Receiving inheritance

BlueberryPlum

Hi All
My dad has passed away and I will be receiving approximately £100,000 within the next month or so. 
I am a 44 year old woman that works just above minimum wage. I have a partner who also works at just above minimum wage. I have two children at 14 and 18. I have never had much spare cash after all bills paid and food is bought. I receive universal credits that I am aware will stop when I receive the inheritance. I have a ten year old pension that isn't going to be worth that much by the time I retire. I have no savings and a 12 year old car that I still owe two years payments on. I live in a small two bed run down housing association house in a lovely village. My question is what should I do with the inheritance?? I've thought about an ISA, levelling and making my back garden nice, a few home improvements, driving lessons for my son, a nice holiday, paying my car and sofa off, maybe buying a more reliable car or even putting some into my pension. By partner has said about seeing if we can buy this house! My worry about that is having a mortgage with the payments being more than our current rent, we wouldn't be able to afford that or the upkeep of the repairs. Also my partner doesn't have the best mobility health, what if he can't keep up with his job that the mortgage payments won't be met?
Sorry for the very long message, I'm very stressed about getting this money and doing what's best with it. Please advise, thank you

Albermarle

I would say your first priority is to set up an easy access savings account to hold the money whilst you think what to do with it. There is lots of guidance on this site and forum as to the better savings providers.
Even when you spend the money you should keep some back for future emergencies.
This can then cover you for unexpected expenses in future, so you do not have to borrow money.
At least £5K 

Paying off any debt should also be a priority.
If your car is unreliable than could be a good idea to replace it with a newer one ( say three or four years old) .
A family holiday would be something to enjoy.

Buying the house could be more tricky . Of course I have no idea how much it would cost, but even if you put down a £50K deposit, you might still struggle to get a a big enough mortgage, with both of only earning minimum wage and having two teenagers to feed etc 

As an alternative thought, you ( or your partner) might consider paying for some training, so you could maybe get a better paying job(s) .

BlueberryPlum

Thank you for your advise. I also forgot to mention that I'd have to use some of the money each month to replace what I was receiving from universal credits. 

Someone said to me about getting a financial advisor but I wouldn't know where to start or how much that would cost.

Eyeful

1. Best savings accounts::
https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/

2. Check the Bank or Building Society has FSCS protection up to £85,000:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/safe-savings/

3. You may find some helpful information here:
https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en?source=mas#

4. Financial Advisor info:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-financial-advisers/
https://www.which.co.uk/money/investing/financial-advice/how-to-find-a-financial-adviser-afZ375F6BIiC

Robin9

At first sight you might think £100k is a lot of money but as you have seen there are a lot of things you would like to do and there are choices you have too make, choices that you've probably not have had to make before.

I echo the above -  an emergency fund ; take a special holiday in memory of your dad; clear your debt.

To which I would add do nothing in rush.

Bostonerimus1

Pay off all high interest debt...that sounds like the car and sofa loans,
Put 6 months spending in the bank or a cash ISA
Put money into your pension, if it is a defined contribution plan make sure you understand how it is invested ie what funds are you buying.
Put money into an S&S ISA and invest in low cost index tracker or multi asset funds, (same goes for your DC pension if you have one).

Don't buy your home if you can afford your rent right now. You don't want to get into debt just as you are getting out of it. You should only buy a home when you have ample spare income to afford the mortgage and other costs.

Don't spend it on holidays or your kids. Keeping your 12 year old car on the road with a few repairs will be cheaper than buying a new car. If the car is really junk then replace it with a second had car. This is a lump sum that you can grow for your future security.

LHW99

Definately look at the interest rates on your debt - then pay them off. That will release a little more monthly income.

You say you both work.

Do you have work pensions (autoenrollment)? How much do you pay in and how much does the company? You could increase your payments to the company pension by, say half the money you don't have to pay out each month on your debts.

Put 6 months income in an easy access account for emergencies.

Put the rest into a notice account (say 3 months) where it is accessible, but not easily so, while you think about what is going to be best for your family.

That might be a family holiday, something to help the children, retraining, better car, maybe something that helps your partner with his mobility - a better shower, mobility scooter.

Your children will soon be able to get training / apprenticeships / uni / jobs. That may be the point when you would have lower commitments, and could look for somewhere smaller that you could afford to buy.

on't rush, take time to talk about the choices and see what would make the most improvement for you all.

Albermarle

BlueberryPlum said:

Thank you for your advise. I also forgot to mention that I'd have to use some of the money each month to replace what I was receiving from universal credits. 

Someone said to me about getting a financial advisor but I wouldn't know where to start or how much that would cost.

This would not be very useful in your case ( and relatively expensive) 
A financial advisor can be useful if you want to invest money, or have someone look after your pension.
What you need to do is work out a list of priorities based on your current situation, and a financial advisor can not help you with a decision whether to replace your car, go on holiday etc.
You can ask more questions on this forum if you like. At least it is free !

Bigwheels1111

A Blessing and a Curse.

Could best describe your situation.

A financial advisor, total waste of money.

You will be using the money not investion it.

Paying off all debts that's interest rate is more than you can get saving the money is a no brainer.

Pension, why ?.

If you get more than a state pension you will have to loose loads of it on rent for eg.

All my old retired neighbors that only had a state pension, paid max £5 a week towards council rent.

Next to nothing for council tax, £25 a year ish. Half price water bills.

The one with a private pension was taxed on it, Paid £35 a week rent, No water discount and £20 a month CT.

Pension is given and taken away.

I'm in a bit of a pickle my self, New job and for the first time in my life it has a pension plan, 

As i only have 13 years left before I retire again, ( I had been sort of retired for 12 years as my wife's carer ), only 8% is going in to the plan , I will have a 20/25k pension pot.

About £20/30 a week pension. Not worth it for me.

I'm opting out. Just a council tax reduction will make me better off than an extra pension.

BlueberryPlum

That all sounds very depressing, nothing positive I could do with my dad's money then

What_time_is_it

Bigwheels1111 said:

A Blessing and a Curse.

Could best describe your situation.

A financial advisor, total waste of money.

You will be using the money not investion it.

Paying off all debts that's interest rate is more than you can get saving the money is a no brainer.

Pension, why ?.

If you get more than a state pension you will have to loose loads of it on rent for eg.

All my old retired neighbors that only had a state pension, paid max £5 a week towards council rent.

Next to nothing for council tax, £25 a year ish. Half price water bills.

The one with a private pension was taxed on it, Paid £35 a week rent, No water discount and £20 a month CT.

Pension is given and taken away.

I'm in a bit of a pickle my self, New job and for the first time in my life it has a pension plan, 

As i only have 13 years left before I retire again, ( I had been sort of retired for 12 years as my wife's carer ), only 8% is going in to the plan , I will have a 20/25k pension pot.

About £20/30 a week pension. Not worth it for me.

I'm opting out. Just a council tax reduction will make me better off than an extra pension.

This is massively terrible advise, based on fear and fatalism. I urge you to ignore it.

You will get a lot of great advice from most people in this forum. I have found it hugely useful.

The most important thing that I would stress is that you are in the fortunate position of being in control of your own destiny. The options may seem overwhelming and it can be tempting to give in to fatalism and do nothing, but please try and remain positive, trust in your decisions, and rest assured that it gets easier as you learn more about personal finance. Nobody is born knowing this stuff!

Good luck! 🙂