Introduction

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

29. I just finished reading this thread, and I want to say

that I'm especially grateful for the many good and wise things A HERETIC I AM has posted. The only thing I want to add is, don't be in too much or a hurry to change anything. Well, change your broker since you clearly don't trust her, but as for selling stuff and buying stuff, take it slow. Especially for someone with no experience in investments, and as you've said you don't trust the stock market, you are now going to need to learn some stuff about it. Don't be afraid. It's really not that mysterious and there is a lot of information out there.

Oh, and I sincerely hope this windfall is a genuine boon to you.

I will simply say a bit about my personal circumstances, in case anything seems relevant to you. Recently, as in a couple of years ago, I needed to re-do my will and trust work because of certain changes in things that do not need to be addressed here. Luckily, I'd done trust work and wills a couple of times earlier, so I understood the whole process and knew exactly what I wanted in those documents. And here's the thing I want to emphasize: My only son is more or less my only heir (a few bequests to charities and a friend, fifty percent of one life insurance policy goes to my sister) and honestly, he'll be quite well off some day. Once I got all the paperwork in place, I both emailed and snail mailed him copies of everything, including a print out of my investment accounts. I figure the more he knows, the better off he is. The stories told in this thread of people keeping all of their accounts secret and spread around, make me a bit crazy. Clearly the entire world doesn't need to know everything, but those who will inherit really do.

So, my advice to hermetic and anyone else reading this is: Make a will. Do trust work if that's appropriate. And make sure that relevant people know what they need to know. My son has full disclosure from me. My sister only knows about her share of the life insurance. Both of those are appropriate. Your circumstances will be different.

And again, I hope this inheritance is a boon and improves your life.