Planning after an inheritance or sale

Planning for an Inheritance or Business Sale

An inheritance or business sale may settle one financial question and create ten new ones. Where should the cash sit? What is owed in tax? Who needs to know? How much can be given away? We begin by making sure none of those questions has to be answered faster than necessary.

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The first objective

Settle the immediate needs and give larger decisions time.

We review near-term cash needs, taxes, and where the money is held. Then we help you consider investments, a new home, family support, or gifts in the context of the whole plan.

The first inventory

Find out what arrived—and what came with it.

Identify tax basis, withholding, estimated payments, sale terms, restrictions, and upcoming filing deadlines.
Review where cash is held and whether bank, brokerage, or account protections are adequate.
Separate money needed in the next few years from money that can remain invested.
List existing debts, concentrated investments, family commitments, charitable intentions, and large purchases under consideration.
Decide who needs to know now and which requests can receive a standard ‘not yet.’

After a business sale

The transaction may also end a job, an identity, and a familiar routine.

A plan based only on the sale proceeds misses the rest of the change. We ask what work will look like now, which expenses belonged to the business, how family expectations may shift, and what the money is supposed to make possible.

Decisions that deserve their own rules

Set priorities for spending, investing, and family help.

Family help

Set a budget and criteria for gifts or loans before the requests arrive. A policy is easier on relationships than a series of improvised exceptions.

Investing

Build the portfolio around spending, taxes, when the money will be needed, and how much investment risk the plan can support.

Major purchases

Model the ongoing cost and the opportunity cost, not just the purchase price. Understanding those costs helps you choose which changes matter most.

Understand the investment approach and how to choose help.

Investing

Investment Strategy

How Pathfinder combines broad diversification with scenario-based risk decisions.

Choosing help

How to Choose a Financial Planner

Questions for evaluating an advisor's incentives, competence, and fit.

After an inheritance or sale

Talk through what the inheritance or sale means for you.

We can discuss your deadlines and near-term needs, and whether ongoing planning would help with the decisions ahead.

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