4 Innovative Inheritance Ideas That Will Leave An Impact

To some, getting an inheritance might seem like winning the lottery. You may want to use it to pay off bills, buy a new car or even possibly buy a new house. But unlike the lottery, an inheritance is generally the sum total of someone else's life work. To that end, you may want to do something a little more meaningful with your inheritance than just use it to improve your own life circumstances. Here are 4 innovative things you can do with an inheritance that will leave an impact.

Establish a trust

rnOnce you spend your inheritance, it is gone. If you establish a trust, however, it can last a lifetime or more. By establishing a trust, you can ensure you and your own children are taken care of beyond your own lifetime.

Create a foundation

Most people are passionate about some kind of conservation or charity. Whether you want to protect the rain forests, endangered species, and domestic animals, help the homeless, individuals struggling with addiction or even future business leaders, you can use your inheritance to create a foundation to help make a difference in the world. Foundations can range from large foundations that create a significant impact to smaller, local foundations that help a specific group of people or support a specific cause. If your inheritance is not large enough to start your own foundation, you can also make a contribution to an established foundation in the name of the person you received the inheritance from.

Purchase a family retreat

Unless you are the only child of an only child, chances are good you have family that you may want to share some portion of your inheritance with. Rather than parceling it out, however, you can invest it in something that everyone can benefit from. By purchasing a luxury mountain home for saleCreate a scholarship fund Not everyone receives a large enough inheritance to start a trust or their own foundation, but a scholarship fund requires significantly less of an investment. Even scholarships as little as a few hundred dollars can go a long way towards helping a student in need. Of course, you will most likely need to give a scholarship away annually or semi-annually and you will sometimes need an administrator, but a scholarship fund can be a great way to honor a loved one and leave a living legacy.