Sudden Money: Managing a Financial Windfall

Susan Bradley, a certified financial planner for nearly two decades, designs and presents programs for those who reap a financial windfall. Since any such gain is relative, she says, this literally happens millions of times each year as people abruptly find themselves facing the pecuniary impacts of everything from a death or divorce to an insurance settlement or winning lottery ticket. In Sudden Money, she addresses critical considerations in a straightforward, step-by-step manner that should prove useful to anyone on the receiving end of such a fiscal boon. Her core advice: develop realistic long-term plans with help from a knowledgeable advisor who can steer you through technical obstacles and point out particulars that you might otherwise miss. To assist, she discusses relevant details and outlines specific actions in sections focusing on three interconnected aspects of the process: carefully charting overall goals, which should begin with a reflective period after first learning about the bonanza; judiciously selecting investments that will produce desired results; and firmly establishing systems that keep everything on track. There also are individual chapters dealing with the eight most common sources of "sudden money," including inheritance, retirement, and the exercise of stock options. --Howard Rothman