This week’s Torah portion begins, “And Moses assembled the entire assembly of the Children of Israel and said to them… (Exodus 35:1).” The topic ends some 20 verses later with the words: “The entire assembly of Israel left Moses’ presence (Exodus 35:20).” 

Moses told them what he needed to tell them, and then everyone left. There is an obvious question. Why do we need verse 20? After all, isn’t it obvious that after he finished talking to them, they would leave?

Rabbi Yissocher Frand answers that question: “Rav Elya Lopian says that the verse is teaching that when they walked away from Moshe Rabbeinu, it was evident that they had been in the presence of a Moshe Rabbeinu. A person does not spend time in the presence of a great Jewish leader without having an indelible impression left upon him. This is certainly true immediately after the encounter. Often, such an impression lasts a lifetime.”

In a few days, my siblings and I will mark the 29th anniversary of my mother’s passing.

When we are young, we vow that we will never be like our parents, yet as life rolls on, we start noticing the similarities. All of a sudden, you say something, and you stop in disbelief. Congratulations, you have become your parents! It happens to me regularly. Sometimes, when addressing one of my children, I’ll end up going through three or four of their names before getting the right one, just like my mother did.

Just the other day, I asked my teenage son to turn off the TV and put down his phone. He answered, “What am I supposed to do if I turn everything off?” I answered that he could always get off the couch and go for a run, pick up a book, or study Talmud. In his silent response, I just got a stare followed by some type of grunt. A couple of seconds later, I had a flashback to when I was 17 and lying around on the couch playing some kind of hand-held basketball game, and my mother, of blessed memory, said, “Aaron, why don’t you put down the game and study Talmud!” If I recall correctly, my response was similar to my son’s, with the addition of an eye roll.

While we may not want to turn into our parents, there is one subject on which many tend to think that their parents were brilliant. When it comes to an inheritance, we can tend to think our parents were Warren Buffett. The most common mistake I see people make when they receive an inheritance, especially a stock and bond portfolio, is that they become emotionally attached to what they receive. While this generally applies to inheriting from one’s parents, last week I had a phone meeting with someone in the US who had received an inheritance from a grandparent. After reviewing their goals and needs, it became apparent that to leave the inherited portfolio as it was would be wrong.

However, when I suggested tilting the portfolio toward increased growth, I was met with, “I don’t want to make any changes. My saba was very smart and a great investor.”

I responded something like: “Your saba was a very smart investor, and he had a great portfolio for someone 89 years old, but you are 33 and have a different financial reality.”

I explained that there were reasons behind his grandfather’s choices, which could have to do with tax planning and income generation considerations, but that those reasons were not relevant for a young person living in Israel.

For sentimental reasons, people are often unwilling to make any changes to the portfolios they inherit. The problem with this is that their needs and goals are, most likely, considerably different from those of the deceased.

I like to encourage clients to start from scratch. They should define their own goals and needs and then create a portfolio with an allocation that will help them achieve those goals.

Take a step back and catch your breath. You don’t need to invest immediately. Don’t fall into the trap that I hear so often: “The money is just sitting around doing nothing. I am losing so much money.” First of all, money sitting around for a month or two will not send you to the poor house. For example, $300,000 invested at 3% is $9,000 a year. That’s $750 a month. Not a huge amount of money to ‘lose’ by sitting around “doing nothing.”

Make financial order. Figure out what you want to do both long- and short-term with the money. Maybe you want to use it to pay off part or all of your mortgage; help out your children, give money to charity, supplement your current income, plan for retirement... There are a lot of things to think about, and it may be a good idea to sit down with a financial adviser.

Your saba was smart with his money. Now it’s your turn, not to just inherit his money but his smarts as well. Invest the money correctly for your financial well-being.

The information contained in this article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. or its affiliates.

The writer is author of the book Retirement GPS: How to Navigate Your Way to A Secure Financial Future with Global Investing. aaron@lighthousecapital.co.il