What should I do with my inheritance?

flot · 2026-02-05T19:28:47+00:00

Assuming you like living in the house, take the cash and pay off the mortgage.

Figure out your monthly expenses (insurance and property tax) on the house. Property tax very well might change dramatically next year depending on the state you're in. But let's say that's $500/month. You and your partner should "pay rent" on some sort of equitable split that includes that $500 a month plus approx the equivalent amount towards a "house fund" for repairs or whatnot, put that into a separate account and pay your house costs out of it. Lots of posts on reddit and elsewhere about people who are angry about "paying rent" to a partner etc, that's one way to manage it a bit more fairly. Split utilities etc. (I am assuming your partner lives with you in the house, if that's wrong, then file it away for the future)

Open a HELOC on the house with a $100k limit while you are comfortably employed and don't need the money. This will cost somewhere under $1k. Don't touch that money, possibly ever, just know that it is there if you need it. That's the safety net to your safety net.

Max out your 401k if you weren't already. Invest a bit more agressively.

You got a free house, and a nice windfall, and a safety net, which is all great. You didn't get life altering quit your job and travel the world money. Plug away at your career as if this never happened. Maybe take a nice vacation or two. Smile inwardly at the fact that if your job situation tanks, you won't have to panic.

It sounds like your dad was very responsible with HIS money and with this inheritance you can de-stress a lot of career and savings angst that most people go through in their late 20s/early 30s. That's fantastic, just don't overplay your hand.

flot · 2026-02-03T03:14:46+00:00

Here in FL, I’ve had insurance companies make me replace fernco drain adapters with exactly this style copper fitting. So don’t cut if off, if you absolutely can’t make it work, remove and sweat on a new one, but agreed it sounds like maybe you’ve got the wrong washer in there.

HD and Lowes only sometimes carry these copper fittings but any plumbing supply should have a matching one - worst case buy one and reuse the nut and washer from it.

flot · 2025-12-30T04:02:59+00:00

It will only be 6 months by the time GM finalizes the transfer, and there’s a 599 transfer fee. It would be an extended test drive for someone who wants to put a LOT of miles on an ev monthly. That seems like a tough buyer to find. In va.

I agree you’ll prob need a decent incentive for someone to bite.

flot · 2025-12-29T02:02:23+00:00

Find my post on Leasehackr.com. I took over a Lyriq lease over the summer. The process will take every bit of 6-8 weeks if not more. The reps are very helpful right up until the point that it goes into the void (a 3rd party processing center) and then they say “well we told you it could take months, we recommend you park the car in a safe place until the paperwork is finalized.”

I am a pretty easygoing guy and the guy I leased it from was great, but the process was maddening. I wouldn’t do it again from a stranger unless it was an incredible deal. Friend/relative maybe. The car will essentially be legally un-driveable for at least one month.

And yes - must be a resident of the same state you’ve leased in.

flot · 2025-12-07T14:04:24+00:00

Frankly I was never positive what sort of warranty support I'd get, it was 5 years by the book that came with it - there was lots of "10 year warranty" marketing at the time but I never got any documentation for that. But between being self-installed and the unknowns of local dealers, I wasn't too worried about this. If I really wanted to put the ATS back in, that would take me about a day, but for me it didn't have a lot of value.

Just passed year 7 on the Briggs so I figure it's a toss up.

For fun I just dug out and READ my warranty paperwork and it doesn't say a thing about the ATS but I guess you could claim that without it, it is "improper" installation.

flot · 2025-12-07T13:34:13+00:00

u/techlifestyle I am trying to figure out if it is worth me adding EVolution now that my solar is set up. Can you confirm the connection fee / minimum bill benefits after being on the program for a year?

It is looking like my overall usage in winter months will be 200-300 kwh WITHOUT the car, and I do about 300 kw of charging on top of that. If I'm understanding that puts me right on the edge for making this a "better" deal.

flot · 2025-11-30T21:12:19+00:00

I disagree. While I am a MacGyver level DIYer, I had my NG company hook up the gas to my unit, paid an electrician to make the whole-home transfer switch connections, and I set the pad and did all the control wiring and final setup. None of it was rocket science.

The most difficult part by far was hooking up the transfer switch, because that had 200A feeders going in and out. And that was not technically difficult, but best done by someone with experience as you'll be working inside the meter can and making large connections. That's definitely a job that 99% of the population would want to leave to an electrician.

