I talk to a LOT of good people who get a chunk of change for the first time in their lives and are completely thrown off. It can be really unsettling to think about a volume of money you’ve never had to think about before, whether that’s $25k from a grant or $100k from a settlement or $600k from an inheritance. 

I surprisingly got $11k years after my grandparents died and that was shocking to me, but it also opened an option that I never would have explored: I paid cash to go to grad school and my life forever changed.

I encourage people to reflect on what feels true about “having money” and having THIS money, and what’s changing in relationship to yourself and what you can do.

There’s a few directions to look:

> look back – are there problems from your past that need solving? Old debt, loans, utility bills, delayed self care or deferred maintenance needed on some things?

> look in the mirror – do you need or want something TODAY that would improve your life? Does your bed or shoes suck? If you took 1-2% of that money and solved an outstanding problem, how could you improve something right now and satisfy any urge to be a bit spendy without blowing the wad?

> look at the source –  Does the money come with ~TRAUMA~?!?  Or, sometimes it comes with trauma in the form of Unjust Ancestor Vibes or Evil Corporate Assets. You may or may not immediately change what it’s invested in [though do talk to a CFP if you want to do that], but a complicated relationship to your money is common and can get in the way of you acknowledging and acting on what’s true today for you

> look forward – are there things you’d like in the near or far future, like owning land or a home, going to school, having kids, building an ADU to house people who need housing, starting a business so you can employ your wonderful weirdo friends…? 

> look at your lineage – are you from people with money or nah? Is this the One Moment you’ll get a bag or is this the start of many bags you expect to see along the way? Being realistic about wealth inequality can mean

> look around – often people feel called to give a chunk of money away when they get some, which is great! Balancing everything that’s true and needed means you can discern what’s right to give away now and/or later.

Strategy for the long term, storage in the short term

The strategy part I describe above can take a little while, especially if you’re someone who is new to having more than bare minimum money.

If you’re not sure what your plans are going to be, often people want to figure out where to keep the money, at minimum pop it into a high yield, interest paying, savings account while you figure it out! If you want to hold some for the future [which is totally ok by the way] someone can help you decide how to invest it or you can DIY, you can keep it in savings for things you want in the next few years, or you can community invest it.

I coach folks who are sorting through this, and I am also happy to refer people to good CFP/Financial Advisors.