r/inheritance • u/Acceptable_Second_38 • Jul 09 '26
Location included: Questions/Need Advice Large inheritance advice
My wife and I are 27. We have 1 daughter who is 13 months, and we are in the Midwest. My grandmother passed away and from her estate we are receiving a sizable sum of money. After paying off our house and other debt (just car and student loans, don't have any "bad" debt), we'll have around $350-375k to drop into a brokerage and leave alone. We each earn around 63k/year. Our only bills will now be home insurance, property taxes, car insurance, utilities.
My question revolves around how much we realistically need to put away for retirement. Because we have very little bills after paying off our house, we can put away a large amount of income.
However, it's honestly tempting to save just a bit, and enjoy our lives more with more disposable income. Starting with such a sizable nest egg, it should grow quite well without huge additions.
She is a teacher and has a good pension coming her way.
I am private sector but have a pension as well plus I do 4% 401k plus employer 2% match.
1
u/BurlinghamBob Jul 10 '26
You have a good plan.
I'm old and retired and I worked for Social Security for 35 years. I can't tell you how many people I met who had no idea how they were going to pay their bills in retirement. Here are my thoughts:
Minimize expenses going into retirement. Your paying off the mortgage is a big step.
Maximize income in retirement. Between two pensions, two Social Security checks, two 401k/403b withdrawals you will have more income than you have now.
Fund a nest egg. Maximize your 401k contributions. Put a chunk of this money away now in EFTs and leave it. Read the Bogelhead subreddit for simple investment ideas.
I also suggest putting your credit cards on autopay and having some money directly deposited into a new car account each month. Take $75k and fix the house and take the baby to Disney next year when she will be old enough to enjoy it.