inheritance

[LindseyS]

My mom passed away last month and I will be receiving a small inheritance sometime within the next couple months.  I would like suggestions on how to invest this money wisely as it will be the only inheritance my family will ever receive.  I am thinking that I would like it to go towards my childrens future college educations.  Any advice or input?  Thanks in advance.

[dandarc]

Sorry for your loss.

Nothing special about a monetary inheritance vs. other money.  Deploy according to your plan once the money is available to you.  Without more information about your overall financial situation, hard to advise specifically on what to do with a lump sum.

[RWD]

Money is fungible so invest it the same way you would invest the rest of your money.

[forummm]

If the money comes in the form of an IRA, try to leave it in the IRA as long as you can. But be aware of inherited IRA rules and take any required distributions.

[AlwaysLearningToSave]

I agree with the other posters-- invest it in a manner consistent with the rest of your financial plan.

I am thinking that I would like it to go towards my childrens future college educations.

Without more information, it is hard to say whether this is appropriate, but I am guessing it is not.  If you are already FI or close to FI, then setting this aside specifically for college educations may be a great idea.  If you are still accumulating, you should not put this in a 529 or otherwise earmark this money for college. 

I generally think people over-prioritize college savings for their children.  Your children can work or borrow to finance their educations if they need to.  You cannot work or borrow to finance your retirement.  The best gift you can give your children is to take care of yourself financially so that you are not a burden to them in the future.  Help your children only after you have taken care of yourself. 

That said, this inheritance absolutely can help fund your children's college educations indirectly.  Think of the inheritance as something that accelerates your path to FI, freeing up your future income to be used for helping your children with college expenses.  Ideally, you will be FI or close to FI and spend significantly less than you earn when your children go to college.  In that case, you can use your current income to help pay for your children's school.