Asked on Reddit: Where Should I Put an Unexpected Inheritance?

A Reddit user recently turned to the platform for some advice: Their grandfather had passed away the previous year and left each grandchild an inheritance of $17,000.

The recipient wasn’t sure what to do with the money. Possibilities included using the funds to help buy a house or save money for the future.

Reddit users had lots of other ideas for the money. They suggested investing, splurging on something meaningful like nice cookware or pursuing education like a career-training program. One user suggested pretending the money didn’t exist so it was there in case of an emergency.

We reached out to three certified financial planners for their professional take on this topic. They offered the following strategies:

Take time to process different options

One mistake people often make after receiving an inheritance is to rush into a decision about what to do with it, says Samantha Mockford, a certified financial planner and associate wealth advisor at Citrine Capital, a San Francisco-based firm.

While you’re considering different options, keeping the money in a high-yield savings account can keep it safe and allow it to grow.

Then, Mockford suggests, explore your options and bounce ideas off other people.

“You might not get a windfall like this again, so don’t do anything rashly,” she says.

Reflect on your loved one’s legacy

“First, how do you feel about the money? How do you feel about the relationship with your grandparent?” asks Mockford.

That relationship might offer a clue about what you want to do with the money, she says. For example, if you often went for long walks along a certain trail, perhaps you’d like to purchase a remembrance plaque there. If your loved one valued education, then you might want to put the money toward college costs for yourself or another family member.

Bolster your financial stability

After some careful thought, you may decide it’s outstanding debt that you need to address.

Paying off high-interest credit card debt can be a good use of unexpected funds, says Brian I. Pultman, CFP and founder of Correct Capital Wealth Management, a firm based in St. Louis, Missouri.

“Get that debt behind you,” he says.

“The grandparent would probably want you to be financially stable and to thrive,” says Daniel Masuda Lehrman, CFP and founder of Masuda Lehrman Wealth in Honolulu.

In addition to paying off high-interest debt, adding to savings can improve your financial standing.

“If you don’t already have savings to cover a job loss — three to six months of emergency savings in a high-yield savings account — that’s a priority,” Lehrman says.

Invest in your future

Putting the money into retirement savings through a 401(k) or Roth IRA are both solid options to consider, Pultman says, because those funds can help you in the future.

Decades from now, he adds, you can remember the grandparent’s legacy when you see how the money has grown.

Identify a meaningful splurge

The money doesn’t all have to go to debt, savings and retirement. Purchasing a meaningful item or funding a bucket-list trip could also be a solid choice, Lehrman says.

In fact, he recently received a call from a potential client who told him he was considering using an inheritance to buy a hot rod because he’d never had a nice car before. He believed his grandparents would have approved of that choice.

“Everybody’s a little different about how they would spend it,” Lehrman says, and only you know whether a splurge makes sense or not.

When Lehrman’s family received an inheritance from grandparents, they used the money to take the family on an Alaskan cruise.

“It was a much better use of the money than buying material things,” he says. “You always have that memory.”

Reddit is an online forum where users share their thoughts in “threads” on various topics. The popular site includes plenty of discussion on financial subjects like savings and financial windfalls, so we sifted through Reddit forums to get a pulse check on how users feel about receiving an inheritance. People post anonymously, so we cannot confirm their individual experiences or circumstances.