Slightly unusual situation- looking to be clever with what I have and will have!

[energy60]

So. This is not a debt-help-me situation. I have no debts and have wealthy parents, who are generous with their money. I'd like some help trying to be sensible with what I have, and dealing with the uncertainty of what I am and am not going to receive in the future- more on that later. I'm 21, living with my boyfriend in the UK and training to be a nurse. Apologies for using pounds sterling.

Income: Me-£1000 per month allowance from parents, which will continue for next 2 years providing I stick with my training. Boyfriend- variable but about £1100 take home pay from his job. He's applying to be a British Airways pilot which will be about £35000 take home pay after initial 12-18 month training for which he will likely get a loan, but training and possibly accommodation are free- I am unlikely to be contributing to his financial affairs, as we'd be living separately whilst we both finish training.

Expenses; we put £600 each into our joint account. This covers rent (£625), groceries, and gas, electricity and water bills. It also covers netflix, occasional takeaway or dinner out (if there's a deal on!). And if we go swimming, or to the cinema that would be on there too.
I don't spend much on things for myself (clothes, snacks). My phone bill is paid for by my parents. Petrol mainly since I'm a 25 minute drive from University/hospitals. I have about £1500 in savings, and usually a balance of about £600 minimum in my current account. I'm probably saving about £200 per month. Paid £450 lump sum for year car insurance, and my little car has low car tax. I don't pay student fees as they are paid for by the government as it's a nursing course.

No assets aside from furniture, and tech items.

Future;
My parents have a house worth around £4 million. When they sell it, they will take half (2m) to buy another house and split the remainder 4 ways (4 children- 0.5m each). This is for 'bricks and mortar' investment- so if and when we are planning an investment like this, it would be handed over. This may or may not happen, and has never been openly discussed. We don't know the timeline either.

We also will be getting married in the next 2 years- but my parents will pay for the majority of this and we plan to keep it simple and cheap anyway.

Far Future (ie inheritance)
My parents (presumably) have quite a bit of other investments we don't know about. We also don't know how their will is constructed. They have a house in France that was 800,000 euros 2 years ago. My siblings will sell this, splitting it 4 ways again presumably.

So, with all this in mind- what can I be doing to be sensible with money? Currently, as we're not married, my boyfriend's student loan debt is his responsibility. I don't have a part time job as I don't 'need' one, also don't have time for one. He may or may not get this fantastic job that would increase to up to £100,000 per year pretty quickly. My ultimate goal is if possible, I don't plan to work more than one day a week/fortnight once qualified, as we plan to have children soon and don't want to pay for childcare- makes no sense, plus I want to be around to see my child grow up. Boyfriend will keep trying to be a commerical pilot until he is accepted- possibly within the next month!

I'm well aware, and ready for, any critical replies heading my way! And am also aware how lucky I am- don't want to squander/waste this opportunity I was effectively born into. Apologies if I haven't included sufficient information.

Thanks for reply guys - I've taken what you said on board.
Pre- nup = not getting married for a little bit but I'll lay the groundwork, makes sense.
It was more the uncertainty of the inheritance, I certainly wouldn't live just waiting around for it but it does make any money I earn personally seem a little inconsequential if we do get it! Especially as the house money could well be within the next 5 years.
My parents are 60 and 64, but are fit and well- so yes, a while off, fingers crossed!
I'm going to also point out this website to him, try and get a bit of the 'living below your means' thought process through to him. To be fair I'll think he'll be happy to do it, he just really wants a fancy car! We have time to work it all through.
And lastly, I'll look into investing. I personally just like having the savings money where I can see it and could access it quickly if I needed but it doesn't make that much sense- could put some of it into somewhere more sensible.

[anisotropy]

find a good lawyer and get an iron-clad pre-nup, now :)

other than that spend less than you make during your work years and enjoy doing anything you want once you receive the big inheritance, maybe via insurance to avoid the tax.

by the way, you got sisters? ;)

[Frankies Girl]

One thing to keep in mind that until you actually have the money in your accounts, an inheritance is not a guarantee. They are a really wonderful gift when you do get them, but building your life on the premise that you'll be getting a bunch of money in the future can most certainly slant how you perceive your own working and savings goals if you're not careful. You don't want to start expanding your spending just because you know you've got a big pile of cash coming your way, and your parents could change their minds, the house(s) could be worth significantly less than anyone thought, or something else... better to work and save as if you don't have a penny coming to you, so that way when or if it does happen, you'll be financially responsible and more able to deal with, and enjoy it.

I agree about the pre-nup tho. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have.

As you've not really any debts and are saving some amount of money, the only thing I would advise is to start doing some reading on investing in the UK. As you build up your savings, it would be a smart move to shift some of that over to really take advantage of the fact that you're young and HAVE money to invest. Also, keep in mind the idea of avoiding lifestyle inflation. If your boyfriend and you both end up making decent salaries, it's going to be really tempting to start spending more since you have more, but it's smarter to live well below your means!

[socaso]

Good for you for being so sensible and thinking about these things in advance! My husband and I have discussed future inheritances and since we are not looking at anything in the ballpark of what you are expecting we have decided to put the money into retirement savings when it comes our way. I do think it would be wise of you to discuss the possibility of a prenup with your future spouse. True, it isn't romantic, but I think it's best to hammer out now while you want the best for each other. Think of how resentful you might feel in the future if you are in financial straights because your marriage ends badly and one party ends up taking the other for a lot of money. If his family isn't as well situated as yours it's worth talking about it and it should be part of your conversation.

If I were going to come into that sort of money I'd be buying a reasonably priced house in a nice neighborhood with good schools and putting the remainder into savings/retirement. Then with no mortgage to deal with I'd be free to put a larger chunk of my earnings into savings.

Best of luck to you!

[Tai]

You're 21, you don't mention how old your parents are but presumably inheritances are at least 30-40 years off, maybe longer and things can change. It's great that they can help you get established, and you are very lucky, but I would suggest that you try to live your life with the assumption that any large sums of money are very far off, if ever, because stuff happens. If the money isn't in your bank account it isn't yours!