Investing Inheritance and Gifts

I do a lot of blog hopping, especially in circles that deal with personal finance. I have seen different backgrounds of bloggers. Those from a "tough start" background and those with a little or a lot of help from their parents. I must say I am happy for those who are taking "difficult" decisions on investing inheritance and gifts from their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, god parents, etc. Some of us on the other hand had to start from a negative slate. Student loans, start up everything, and the quest to succeed. If you inherited a small fortune, you don't need to feel guilty or offended, just be grateful to your parents or grandparents for depriving themselves and working hard for you to receive a token of their love.

If I were to inherit some money from my parents, I think I would be very scared to lose it. I would probably feel I owe it to the giver to not lose it. I know I am making too much of this because I have no clue how it feels to have your portfolio pumped with a few hundreds or millions of dollars in a second. Its a blessing and an enviable one in that. I work hard to make sure my kids do get something when I get "matured". Another reason my son knows more about money than an average eight year old, poor boy.

I think parents should not only leave their children with huge amounts of money, but equip them with tools to make that money work for them too. Its very sad when one gets to inherit a fortune, only to lose it all in a few years from too much extravagance. My take is that, if you cant take care of your $80,000 annual salary, you wont be able to take care of your $800,000 inheritance. Easy as that. Your state of finances has very little to do with the amount of money you make every month, but your attitude towards money.

Spending money is the easy part, for most of us. Trust me, I know. Despite my being responsible and always trying to get better at managing my portfolio and making a little more money, I tend to spend more of it than I should. I was traveling last week with my family on a one week holiday. I spotted opportunities to spend everywhere, from bookstores, chain stores, kids' clothes, home supplies, my own clothes, etc. When I got back, I finally pulled me together to check my bank statement and... I don't want to talk about it just yet.

What to do when you mess up like that... work harder. That's what I do. I have no inheritance to fall back on remember. If I did have some, I would have been very grateful though. An extra burden of investing inheritance and gifts from loved ones is SO SO SO welcome. I hope my aunts and uncles are listening.

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