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Social Security retirement trust fund may be depleted in less than a decade, new trustees' report finds : news
Main Post: Social Security retirement trust fund may be depleted in less than a decade, new trustees' report finds : news
Just learned I have a trust fund
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Sorry for the long post. As the title states, my dad just called me and informed me my grandfather created a trust fund for me, which is now worth about $650K. I’m going to have access to it pretty soon. Obviously, this is pretty unexpected, and any advice you can provide would be appreciated.
I’m 22M, and am about to finish my masters in engineering. Currently, my net worth is about $155K (95% index funds, 5% HYSA). About half this money comes from working/investing aggressively during school. The other half was given to me by my parents through an education account since I didn’t end up using it for college. After school, I have a job lined up which will pay low 6 figures.
I would love advice about how you would approach the situation. Should I just pretend it isn’t there and let it grow? The people who manage the account charge a 1% annual fee. Ideally I would transfer the funds to control them myself and avoid this. I also have some interest in investing in residential real estate. I’m pretty debt averse, so I am thinking about doing this with cash and no loan. Finally, I have no idea about the tax implications. Thanks for any advice.
Top Comment: Pretending it isn’t there and letting it grow would be an excellent strategy. A nice retirement down the road. Real estate can be higher return, but is a major time & effort commitment and comes with a learning curve. As opposed to index funds which require 0 work.
how does a trust fund work?
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My aunt and her late husband (who recently passed) are extremely wealthy. Post funeral, now she is setting up trust funds for everyone in the family. cousins and their kids.
If or when i gain access to said trust funds (when she passes) will this affect social security income when i plan to retire? (42 currently)
How much does a typical trust fund earn in interest?
When or if she passes - how will we all be notified of access to the trust fund? via the attorney she works with?
my kids are 2, 8 and 11 yo
Top Comment: A trust fund is just an investment account that allows the beneficiary (you) to receive money from the account. (Usually 5% of the value and additional distributions for Health, Education, Maintenance, and Support (HEMS)). It does not affect your Social Security in any way. The fund will earn in interest whatever its invested in. It can be invested in stocks, bonds, cash, or alternatives. Theres not enough information here to tell you much more.
Inherited a Trust Fund of 5m -- What to Do, Where to Start? Should I spend my youth traveling and teaching?
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Hello everyone -- I'm seeking advice. I am 24 and a software engineer living in Seattle (so highish COL). I intend to live here in the future once I settle down, get married and have kids. I am in the incredibly privileged position on inheriting a trust fund valued around 5M. It's managed by weath management people who invest the money and seem pretty successful at it. I'm allowed full access to it when I'm 30 and have limited access now (I can take out funds if I ask). I don't plan on touching it right now really.
I'm so financially uneducated it's embarassing. I have no idea what a ROTH IRA is. I only use a debit card. I have about 30k in my checkings account that's mostly my own money I've earned from my job. I don't invest. I have a LOT of internalized guilt about my financial planning skills. Every time I spend money I feel guilty. But then I wonder if I should even feel guilty because I'm in a financially privileged position. So then I spend more. And then I get into a terrible stressful cycle of not knowing where I stand financially and what I should do. Others have it way way worse than me so it feels silly to complain about the stress. So I'm just trying to educate myself.
The problem is I don't know how. I need like a "beginners guide" but I'm not sure what "traditional" financial advice to follow given my semi unique situation. A lot of beginners advice is for people who don't start out with as much as I have. So do any of you have resources or tips to start financially planning with a sizable trust fund? What should I be doing with my normal income? I asked my parents if our wealth management people could manage my income but they said it's not worth it since they cost a lot of money. How can I make a budget?
While I like being a software engineer, I'm not passionate about it. My ideal job is a elementary school teacher and I've always been really good with kids. However it obviously doesn't pay as well. I would love to teach abroad while I'm still young but don't know if that's financially advisable. Or maybe I've inherited enough money where it doesn't matter?
I don't need a super luxurious life - I just want a nice house in Seattle and to be able to travel. I also want kids and want to give them a good life as well (and maybe even send them to private school). Beyond that I'm happy to budget on whatever.
I know these questions are probably so so annoying because of how lucky I have it. I just don't know where else to go with my advice. I don't have the greatest relationship with my parents so I feel kind of awkward asking about this sort of thing.
Edit because I forgot to say: I make 115k pre tax at my job as a software engineer
Top Comment: 5million is enough for you to take 150k in perpetuity(adjusted for inflation annually). If 150k is enough to cover your lifestyle, then congrats you never need to work another day in your life. Go do whatever it is you want to do, teach, stay in bed all day, make art, join a band, teach
What Are the Rules or Requirements to Access Your Trust Fund?
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I'm curious about how trust funds work for those who have one. For anyone who's inherited a trust fund or has access to one, were there any specific rules or requirements you had to meet before you could start using the funds? Whether it’s about reaching a certain age, achieving certain milestones, or even things like educational requirements, I’d love to hear about the process you went through to gain access. Any insights or personal experiences are appreciated!