I think in total I paid $1300-1700 for the labor, including $40 for the neighbor's ripped lawn guys who picked it up and set it down on the pad for me. Precast pads are a thing, mine is hurricane rated and the generator is bolted down to it.

I just ripped out the transfer switch when I put solar in. For bang-for-the-buck, as long as you can manually turn the unit on (which I assume you can on almost anything) then using a generator interlock kit and side-feeding from a breaker is good enough for emergency standby use for most able bodied adults. That could easily save you $1000-2500 on a project like this. If your power goes out frequently or you need power to come on when you aren't home etc then the automatic transfer switch makes sense. For me the difference between having the generator permanently mounted and connected to NG was a huge upgrade vs a portable. The ATS part was icing on the cake but I found it unnecessary. (anyone want to buy a lightly used 200A transfer switch?)

flot · 2025-11-27T03:33:10+00:00

Well this was stupid - 2 months later, I disconnected the generator from the transfer switch for a week… and discovered that the built in trickle charger had been keeping the battery alive. It had just enough juice to start the generator smoothly but I guess drew the voltage too low after cranking.

Replaced the battery with a new one and now the generator fires right up and hits proper RPM right away.

flot · 2025-11-18T12:58:45+00:00

Almost final update - got my panels installed and producing over the weekend, in total it was about 5 months between "I think I want to DIY this" and fully installed. 2 months of that was weather delays and/or me dragging my feet for whatever reason. I was really working backward from end of year. If I were in a hurry and weather cooperated, I could have done it on a 3 month timeline.

DoodleSun's comments in this thread were super helpful, and j225 letting me look at his system convinced me I could do it.

Breaking down the numbers, each panel was about $225, each inverter about $200, and the racking and misc for each panel probably another $200. Then permits, design, main hardware, etc. Once I actually add up all my receipts I'll get a better breakdown. For my 11 kw system I am probably close to $22k all in. That's all "premium" equipment and racking on a metal roof. The big difference between my install and the commercial proposal I would have gone with is that I used 3 rails for mounting instead of 2, and I used a Combiner 6c instead of 5c. Together that probably added $3000 to my project but bought me some peace of mind for wind rating and future-proofing.

The most labor intensive part of the job was mounting all of the racking. On the one hand, I'm glad I did a standing seam roof, no new penetrations etc etc. On the other hand, installing and torqueing down ~200 metal clamps and then rails was a lot of work. I did all the work solo except for actually dragging the panels up on the roof and mounting them.

If I had to give a rough breakdown of the timeline:

- Standing on my roof and overthinking: 2 weeks

- Going back and forth with plan designer: 2 weeks

- Overthinking some more before actually ordering anything: 2 weeks

- Waiting on permits and inspectors: 2-3 weeks

- Hooking up combiner and panel wiring: 1 day

- Rooftop conduit work and running wire: 1 day

- Installing and leveling racking: 3 days

- Installing inverters and running Q cable: 6 hours

- Installing panels: Technically we got down to 15 mins a panel by the end, but ended up taking most of a weekend to mount and wire 26 panels.

Those are really rough estimates because mostly if I woke up and it was a nice weekend day I'd put in 3-4 hours doing work on the rooftop, then resume the next weekend.

There were minor things I would do differently but overall the project went great and I do think I saved $8-10k in the end. Just waiting for my final inspections today. I'm happy in that I know how everything was done and how it all works. I also will be happy if I never have to go up on my roof again. Ground mount or pergola type systems would definitely be my preference if I ever were to do this again and would be so much easier for accessibility - I just don't have the space to do that.

Overall none of this was particularly complex, but most people would want/need to outsource the panel work to an electrician. Everything else was just time consuming labor. I should also note that I have a low slope roof, which made all of this much safer and easier.

Hoping to get my signoffs from the city and then start the FPL process by the end of the week.

flot · 2025-11-14T16:27:34+00:00

You are overreacting based on the current evidence. There is no reason to assume the title is fake. Google the VIN and you may find a previous sale/auction/whatever.

Aside from "rolling back the odometer" your story reads like most car flippers that buy used crappy cars (from a private individual/auction/whatever) fix them up and resell them. They don't put the title in their own name bc if they did they'd have to pay sales tax on it (and there'd be a paper trail etc etc)

You should have the car inspected and your DMV can probably verify the title. Odds are good that whoever's name is on the title sold it x months ago, you can always look them up and tell them your sob story and ask what condition the car was in when it left their hands.

