You’ve Just Inherited Some Shares, Now What?

There could easily come a time in your life when you’ve inherited or been given shares of some kind. The most obvious cases where this happens is when someone in your family passes away, and you get their shares from their will. Or, some parents like to buy shares for their kids when they’re younger and give them the shares when they become an adult.

Regardless, you’ve got some shares, and you don’t know what to do with them. Should you hold onto them, or should you just sell them? If you’re feeling a little bit confused or conflicted, then here are some arguments on both sides to help you out.

Sell, Sell, Sell!

Selling your shares can be a good idea for multiple reasons. The most obvious being that you can get money right there and now. After all, if you inherited the shares, you didn’t put any money into them, so you will only really be making money. If you’re in a tough financial position – perhaps you have debts to pay – then this could be a very smart idea.

The problem some people have is that they think you need a share trading account to sell any shares. This can be complicated to set up and take more time and effort than you wish. However, there’s something called a one off share sale where you can sell your shares without needing an account. Again, a great idea if you need money, fast. If you don’t desperately need money, then this might not be the right option for you.

Similarly, the shares you’ve been given play a role in whether or not you should sell. If you’ve got shares in quite an old company, and you can clearly see their value has decreased over the years. (It’s easy to find this out, by the way, just type in the name of your shares into Google, and you’ll see historical results and graphs, etc.). If they look like they’re just decreasing in value, then there’s no point holding onto them, sell now, and sell fast!

Selling also gives you money to possibly invest in better quality shares that are more likely to grow, or any other investment opportunities to grow your personal finances.

Keep Those Shares

A lot of the arguments for keeping the shares have already been touched upon above. The main one is if you have shares in a company that’s on the up. Perhaps you’ve got shares in Google, which is a company that’s constantly getting bigger and better, dominating its industry. Here, the better idea is to keep your shares because they’ll likely grow in value over time.

If you have no immediate need for money, and the shares are good, then there’s no real reason to sell. Keep hold of your shares until they hit a point where they’re worth a lot more money, then maybe think about selling them.

Hopefully, this has helped you in some way or another. It’s really all about your current financial situation, and the shares in question. With a little bit of market research, you’ll be able to tell if these shares are worth more to you now or later down the line.