<p>Was just talking with a few folks recently about what to do with a windfall. Our neighbor gave all of it to the one grown son who isn’t living with her. He used it to buy a house for him & his wife and two kids. The neighbor lives in the house they own with the other two grown sons–one is permanently totally disabled & the other son is his caretaker. They will leave the caretaker the home to care for the two of them.</p>
<p>My dad says he plans to spend as much of his money as he can so as not to leave a huge windfall for folks to fight over. </p>
<p>H & I think we would want to provide as follows:
Be SURE we won’t outlive our funds or be a financial burden to our kids;
Help each of our two kids have enough $$ so they could buy a decent place to live near in Hawaii (or wherever they finally decide they want to live), maybe by putting a significant down payment on something that they could pay off a smaller, reasonable mortgage on;
Blow some to buy a car (or two) and some family & fun travel;
Help set up a trust fund to help fund education or start up for grandkids that my be born; and
Give some to charity.</p>
<p>What would you do? Let’s assume this is a significant sum that is say 6 or more figures. Just thought it might be a fun April Fool’s exercise. :)</p>
<p>My mother’s parents had Alzheimers for a collective ten years and in caring for them we spent every penny of their $250,000+ savings. So, it would have to be a high six-figure sum for me to feel comfortable doing anything beyond socking it away for future long-term care. </p>
<p>No, I never enter lotteries and yes, we DO have enough stashed away for future long-term care for H & me. </p>
<p>Would still love to hear people’s thoughts and ideas. We are thinking of experiences–nice trips with the kids, any partners in their lives, and eventually the grandkids. ;)</p>
<p>My parents set up a fund that heavily subsidizes a weeklong family reunion every other year, at a resort. My family of origin is very large (I have 9 siblings, most with spouses and children). We have been doing this for about 14 years now, and these weeks are probably the best of my sons’ lives, and those of their cousins.</p>
<p>I would do what Jimmy Carter does for his family, rent some nice villas for the extended family vacation. I believe he picks up all the costs. My motto would be “have fun”, “will travel”, “luxurious vacation”.</p>
<p>Lots of ideas–we’re nearly done with paying tuitions for our kids, so that is no longer on our radar. We do enjoy vacations and time with family, so that’s definitely an idea to dream about.</p>
<p>Luxury vacations can run through money pretty quickly. Lots of smaller trips can be very nice as well, since airfares already cost a considerable amount.</p>
<p>I never had a windfall but I have a little nest egg and I plan on and already started </p>
<ul>
<li>contributing to 401ks for the kids since they can’t afford it. </li>
<li>funding a life insurance for the kid’s kids. </li>
<li>willing and hopeful to fund a down payment on their first home in lieu of wedding expenses. </li>
</ul>
<p>I think the idea of family trips is great but neither of us like the munchdaughter’s bf who may end up husband. :eek:</p>
<p>We already fund family trips for two of them now, though not luxurious or big ones. Juggling schedules is a bit of an issue since both still attends school. </p>
<p>Something that happened to someone I know made me really conscious of financial security. I guess just providing an education for the kids is not enough, I am trying to provide a little financial nest egg for them too.</p>
<p>Yea, one of my friends THOUGHT her H had provided for her but got a sad, late wake-up call when he died leaving her with more debts than she expected and very few assets. So far, we have always funded our family trips. We started Roth IRAs for both kids. So far, S is doing pretty well with his savings & job. I can’t buy life insurance–uninsurable. Perhaps we’ll keep H’s life insurance going by paying the premiums on it. Haven’t decided on it yet. Have to review how much the premiums will cost vs. the face value - the 25% he’d get if he paid no premiums.</p>
<p>Haven’t flown 1st class much; not sure I can justify to myself the increased price and would probably prefer to spend that money on other things.</p>
<p>My kids aren’t in any committed relationships at this point, and no grandkids. Life insurance has not played much of a role in my life or most of my loved ones, but it was invaluable when a friend died VERY young – providing for her kids & widower.</p>
<p>Not to be a wet blanket here either, but I worry a lot about the next generation. They are not going have solid pensions like many in my generation had, and who knows about Social Security and Medicare. So, I am going to do my best to make sure my son has money saved. Like munchkin and others, I am making sure he has a Roth IRA that is maxed out from his summer jobs. He already has a savings mentality, so I hope that will continue. We made sure he would graduate debt-free.</p>
<p>We have some savings, but I worry about whether it will last my husband and me until we both die.</p>
<p>We do contribute to charity and I do a ton of volunteer work already.</p>
<p>We’re helping out on the Roth front at least for the first few years.</p>
<p>NYMomof2 – How do you handle the every-other-year family vacation – do you go to the same place? Different places? Do you pay for the place, but let others pay for travel or food? This sounds like a good idea, and I’m curious about the logistics.</p>
<p>My father died this week and I’m trying to figure out where he has accounts etc. He had some money (mid -six figures) for which I’m the sole beneficiary. I’ll probably just keep it in the bank.</p>
<p>When D has a job, we can help her with her ROTH. I am expecting that S is maxing his Roth & 401K already, since he doesn’t have many expenses and has a good income. Guess we could ask him.</p>
<p>Sorry about your dad’s death, DocT.</p>
<p>Among my friends who do family vacations, some pay for EVERYTHING while others pay for some expenses and have individuals/family pay some of the expenses (like their own plane fare or plane plus extras beyond what the group will be doing).</p>
<p>Thanks - apparently he was cutting a tree down in the backyard. He was found in the yard face down next to a pile of wood. He was 94 and lived on his own without any assistance.</p>