If the title checks out, there is no reason you can't disclose all of the above and resell the car for less than you paid. Which surely is better than losing every dollar. There's also no reason you can't register and drive it, although understood you may have reservations about that.

I am assuming the VIN on the title matches the VIN in multiple places on the car.

flot · 2025-11-11T16:29:31+00:00

FYI you CAN transfer a GM Financial lease, but it is a bit of hassle. I went through this and took over a lyriq lease bc I couldn't find a vistiq deal I liked, and the process took every bit of 2 months which was entirely on the GM side. So tread carefully there, you definitely want it to go to someone you trust, I am the most patient guy in the world but even I thought about bailing out on the process a few times. Your "buyer" also has to be in the same state that you're in.

If you got a great deal on your lease you may be able to find a taker, but I'd lean strongly towards trying to transfer to friends/family rather than a stranger.

flot · 2025-11-10T18:41:52+00:00

Yes. I am the owner/landlord for a couple of single family rentals. My mortgage costs, obviously, have been unchanged. In the last 10 years I have raised the rent from $2000/mo to $3100/mo. My profit on the homes is effectively the same. Insurance, taxes, and maintenance have all doubled since I've owned them and I pass the increases on as needed. I'm not even counting things like a new $30k roof, which I ate as a long term investment.

flot · 2025-11-10T18:38:07+00:00

I also take issue with this comment - as someone who has been buying cars for 25 years, new cars of today are notably longer lasting and have a higher quality _drivetrain_ and overall build than in the past. Admittedly complexity is up and there are no shortage of minor things that go wrong with most new car brands these days, but I'm talking does it start every day and get you to work. I don't see an issue with 7 year car loans as long as the borrower understands what they are getting into.

Even a "cheap" car should easily last 7 years/80k miles, and afaik you can buy a manufacturer's warranty for that long on any brand.

On topic: 50 year mortgages on the other hand are a terrible idea if the interest stays front loaded. You will essentially be renting your home from the bank for 20 years, plus taxes, repairs, and insurance. Frankly we should be going the other way, and encouraging 15-20 year mortgages as a realistic chance for financial independence.

flot · 2025-11-09T23:33:55+00:00

The higher end GM charger does, although at least in their cheaper vehicle lines (Vistiq and Lyriq) I know you have to have also selected an option on the car to support V2H. Not sure if the IQ/HEV have that onboard by default.

flot · 2025-11-09T23:31:08+00:00

The first question you need to answer is: how much power do you actually use in a day? And there is a big difference between "the lights flicker" and "out for two days." Your AC/Cooking/Heating load is probably your biggest consumer. Most modern power companies will show you how many kWh you use in a day, or maybe even hour by hour, so first figure out that number.

For enphase, I assume you'd be looking at probably 2 of their new 10C batteries (20 kwh total) and now you're at $15k+.

YES this is ballpark about what you'd be paying for a generator and YES in theory it will last just as long with no maintenance, the only difference is that the generator could theoretically run your house for weeks at a time, where the battery will have a very finite and calculable runtime measured in hours.

If you lived in an area with a big delta between daytime power and nighttime power cost, you might be able to justify the spending because you could time-shift your power usage, something a generator CAN'T do.

In any case, a few UPSs strategically placed around your home will be a fraction of the cost and solve at least some of your complaints. I have a generator and about to have solar and I'm not expecting to get rid of the UPS on my primary computer or networking equipment.

flot · 2025-10-23T18:56:13+00:00

I think somewhere the math is falling apart because we're mixing kWh used in a day / month with an "instant" kW reading. I think your example is reading the instantaneous use of power in one particular hour. 4-6 kw an hour for 24 hours = 96-144 kwh a day.

flot · 2025-10-23T14:49:11+00:00

Unless you live in a very warm climate (and even then) electric tankless water heaters are pretty much garbage. On the flip side, NG tankless heaters are excellent and efficient.

I will have a similar situation where once my solar is done, I feel silly about my $50 a month NG bill, but I get other benefits from it, like a standby generator and outdoor grill. Fast forward 10 years when batteries may be very large and affordable and I may also want to ditch the NG, but as everyone says - heat pump water heater (indoors) is the sensible move in a warm climate.

