Wealth with Intention

What should you do with a divorce settlement?

Park the money somewhere safe, wait 60 to 90 days before making any permanent decisions, and then invest it according to when you will actually need it. A settlement is not one pot of money. It is several different kinds of money with different tax rules, and treating it as a single number is the most expensive mistake women make in the first year after a divorce.

This article is about what happens after the decree is signed. If you are still negotiating, still waiting on a QDRO, or still deciding which assets to ask for, that is a different set of questions. Intentional Divorce Solutions covers that ground in detail, starting with how to divide assets in a divorce.

The first 90 days: do less than you think you should

There is enormous pressure to act quickly. Your attorney is done. The accounts have transferred. Everyone around you has an opinion about what you should do with the money.

Do less.

The only urgent items in the first 90 ...

What is the 10-year rule for inherited IRAs?

The 10-year rule requires most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherit an IRA to withdraw the entire account balance by December 31 of the 10th year following the original owner's death. Whether annual withdrawals are also required during that window depends on whether the original account owner had already started taking Required Minimum Distributions before they passed. Getting this wrong can mean a penalty of up to 25% of the amount you were supposed to withdraw.

Why This Changed and Why It Matters Now

There used to be a strategy called the stretch IRA. It allowed beneficiaries to take withdrawals from an inherited IRA over their own lifetime, spreading out the tax impact over decades and letting the account continue growing tax-deferred.

Congress eliminated that option for most non-spouse beneficiaries in the SECURE Act of 2019. The 10-year rule replaced it, requiring most non-spouse beneficiaries to fully distribute inherited IRA asset...

The most common types of inherited assets are cash and bank accounts, taxable brokerage accounts, retirement accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s, real estate, life insurance proceeds, business interests, and personal property. Each one comes with different tax treatment, different rules, and different decisions for you to make. Understanding what you have is the first step toward handling it well.

Why This Matters More Than Most People Realize

When people think about inheritance, they often picture a check. The reality is usually more complicated.

Most estates are a mix of assets, and each type works differently. The mistake that costs people the most is treating everything the same, making decisions quickly without understanding that an inherited IRA and an inherited brokerage account, for example, have almost nothing in common from a tax perspective.

This post walks through the most common types of inherited assets, what each one means for you, and what to watch out for. If you are ju...

In the first 30 days after inheriting money, the most important thing you can do is slow down. Gather a complete inventory of what you inherited, park any liquid cash somewhere safe like a high-yield savings account, get a basic understanding of the tax picture, and start assembling a team of professionals. Most financial decisions can wait 30 to 90 days. Almost none of them require immediate action.

Why the First 30 Days Matter More Than You Think

Inheriting money is rarely just a financial event.

It usually arrives in the middle of grief, family dynamics, and decisions you were not expecting to make. And somewhere in all of that, someone is telling you that you need to act fast.

You don't. Not on most of it.

What you do in the first 30 days is not about making moves. It is about getting grounded, getting clear, and protecting yourself from the mistakes that are easiest to make when emotions are running high.

Here is what actually matters right now.

Step 1. Give Yourself Permis...

Most year-end tax content shows up in late November, which is roughly the moment it stops being useful. By then your open enrollment window has closed, your charitable strategy is whatever you happened to do, and your only remaining move is writing a check.

It's August. You have four months and real options. That's the whole reason I'm publishing this now.

2026 is also a year where the rules genuinely moved. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act changed how charitable deductions work, raised the SALT cap, and reshaped a few things that were stable for years. Some of those changes take effect for the first time on this year's return. A plan built on 2024 assumptions will miss them.