment for a home and I now have a home to live in.



A business venture is typically developed first, then money is accumulated to fund it. Obtaining money, then finding a business venture to spend that money is backwards and the money will be lost. Anyway, do not use your own money for a risky business venture. This is what business loans are for, so your own money is not at risk. This is also why corporations are legal business entities, so personal assets are not risked by business operations or failures. Your money is a personal asset. Do not involve personal assets in a business venture where rules have been defined to protect your personal assets from failed business decisions.



My advice is to put that money away in a stock index fund and forget that you ever had it. Use it later for a down payment for a home. The money will be lost if anything else is done with it.



The inheritance is going to you, not to a business entity. Your possible future business entity is not named in the will. Therefore, the check will be in your own name. You should not have to pay any federal taxes for this inheritance. I do not know about state taxes on inheritance.



CPA, thank you for providing the correct information on inheritance/probate taxes. My mind has been screaming while reading this thread but I do not have the solid knowledge that you have on this subject to allow me to correct anyone.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Debt costs you money. You have to make payments on the principle and on the interest accrued. Eliminating the debt eliminates interest-based payments. The money saved can be put into a savings account for anything. By not paying down his debt immediately, the OP is simply wasting his money by funneling more of it than necessary (for longer than necessary) into servicing his debt.
 
Originally posted by: mjuszczak
Originally posted by: Ichinisan
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
1. yes you pay tax make sure it is taken care of first

2. Why does your mom have access to YOUR account

3. How old are you? see Q-2

4. Do not spend it, pay off you CC first and then cancel them and cut them up.

5. Are you 26 and live at home with 3 weeks of the hosue to yourself and don;t know what to do?
Click to expand...

My brother and I are turing 28 later this year. We are both extremely busy people, and our technical skills are always in great demand from everyone we associate with. We don't have time to bother with most things regarding finances, and it comes back to bite us sometimes. If our mother didn't have access to our accounts, a lot more would slip by us. I know it sounds strange, but we have dependency issues.

Once we can relieve some of our own responsibilities, we should have time to keep track of our own finances.

I have a loft apartment. My brother usually stays with me. My mother has her own place.
Click to expand...

What are these high demand technical skills you have?
Click to expand...

Installing solitaire and bejeweled on his moms computer.

Good luck on growing up and being a big boy OP.
 
Pay off the debt.

Cut up the cards if you need to.

Take all the money you were spending paying off the debt and put it into some sort of interest bearing account. 401K with a match from your company if that's available to you, etc.
 
seriously, just stick the money in a savings account or pay off current debt.
EDIT - and seperate your finances from your mom. Time to grow up
 
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