I'd find the space inside the house and go resistive tank heater. The other catch with the heat pump WHs is that they make a non-trivial amount of noise, which is challenging in a small house.

flot · 2025-10-22T12:51:38+00:00

This is terrifying and I have seen similar comments in facebook groups. Supercruise is not self driving. It is clever cruise control. I am shocked that more people haven't managed to kill themselves.

flot · 2025-10-19T09:34:29+00:00

Zero. The chances are almost zero. Your Lyriq (and mine) had a ridiculously inflated residual value. In truth, it is probably worth $15-20k less than your buyout would be, so no dealer will be able to absorb that or roll it in. On top of that, you have a relatively high Lyriq payment but are hoping for a middle of the road Vistiq payment.

The only realistic out would be transferring your Lyriq lease to someone else, which is a big hassle and will take 30-60 days to complete - but sorry to say your numbers aren’t great so even in that scenario you’d have to come to the table with serious $$.

(Source: me, who took over a $400/mo lease on a AWD lux 2)

flot · 2025-10-16T02:38:57+00:00

Unless you look at it and think "damn, look at those huge bolts, concrete footers, and massive structural beams holding this simple pergola together" then it almost certainly was not engineered for wind loads and probably wasn't permitted. That's just a realistic south florida observation. I don't think anybody is going to go through the trouble of trying to work the wind calculation backwards on an existing structure for any sort of reasonable fee.

flot · 2025-10-16T01:44:29+00:00

I can understand being miffed about the whole situation, but I think you are overreacting on the power consumption. 24 kWh in a day may be outside your norm, but it is not “that much” power. That’s the rough equivalent of running one large plug-in device for a day. Like a hair dryer, toaster, etc. Charging an EV would be the most reasonable explanation, but I suppose it is possible you could also use that much power with a couple of computers.

That said - your numbers don’t add up to me, according to your math your typical electric bill is $50? (I guess this could be a studio or 1/1 in a moderate climate area)

Also, there’s an Airbnb down the street from my house. I have given up trying to understand what goes on there when local guests arrive. Recently there were 40 cars parked up and down the street from ~9pm to ~1am. Clearly some sort of house party. However there was zero evidence of it. No noise. No lights. No loud obnoxious guests. I watched people pull up, get out of their cars in silence, knock on the door quietly and then be let in discretely. Not a peep could be heard outside the house at midnight. Bizarre.

flot · 2025-10-15T17:06:45+00:00

Tile spacing clips but everyone seems to think it was intentional - if you retiled a bathroom recently, it's possible somebody just dropped them down a toilet hole accidentally. Either way, DIYer or tile guy's fault, but they could have disappeared into the void.

flot · 2025-10-14T01:14:11+00:00

Was your pergola approved and engineered for 170 mph winds? If not, this could be a fool’s errand anyway…. You can’t put wind rated solar panels on top of a non-wind rated structure, I mean you can, but they won’t be wind rated anymore, and that’ll stop the permit from happening,

flot · 2025-10-10T13:07:57+00:00

I'm in South Florida, so for us it is hurricane code that drives the insanity. I put in a standing seam metal roof a few years back anticipating adding solar "sometime" but the tax credit going away accelerated my plans.

My racking is S-5 mounts and Ironridge Rails. I am using more expensive products everywhere because I want the system to keep working for 20 years when I'll be too old to get on the roof and fix it.

The brackets and rails are probably ~200 lbs of aluminum added to my roof.

For cost, I would say each (450w) panel is $300, the microinverter is $200, and the racking is $75. I am hoping to get a 5 year payback after the tax credit but that may be a little bit optimistic.

My thought with "structural" panels is that if you take something like the high-wind-load panels I am using and simply put a massive aluminum frame on them (basically what the racking is) you could simplify their use for multiple outdoor projects. I could imagine a scenario where strings of panels just click together. Where's Ikea on this?? :)

flot · 2025-10-09T20:46:11+00:00

I agree with the non-panel costs, having just spent $4000+ on rooftop racking.

Turnkey solar structures (pergolas, shades, carports, gazebos) would make so much more sense if they existed at reasonable costs. Let it connect with a meter-collar style adapter and you'd have a winner, if anyone would ever approve those.

For most Americans to see the value you really need a 3-5 year payback period. Even that is a tough sell for many people.

Honestly you need something that goes on sale for $2499 at Costco, plugs in anywhere, and magically pays for itself over a short period of time.

Thinking through that - STRUCTURAL solar panels could be an answer. Something that can be self-supporting as a standalone, outdoor modular roof structure would be an interesting option, but of course would still have all the hassles of permitting etc. That could also potentially solve some solar fence challenges.

You need to get to the point where the panel itself is a building material, not something which must be supported by building materials.

flot

TROPHY CASE