Top Comment: Neither husband nor I inherited anything, so no rules. We have a trust set up for our kids. In order to access it, both hubby and I have to be dead. That’s it. They could murder us and get the money. The money is divided equally between them. Our kids are mid 20s, have completed their educations. While neither is perfect, they are both reasonable human beings and we feel no need to try to control them from the beyond. We’ve gone over absolutely everything with them, and all documents are easy to access. The thing they found the most helpful is we included names and numbers of people they can trust. If something were to suddenly happen to both hubby and I, our concern isn’t with our kids, but with people who would try to screw them over. Also, we occasionally audit all our affairs. Sometimes people set trusts up and forget to put assets in them, but and sell and don’t update, etc.
Working with trust funds babies made me depressed about my life.
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I cannot think of any other career that makes you question your life than accounting.
Doctors get sick patients and are grateful they don’t have the health issues that the patient generally has.
Lawyers get client with messy legal issues and are thankful they aren’t the ones with these issues.
Accountants: we get trust fund babies getting millions of dollars when they reach a certain age and you sit there and know that no matter how hard you work you wouldn’t be able to attain such wealth in a 100 years.
I’m so spiteful, I know. This is depressing.
Top Comment: It really hit me the first time the 1098 interest was larger than my annual salary
Please help me not blow my trust fund
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My (20F) family has been middle class my entire life. My dad owned a local grocery store with 8 locations across my state, but it was not profitable until a few years ago and he could not afford to take out much of a salary. In 2020 when everything else came crashing down, the store actually started doing really well and was truly profitable for the first time. To make a long store short, he sold the business last year for quite a large chunk of money.
This month, I found out that he has put the money in a family trust and I will be given about 60k a year for life. I also work part time right now as I am in school, so it will end up being 60k plus whatever I make at my job (which will increase when I go full time after graduation). I am so grateful, and my biggest fear is not making the most of the opportunity he has given me or wasting any money.
Any advice on how to best allocate this money would be appreciated. Or just advice on being a young person learning to work with money for the first time!
Also, just to get this out of the way- I know trust fund kids are annoying and I always made fun of them too before I became one. I promise that I am cripplingly self aware of how privileged I am.
Top Comment: Others will give you some great financial advice, but I just want to add, in terms of life advice: please be very careful who you share this information with. And, quite frankly, I would recommend you keep it to yourself. You don’t want friends or partners who take advantage of you, manipulate your feelings and make you feel guilty for not “helping” them. Protect your future.
About To Receive A Trust Fund - Any Advice?
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I'm about to become the recipient of a $3,000,000 trust fund from my parents at the end of the year. Up until now, I've been living with my spouse in LA, paying for all my own stuff for the most part (parents help with health insurance), and generally living an average life. Combined, my spouse and I make about 100,000-120,000 a year (I'm freelance so my income fluctuates).
The rules of this trust fund give us access up to $10,000 a month and a $250,000 down payment for a house/home (we currently rent a 2 bedroom apartment for about 2050 a month).
Our current debt is about $10,000 in CC from recently buying a bunch of gear for my job in the last 6 months as I'm starting to make more every year. My partner also has student loans (50,000ish), but due to them being an educator, they can get a good chunk of it forgiven in the next few years thanks to the school they teach at.
I have a small investment portfolio of about $5,000 and a roth IRA with $3,000 in it.
I'm personally at a loss for words on what to do now. This money is life changing, but I don't even know what to do with it beyond buying a few nice things and maybe taking a yearly vacation.
Should I be diversifying things from the trust fund into my person stock portfolio and IRA, or are there other options for me now that I have access to this money?
What about the debt that my wife and I have? Should we pay that off ASAP or slowly play it off in order to keep the money in the trust fund to grow?.
What the heck do I do now?
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It doesn’t sound as if you have access to the principal, you’re getting dividend/ interest income I believe. The trustee of the trust should be able to tell you.
If however you are actually getting the principal of the trust I believe you can get it in cash or “in kind” which means that the actual contents like mutual funds etfs, etc are transferred to you via your taxable brokerage account.
Please tell me what a trust fund does
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Hey there
My husband owns his own business (manufacturing) and wants to create a trust fund for our family (advised by our accountant)
I'm a 30 something female and have no clue what a trust fund is and would love for someone to please dumb it down and tell me the pros and cons for having one.
Thankyou (from a nurse who isn't small business minded or financially literate 🥲)
Top Comment: FYI - a “Family Trust” (aka Discretionary Trust) is almost certainly what the accountant is recommending for asset protection and tax reduction purposes. A “Trust Fund” is something different, though a Family Trust can be used to create a Trust Fund that doesn’t sound relevant here.
How does one set up a trust?
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I always hear about some Rick guy who owns so many shares of xyz and another bajillion shares of xyz in his trust.
How does one do that? Is that like incorporating yourself? I don't know what that truly means, either. I take it to mean you're an employee of yourself and you pay yourself a wage, but you the corporation own your assets.
Top Comment: Talk to a lawyer that specializes in wills and trusts. Their fee will be worth it in the long run. I assume you are also looking to create a living will with a trust. The lawyer will make sure it’s air tight and set up to prevent others from trying to take the money. Edit: this is usually used to pass done money and property to children and grandchildren.