Happy family holding cash outside their home, symbolizing receiving a financial windfall and learning how to manage it wisely.

Imagine this. You inherit a quarter-million dollars, $250,000, while juggling two kids, $3,000 daycare bills, and a baby due in January. That was the reality for a couple I met with last week. They weren’t popping champagne or shopping for new cars. They were asking a different kind of question: