The Wise Inheritor: A Guide to Managing, Investing and Enjoying Your Inheritance

by Ann Perry

The complete guide for managing the financial, legal, and emotional issues of inheritances large and small.

A death in the family is never easy, but receiving an inheritance, whether expected or not, can leave heirs feeling overwhelmed and even guilty at this change in their fortunes. Ann Perry’s insightful examination of the challenges make managing a bequest a little easier.

Combining her practical know-how as a personal finance writer, the expertise of financial advisors, attorneys, and psychologists, and the wisdom gained from her personal inheritance experience, Perry deftly deals with such touchy subjects as selling the family homestead, divvying up property in “blended families,” parceling out heirlooms, dividing a family business, and sharing—or not sharing—an inheritance with a spouse.

With refreshing candor, Perry addresses the guilt, grief, and unrealistic fantasies that can keep heirs from making the most of their windfalls, and also explores the unique, even life-changing, opportunities that a bequest can present. An excellent tool for estate planning, as well, this is essential reading for those who are writing their wills as well as those who are remembered in one.

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Lesley Looper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up some good tips on dealing with inheritance. It also acknowledged some of the gray areas of inheritance, like the emotions of getting a large sum of money from someone who's died.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating this book was challenging.

I found a great deal of basic information that would likely be helpful to the average reader (normally something I’d give a 4 star rating), yet there were a number of typos and the information was pretty outdated.

However I asked myself at the end “do you feel more prepared to handle the financial matters of your Grandfather’s estate?”, and the answer is yes. No revelations, but it did what it advertised - and would be worth an update!

Edit: I wanted to update this review after reading "Managing Your Inheritance" by Emily Card. These books are both intended to guide heirs through the process of inheriting and managing money, maintaining family relationships, and considering your own estate. Yet, these were two completely different reads.

In terms of content, "The Wise Inheritor" has more emphasis on the emotional side of things, and how to discuss estate planning with your family. The information is directed at Boomers, and so the tips are largely on how to talk to parents that lived through the Depression. "Managing Your Inheritance" is far more focused on financial literacy, although it touches on relational elements as well. This book is much more thorough for understanding different investment approaches for different sizes of inheritance.

Both are pretty old at this point in terms of how they have aged (though still with value!). Boomers are clearly the target audience of "The Wise Inheritor", so much of the advice discusses getting Depression-era parents to open up about estate planning. Given how fast tax law changes, both need a lot of updates to catch up to 2024, but since "Managing Your Inheritance" delves deeper into the financial side, it would require more updates as well.

Overall, I found "Managing Your Inheritance" to have more meat, and got me more comfortable with the vocabulary and concepts of inheritance, even though I needed to look up the modern equivalent to some of the numbers and trust types. It also felt better edited and researched, although I don't think editing stops any of the content from coming across in either book. "The Wise Inheritor" was a little more niche, and so if you aren't a Boomer then a lot of it is fluff.

[Karen]

I enjoyed learning about the emotional issues of inheriting.