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Inheritance ... and then?

When parents die, you are usually no longer very young yourself. It's better not to make your own pension provision dependent on your inheritance and - because of your advanced age - to be reasonably secure (yes, I wouldn't take out an insurance policy today, that's just the way it was done). You might also have a property, in my case an owner-occupied condominium and two smaller units to rent out.

And then, somewhat unplanned and unexpectedly, an inheritance comes along, which in my case increased my assets by two thirds. Whew.

That sounds great at first, but you're actually quite sad.

I feel it is my duty to handle the money responsibly and sensibly, to make the achievements of my ancestors "permanently usable" and to honor them.

But how?

Perhaps others have similar situations and questions to mine in this case, which is why I am sharing my thoughts and decisions in broad outline.

My "background" and experience with investments:

As you can see, I only joined the forum in April 2025 and I don't have much more experience with investing and the like. For the last 5 years, I only had a €300 savings plan on the S&P 500, yes, but it was all very passive.

Since April, I've bought a few individual stocks with "free capital" (<€25k) in addition to the ETF and had fun with them, e.g. with $IREN (+1.3%) which I picked up at €13 or €14, and I also enjoyed following analyses and thought processes here. It was all experimental and there were plenty of failures.

In the middle of the learning process, the inheritance came quite suddenly and I had to deal with it.

A planning approach

The money can't just "lie around".

What do I actually want to achieve?

Bring retirement forward by x years (I would still have to work regularly for 9 years) -> how much non-working time can I buy myself? 5 years would be great. So in 4 years I would start paying myself €40-50,000 a year, which I could then significantly reduce again when I officially retire.
A mobile home (<60k) would be nice.
But I don't want to spend the money. It would be nice if some of it could be inherited with a high probability (we have two children).

Investment strategy

If I have already saved for my retirement myself, then I can also invest for a few more years with moderate risk. growth to make all my wishes come true. I've been thinking about this for a while and explain the result in the screenshot that shows the current portfolio:

My current allocation:

Explanations

The FTSE All-World as the bread and butter core investment covers 25%.

wikifolios (because hopefully people there have a clue) provide growth with 50% of the invested capital.

@Epi s 3xGTAA for momentum (S&P 500 and Nasdaq are covered)

Umbrella and PPInvest low Vola (WFPP999999) for growth with a very good risk/reward ratio (approx. 2!)

Special Situations long/short as an opportunity if Trump goes completely crazy (there is currently 50% cash in there for good reason)

A few percent cash as a reserve in the $XEON (+0.01%)
A few percent gold, silver and bitcoin (teaching money) as diversification

Investment income: $TDIV (-0.05%) and $MAIN (-1.39%) . These are my test field to see whether this is a suitable retirement strategy for a regular dividend income. Most of my savings currently go into these two. Profit-taking should also end up there.

Opportunities/risk assessment

The share-weighted Sharpe ratio across all these investments (excluding equities) should be pretty much exactly 1.

It should be clear that the previous internal rate of return of 24% since 10.11.2025 to date can certainly not be maintained. However, it is certainly my hope that I could - without having to put in a lot of effort - end up with 15-20% p.a.

And I'm keeping the 5-7% in individual shares for fun and learning, because I simply find the topic exciting. Perhaps this will lead to a reorientation in the distribution, but for the time being I'll start like this.

If I do something stupid with my plan, just say so!

Links to the wikifolios:

3xGTAA: https://www.wikifolio.com/de/de/w/3XGTAA
Umbrella: https://www.wikifolio.com/de/de/w/wfumbrella
PPInvest low Vola: https://www.wikifolio.com/de/de/w/wfpp999999
Special Situations long/short: https://www.wikifolio.com/de/de/w/wfspecial2

20 Comments

Susanne@Isus01010

My father died two years ago and I was in a similar situation last year.
My sincere condolences!

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Epi@Epi

Thanks for sharing!

I like your approach of letting others do the content work to get an excess return when you have just started in the stock market.

But one question: Assuming your plan works and you generate 20%pa until retirement. Why would you want to swap such a superior strategy for a sub-optimal one? Just go ahead and withdraw what you need. Incidentally, this approach significantly changes the calculation of the optimal retirement date. 😏

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Manu@FrauManu

I've also been dealing with this issue for a few weeks now... my mother-in-law is still here, but it's foreseeable that the day will come at some point and with it the inheritance. I'm currently drawing up a kind of private balance sheet to get a better overview of all our finances and what we can still expect (not including the inheritance)
I don't yet know exactly how I will create it when day x comes.
Keep it simple.
I'm currently spending more time on Epi's account and in other forums to get ideas on how to structure it optimally.
First of all, thank you very much for your contribution and my condolences.
What's wrong with retiring early and traveling the world in your motorhome?
As you know, various health restrictions come with age, some more than others. That's why I wouldn't push the idea too far into the distance.
I would look forward to a continuation of this article.
Until then, good luck 🍀

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EN-SX@en-sx

@FrauManu First of all, thank you and I wish you all the best and that the farewell "succeeds". I found it very comforting and reassuring to have managed everything gracefully and well. It was the last possible thank you to the parents.

Why not retire earlier? Quite simply because I have a varied and responsible job that I enjoy and also gives me a lot of freedom.
In four years' time, however, there will be age-related staff changes and I will be losing my dearest colleagues. So I thought: this will be the right time, we'll leave together and make room for young people.

Maybe I'll write from time to time about how things are going with the wikifolios and the mix, if that's of interest.

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NichtRelevant@NichtRelevant

I can understand the situation. Of course you're sad and you have a lot of things to do and organize.

In my case, the whole inheritance process wasn't easy because the proportion of real estate was relatively high. Some of the properties were unrenovated and unrented, but full to the roof with all kinds of junk. So I first had to argue with the tax office about the valuation of the properties because of inheritance tax and then I had to devote myself to renovating and renting them out in order to generate any income at all. In the end, it was financially attractive, but exhausting.

If you have little investment experience, I would go for broadly diversified ETFs. In principle, you already have a few positions in your portfolio.

If you can avoid it, I would refrain from buying a motorhome, unless you plan to go on a long trip for several months a year. Renting a really cool motorhome for the time you use it is effectively cheaper than buying one. Of course, not everything is always rationally tangible - sometimes you have to act irrationally to fulfill your heart's desire.

I wish you the best of luck 🙂

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EN-SX@en-sx

@NichtRelevant Thank you for your story, for which I wish you continued luck and success.

The motorhome comes as a replacement for an old one and because we have been campers since we were children. It's just our hobby and hobbies are irrational by definition. :-D

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NichtRelevant@NichtRelevant

@en-sx Okay. Then the mobile home is yours. The testator(s) will do the same if there really is an afterlife from which the ancestors are watching you 🙂 -> 🚐

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Ape65@Ape65

Depending on how much money there is in total.

If you want to make the money "permanently usable", take a look at the endowment principle.

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EN-SX@en-sx

@Ape65 Thanks for the term, I even know it.
It's not that much after all (yet) :-D

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