Erm... What should I do with it?

[MattW]

I'm in a strange (but good) situation that I never actually thought I'd be in. Not too long ago, my aunt passed away, and I learned that she's left me with a very generous inheritance. I mean, I'm not, like, rich, or anything, now, but it's still a lot more money than I thought I'd be seeing in the near future. I'm not stupid or irresponsible enough to blow it all, but at the same time, I'm not quite smart enough to really know where to put it, really. All I have is a single bank account (a checking account), and I don't want to put it all in there, as that seems a bit... dangerous, to me. But like I said, I'm not quite smart enough to know what else to do with it. A single checking account is all I've needed, up until now. I want to be able to access it if I really need it, but at the same time, I don't want it to be accessible enough that people can get their hands on it, yanno?

[Fudgie]

I'd go to your bank and talk about setting up a separate savings account with a good interest rate. Perhaps one that you could put the money in and not take out of for a while, so you'll have more interest? It will be there for you in the future.

[Mesemene]

Depending on how much you're talking about, I'd probably split it up into 3 sections.

 

Portion 1 - short term CDs, or other investment fund you can pull from relatively quickly without penalty. (6 month or so)

 

Portion 2 - mid-term savings, something in the 3-5 year range if that's realistic for things like buying a home in the near but not-too-near future

 

Portion 3 - long term investments - something like a money market fund with heavy emphasis on blue chip and utility stock, the kind that reliably appreciates over time.

 

That would be the relatively conservative approach if you want to make sure you have it when you need it, and still earn decent interest without gambling with it.

[Wager]

Invest in disability and long term care insurance.

Seriously. Everyone should. Until they are insurance poor with the investment. And then they should do it some more. I volunteer at a couple of 'homes' and it is such a sad, scary state of affairs, and in my country, at least, only getting sadder and scarier for most people.

 

Go, go now.

 

Wager

[quantumst8]

Pay off your mortgage, or buy a house. I'm not very confident that the US dollar (or any currency for that matter) will retain its value over the next 10-20 years. But the world keeps getting more crowded and real estate is only going to get more competitive.

[MattW]

Depending on how much you're talking about, I'd probably split it up into 3 sections.

 

Portion 1 - short term CDs, or other investment fund you can pull from relatively quickly without penalty. (6 month or so)

 

Portion 2 - mid-term savings, something in the 3-5 year range if that's realistic for things like buying a home in the near but not-too-near future

 

Portion 3 - long term investments - something like a money market fund with heavy emphasis on blue chip and utility stock, the kind that reliably appreciates over time.

 

That would be the relatively conservative approach if you want to make sure you have it when you need it, and still earn decent interest without gambling with it.

 

Hah, wow, sad to say, but most of that just went over my head. That all sounds... good, I just have to smarten up enough to know what a lot of that stuff even means.

 

Pay off your mortgage, or buy a house. I'm not very confident that the US dollar (or any currency for that matter) will retain its value over the next 10-20 years. But the world keeps getting more crowded and real estate is only going to get more competitive.

 

Don't currently have a house, and kinda skittish about investing in one right now, because I'm still not sure what the future holds for me. If I ever end up getting married and having a family, yeah, I'd probably want a house, but I think I'd rather wait to see what would be best for said rhetorical family, yanno? That's probably still a ways off for me, if it happens at all.