Portfolio Check · by Huy Le · 2026-09-13

small inheritance hit my checking account and I froze

Aunt passed last winter and I got a little over 86k. Not life-changing, definitely life-helpful. I paid off 11k of a car note immediately, parked the rest in a money market, and have been weirdly unable to move since.

Current investable stuff if I include the inheritance cash:
401k 132k mostly target date
Roth 28k all total market
Brokerage 19k mixed index funds
new cash 75k

Part of me wants to dollar-cost average over a year so I don't feel sick. Part of me knows that's mostly emotion in a necktie.

8 sparks · 6 comments

Comments

Daniela Torres · 5 likes

Grief money is different money. You're not irrational for moving slower with it.

Kabir Khan · 3 likes

I got an inheritance and sat on it for nine months. Zero shame. It felt radioactive at first.

Cian Kelly · 3 likes

A year is probably longer than needed, but a few months so you can sleep? Fine.

Yui Tanaka · 3 likes

If it were me: write an IPS on one sheet of paper, then follow it. Otherwise the cash becomes furniture.

Maya Putri · 0 likes

Sorry about your aunt. Also paying off the car wasn't some horrible mistake.

Huy Le · 3 likes

Thank you. She would've loved the phrase emotion in a necktie and also yelled at me to stop dithering.