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Windfall decision

November 28th, 2010 at 06:01 pm

Thank you for your input on my last entry. You altered my decision somewhat! I was all set to pay off the student loan using most of the $13,000, but now I think I'm going to divide it up differently.

First, I'll start a Vanguard Roth IRA for each of us. The minimum is $3,000, so that's $9,000 down.

Then, I'll set aside $1,000 for AA. I'm still not sure if a 529 would be the best choice if she were to become a British citizen and resident and possibly go to a British university. So I'm just going to start a CD or savings account for her.

That leaves $3,000 (actually $2,900 after transfer fees). NT suggested I use some of the money to get professional financial help, so I'm going to keep a certain amount separate (Maybe $750?) and use it to hire an accountant to help with my taxes. (If I can't find help for that amount, I'm just going to muddle through on my own again this year.)

The remaining $2,150 I'll put toward AS's student loan.

I still don't have the actual money, so there is time to change my decision, but right now that seems like the best bet.

Homebody mentioned keeping it separate for me and AA, and I do understand the logic, but I don't think I can operate that way. We all put in all our money -- wages, bonuses, side income -- and NT and AS let me decide where it will do the greatest good. Sometimes a greater amount goes toward one our net worths via debt repayment on the worst debt; it may be AS's freelance money paying off my credit card debt, for example, or using NT's extra student loan money to pay down AS's student loan debt. If I suddenly said "Except this money; this is mine!" it would alter the balance in our relationship. If the relationship does end someday, we've all put equal amounts of work into it so far, so I think we should all come away with something.


This budget allocation will make the biggest impact on AS's net worth, which is exciting because she still has negative individual net worth. She'll go from being about $20K in the hole to minus $15K. I'm hoping by the end of next year she'll have positive net worth. If home values quit stagnating in our building it could be even sooner!

6 Responses to “Windfall decision”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1290970912

    Sounds like a great plan to me. Inheritence from DH's dad is what us going on our roths and I don't regret it one bit. And one never knows...that money may get passed on to our children.

  2. Looking Forward Says:
    1290977031

    What a fabulous suprise! Thanks Dad! Smile

  3. patientsaver Says:
    1290977671

    I think $750 is way more than you need to have an accountant do your taxes. Something like $150-200 would be reasonable.

  4. MonkeyMama Says:
    1291005856

    Actually, considering the complexity of your tax situation, I think $750 is a good starting point for an estimate.

  5. Homebody Says:
    1291007659

    Yes that was me, mother of 3 daughters who has encouraged prenups for all! I am very practical. I have lived a while and seen women get screwed too many times on inheritances. So I felt I was obligated to add my perspective even if it is from an old foeggy!

    Glad you have decided though, it must be nice to have a plan.

  6. ceejay74 Says:
    1291055044

    Your input was definitely appreciated, Homebody. As a matter of fact, it made me think about protecting AS's interests more; she doesn't have any legal marriage rights and the lowest net worth of all three of us. I think I'm going to contribute more to her IRA than mine and NT's next year, to try and even out the imbalance a bit.

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