Liquidating an estate in the USA... in today's economy. Shouldn't we just wait a while?

• How should we handle liquidating assets in an estate in the USA right now? Assets consist primarily of a stock portfolio and a house. My father recently passed away, leaving behind an investment portfolio worth about $650,000 and a house valued at $300,000. This will be split 6 ways; four of the inheritors have expressed a preference to liquidate everything straightaway and wash their hands of it. Aside from the emotional issues the other 2 inheritors have with rushing into this, we are wondering financially what is the best way to handle this given today's market conditions. My understanding is that housing prices are very low, and we can all see what's happening with the stock market. My first reaction is that now is an extremely bad time to be liquidating any assets from a strictly economical perspective; this view is what I am asking for your feedback on. None of us are very experienced in financial matters; we plan on searching for a financial advisor next business week, but in the meantime I would appreciate any informed advice about how we can best retain the value of these assets as we decide how to handle the estate. Specifically: 1) Should we sell the house now and take what we can get, or is it likely that we could get more value from holding on to it for a year or so and possibly trying to rent it in the meantime? I think that there are two factors that would contribute to the house being sold under value: today's market conditions, and the desire on the part of the executor of the will to sell the house as quickly as possible regardless of any loss. At least one of these seems avoidable, but if the market is expected to worsen, it would be an advantage to sell it now. No one plans to live in the house, but there are local family members who have offered to help with its care and administration if needed. 2) Same as above for stocks; I have not yet seen the contents of the portfolio, but am inclined to believe that after the November elections, there is a good chance the economy will be positively affected. We also know that the portfolio consisted of low-risk stocks aimed more at stability and long-term returns. Should we wait and see, for this or any other reasons, or should we cash it in now in case things get even worse? 3) The biggest concern: what happens if the 6 beneficiaries disagree on the questions above? One of the four who wants to eat the whole cake now will have power of attorney by Monday. If the two of us strongly disagree with his opinions on how to handle the assets, what happens? More important background: the 4 who want to take the money and run are all 40-something homeowners who are married with 2 or 3 kids apiece, have Masters degrees, are stably employed in long-term careers, and generally already have all the security they could ask for as far as I know. We (the other two) are in our early twenties, have bachelor's degrees, are employed but with very modest salaries, and are unmarried. I think these differences are serious and, without being selfish, I feel that given that they have so much more security, our needs for the near future should be prioritized. The people who left this inheritance were there to support them when they were our age, and we no longer have any sort of safety net. Side question: is this incredibly selfish of me? I realize that they are probably looking forward to using their share towards their children's college tuition and their retirement funds, but the fact is that a few thousand dollars lost by liquidating sooner than necessary could mean a lot more to the younger beneficiaries. We are not sure why they want to rush into liquidating everything immediately when none of them have any immediate need for large sums of cash that we know of, and certainly no one was anticipating this to happen now. Again, we will look for a financial advisor and are going to speak with some attorneys in our local network as well, but appreciate your advice in the meantime.

• Answer:

  I feel that given that they have so much more security, our needs for the near future should be prioritized. The people who left this inheritance were there to support them when they were our age, and we no longer have any sort of safety net. Side question: is this incredibly selfish of me? I'm not sure that selfish is the right word, but you definitely need to get over this sense of entitlement, because it is misplaced. Not only is your net worth about to go up by six figures in your 20s (most people, even here in the wealthy USA will never have those sorts of liquid assets. You're going to have them for most of your life), but your writing comes off as "I deserve this more" or "Dad would want me to have this more". That's an ugly sentiment, especially when your reasoning is "Because I'm younger". You are an adult, and you're going to have different opportunities than those around you (some better, some worse), and resenting/penalizing those for the fortunate opportunities they had and you didn't is petty, lame, and oh-so-very Junior High. Get over it. If the deceased believed that you deserved more, or needed to be taken care of in your twenties (!!), they'd have made provisions in the will. I hope that the 40-somethings aren't also saying "Dad would want his grandkids to have more of this, and not the silly 20-somethings with minimal financial obligations and all their earning potential in front of them". If you guys are all looking at each other across that sort of divide, there are going to be some long days ahead. (Incidentally, in the workplace, this sense of entitlement is one of the biggest divides between Gen X and Gen Y -- you may be treading in especially dangerous waters here and not even know it. But, family dynamics are different than workplace dynamics, and my area of expertise really only includes the second) My understanding is that housing prices are very low, and we can all see what's happening with the stock market. My first reaction is that now is an extremely bad time to be liquidating any assets from a strictly economical perspective; this view is what I am asking for your feedback on. Shrug. You can't reliably predict the housing or stock markets. The national economy may recover in November after the elections. We might discover endless oil supplies in Rhode Island. Or in December, an imbalanced pro-life Kansan preacher might wake up one day and blow up the Federal Reserve, leading to the largest sell-off in history. Or cancer takes Steve Jobs, wiping out 70% of AAPL's value overnight, and dragging down the last remaining sector of the US economy that's still firing on all cylinders. Or Israel bombs Iran on our request, which results in an oil embargo and $15 gallons of gas (or a colonization and $1 gallons). Or the housing market's reaction to long-term cost of transportation is to severely devalue the land outside of urban centers... or, or, or... My point is that you don't know whether this is a market bottom in either relevant market (though you seem to think that you do)... and it will http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost you to find out. The others, for whatever reason, would rather avoid that cost. (One of their reasons might be that they want to spend as little time and energy on this... some people want to tie up all affairs ASAP, because it helps them with their grieving. This sort of "psychological cost" is quite valid as well, though it's hard to relate to if you don't feel it yourself). The other thing to keep in mind is that the investment strategy that is suitable for a 20-something with no kids or debt is very different from what is likely in your Dad's portfolio. He (hopefully) is in low-risk, low-reward instruments, because he had a shorter time horizon than you do. To most people, this reason alone would be enough to liquidate the existing portfolio sooner rather than later. Once you have a check, you can invest it any way you want to... if you want to keep your Dad's portfolio because you didn't think it was time to sell, you can take your share of the proceeds and essentially buy it back. But your financial advisor will tell you that you should be more aggressive, because time's on your side, and you should listen to him. 20 years from now, it won't really matter whether your father's estate was worth $750k, $1M, or $1.2M when it was divided amongst the heirs. But the way you and the other relatives treat each other during this time will likely color your relationship forever.