Smart ways to manage an inheritance

If you receive a sudden windfall, you might be tempted to blow it on a few years of extravagant living – but used wisely it can provide more enduring benefits. You can use it to help you obtain financial freedom, and open up more choices for your life and career. Here are some ideas on how you could use an inheritance to change your future.

Stock market investment

With a long-term investment approach, stock market investments can often deliver an income, future capital gains, or a mix of both. Even if, as the axiom cautions, past performance is no guarantee of future results, investing in equity markets offers the prospect of significantly higher returns than a savings account and will usually beat the inflation rate, meaning that your capital will retain its purchasing power over time. Even amid the surge in inflation in the early 2020s, equity markets have mostly outpaced the rise in prices.

With any stock market investment, you may get some uplift in the portfolio’s capital value if markets appreciate. Stock market investments tend to be relatively liquid, meaning you can change your mind and invest elsewhere at any time. Do not ignore, however, the risks associated with such investments – sometimes markets can lose value abruptly for reasons unconnected to the intrinsic worth of the companies in which you invest.

Rental property

Another option to create an income now or obtain long-term gains is to invest in real estate, though property can be more difficult and time-consuming to buy and sell, and tends to involve a longer-term commitment than a stock market investment. Nevertheless, a rental property, managed efficiently, can generate a long-term income as well as appreciating in price over the years. You will need to do research regarding location, demand and potential rental yields, and also watch carefully how much you spend on agency fees and upgrades. Repairs can be costly, so it is worth setting aside a fund to handle unexpected expenses.

Investing in rental property cannot be undertaken lightly, and it is strongly recommended that you seek advice from experts in the field. This is particularly true in a context of evolving interest rates and in a market under pressure such as Luxembourg’s.

If you have debt charged on which higher interest rates are being charged, it may well be worth using an inheritance to pay it off.

Become debt-free

With the particularly low interest rates prevalent until recently, paying off a home loan didn’t make much financial sense, as it was usually possible to invest any surplus capital for a better return. With rates having risen in recent years, paying off debt is again an option to consider in order to protect your finances by reducing outgoings. And, if you have debt on which higher interest rates are being charged, it may well be worth using an inheritance to pay it off.

Invest in yourself

The Covid-19 pandemic abruptly highlighted how precarious the employment market can be, but even apart from that exceptional period, the world of work has become increasingly insecure over the past three decades. In Luxembourg companies are obliged to offer severance pay only to employees of more than five years’ standing; otherwise, the law provides only for two months’ notice or an equivalent payment.

An inheritance can be kept as a career insurance policy, paying for retraining, to start a secondary job or fund an activity that might not promise much income in the short term, or to launch your own small business. Even if striking out on your own may not earn you millions, it can offer a useful fall-back position in the event of sudden unemployment.

Save the world

It used to be that if you wanted to do good, you would give money to charity. This may have offered some tax benefits, but you handed over your capital and left it to others to decide how it was used. Today there are ways to do good while keeping control over how your money is being used. Impact fund investing is growing rapidly in popularity as a means to achieve a measurable social or environmental impact, as well as receiving a financial return.

Impact funds may well deliver strong financial performance, because responsible companies and activities today benefit from increasing public policy support.

Depending on the area chosen, impact investments can make a measurable difference in areas such as curbing climate change, building the circular economy or helping to make healthcare available in disadvantaged companies or areas.

It is not just about doing good – impact funds may well deliver strong financial performance, because responsible companies and activities today benefit from increasing public policy support. Equally, companies unable or unwilling to manage long-term structural changes effectively face increasing and substantial risks.

Indulge a passion

This may not be a route to wealth and should probably represent only a small part of your inheritance spending, but a windfall can allow you to explore a passion for alternative assets, such as art, cars or fine wine. This can be done through a conventional fund – there are now exchange-traded funds that track benchmarks such as the Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine Index, for example. Alternatively, you could try to build up a collection yourself. Some specialist wine merchants run fine wine marketplaces, allowing individuals both to trade wine and to build up their investments through monthly payments.

Invest in professional advice

Used without due thought, it is surprising how quickly an inheritance can evaporate. A financial adviser or discretionary fund manager can ensure that your assets are invested wisely. A financial adviser can manage your basic financial affairs, such as saving for a pension or buying life insurance, while a discretionary manager focuses on investment. They should be able to shape a portfolio to suit your long-term financial goals, such as income, capital growth, provision for educational expenses or a retirement home.

The right way to manage an inheritance is probably not limited to one of these options, but a blend of two or more, depending on their size and cost. This means you are not as exposed if one choice fails to perform the way you expected. Handled carefully, an inheritance can be a route to financial freedom. Consider your options carefully and don’t make any sudden decisions.

An inheritance can be kept as a career insurance policy, paying for retraining, to start a secondary job or fund an activity that might not promise much income in the short term, or to launch your own small business.