<prompt> Human: Hi guys. Made a throwaway because I dont want my friends to find out about my sudden influx of money and treat me differently because of it.Im a 20yo living in Minnesota, renting a room in a house and going to school part time. Pretty regular. Never really knew my father, but when he died earlier this year I got to meet my grandmother for the first time. We hit it off super well and made plans to visit often she lives in another stare. Unfortunately she passed away after I only got to meet her that one time. I guess she really liked me though, because she wrote me into her will and I just recieved a check for 200,000.So my question is this: what should I do with it? I have no idea what I want to do with my life and I dont want to squander this money on something that I will regret later.My first thought was to pay off my moms mortgage 168,000 remaining on a house probably worth about 200,000 and then I would just inherit the house when she dies and not have to worry about the money until then. My only concern here is that if she were to rack up debt, I wouldnt be able to get any inheritance back if she died which would be fine since shes my mom, BUT... My second thought was what if I BOUGHT a new house and then just let her live in it and pay for utilities? We both would like to move out of state. This way she could afford to live in a nice place her mortgage payments are wayyy too expensive.. she bought the house during the bubble or whatever and I would be able to sell the house in the future, maybe even for profit.Any advice? I cant sleep since I got this money because Im afraid Ill make a stupid 20yo decision and squander it.Thanks in advance.TLDR; inherited 200k, wondering if buying a house and renting it to my mom so I dont spend it would be a good idea?EDIT: Thank you all for the thoughtful responses. I guess I didnt even think about the fact that I dont have to make a decision tonight. My mom lost her job a couple years ago and is now making like half of what she used to, and can barely afford her mortgage. Maybe Ill just invest the money and help her out a little every month with the payments. She raised me single handedly and I feel she should at least get some of the money since my dad wasnt around to help out.  <response>: First of all, I am sorry for your loss. It is never easy when someone passes away and it can be even more difficult to try and make sense of money, direction and life when all of it seems to happen all at once. If the passing was recent, there is no need to rush to action. The cash isnt going anywhere. The first thing I might consider is making an inventory of your personal finances, credit cards, bills, student loans, monthly expenses, car loan, insurance, etc. Build this out for the month. This will help identify where you stand financial today. If you have debts, those might be something to prioritize paying off because of their interest costs.Think about the major purchases that are ahead of you. Are you in college? Plan to attend college? How do you plan to play for college? Do you have reliable transportation? Do you think youll purchase a homecondo in the future? WeddingKids, etc etc. If you build a strong financial foundation for yourself, it will make taking care of your family easier mom. I would be cautious gifting money to family with an exception that it will come back to you. It might not. Lastly, I might suggest taking 10 of the inheritance and treating yourself. It is an incredible gift past to you by your grandmother. She might have wanted you to at least enjoy a part of it. 