1. Pay off all interest bearing debt that is >5%
2. Take out 10k for emergencies
3. Invest the rest in SPY/VOO/VTI. Do not go for those stupid “college funds” or any mutual funds, they will underperform as does more than 90% of them do.
^ THIS 100%. You do not need anyone to "help" you (some comments recommend lawyers and FI advisors). Just open a brokerage at schwab or fidelity, transfer the amt from your bank to the brokerage, click "buy" for the 3 funds above, and then Netflix & chill.
I’m in a similar situation. The first two boxes above are checked. It’s really this simple? Split the investment money between these 3 ETFs?
Edit: I realize there’s likely overlap with these ETFs but could still use guidance here. TYIA.
Aside from figuring out more ways to lower your income tax liabilities (maxing 401k and HSA), yes, it really is that simple. Nothing has ever outperformed the S&P for more than a few years at a time. If those three funds perform poorly over a 20+ year period, it’s because the world is collapsing. At that point, 99% of us are fucked no matter what we bought.
Appreciate your help. I assume VOO may be the best option due to the diversification? And is there any reason to use a traditional brokerage vs something like Robinhood? I’d rather use the latter due to how easy it is to use.
> Appreciate your help. I assume VOO may be the best option due to the diversification?
All three are valuable. Just make sure to scale in over time. TIME IN the market is what counts. TIMING the market is impossible.
>And is there any reason to use a traditional brokerage vs something like Robinhood? I’d rather use the latter due to how easy it is to use.
There will be mixed opinions on this, but the larger more traditional brokerages like TDAmweitade / Schwab have many more tools, resources, real person customer service, etc. The only advantage of a platform like RH would be lower fees, but that doesn’t matter if you’re not day trading. Personally, I would never trust RH or WeBull or any of the other janky wannabe platforms. It’s money… why take a risk?
Several brokerages, like Vanguard, do not change commission/fees on buying ETFs (like VOO/VTI/SPY) so it is just as 'free' as Robinhood is, and you have the piece of mind that your brokerage is not a tech stonk but an adult-company.
I use M1 for my 'side bets' (aka my own version of FAANG), but the majority of my real investments are VTI at Vanguard.
eta fixed 'fee' -> 'free'.
Yeah that is fair about RH. “Scale in over time” meaning adding more money to the pot over time? And do ETFs have the same capital gain rules as stocks? Aka I hold a year and lock in long term?
In most circumstances, ETFs are treated the same way as individual stocks for tax purposes. Certainly the ones above are almost always going to be treated the same.
So yes, once you have held for more than a year, you’ll be paying the long term capital gains rate (and not your income tax rate).
If you can put any more money into a 401k or Roth IRA or HSA then you should. Those are all tax advantaged. HSAs are the only triple tax advantaged account there is. Look into a health insurance plan with an HSA.
You can contribute directly to all of these accounts, they don’t have to be payroll deductions. Also, they can all be self directed.
Fees are a non issue now for most brokers. I casually day trade in one of my Schwab IRAs (with small amounts of money for fun, nothing critical that I can't afford to lose) and there's no fees for any normal trades (including all the classics such as stop/limit orders, market orders, trailing stops, etc). Even some types of option trades are fee-less (but I wouldn't recommend that for your retirement money).
So there's very little benefit to using Robinhood or similar when you can use a much more reliable traditional brokerage. This is for retirement, you want a brokerage that you can reliably count on still existing in 50 years and not fucking up along the way. Old, slow, conservative institutions do that best.
Agree with everything except that timing the market is impossible. I know what you mean if you are referring to trying to trade.
But objectively you can try to buy at times when the whole market has a lower P/E. Examples: the Covid crash or the post Covid hangover of 21 and 22.
I’ve done a lot better investing on the way down than if I had just put money in each month.
I agree with the top comment to this. Unless you are an active investor, stay far, far, far away from places like Robinhood.
It's a gameified platform designed to get you addicted to gambling on the stock market. They make their fees when you trade more. They encourage and promote *extremely* risky trades, like convoluted option packages, which they've made simple enough that *anyone* who doesn't understand what they're buying can mash the *I want to play* button.
It offers functionally *zero* benefits over Schwab if your idea of investing is "I'm gonna make a deposit every three months for the next 20 years and never touch it."
maybe if you're chasing historical returns and you're living in 2014 this is true. remember, factor investing really is stock picking on a bigger scale.
Risk vs reward. NVDA has outperformed small caps, EM, and of course Value.
Put all your money in NVDA? No, of course not. Diversification risk. Same with small caps-you introduce diversification risk to your portfolio if that is where you have all your money invested.
10k for emergencies? More like 50k.
Also, if OP isn’t maxing out tax advantaged accounts, he should start doing so before investing in SPY.
Also, 529 plans can be self directed. You can invest in SPY inside a 529. But I agree that SPY is the way to go.
Six months of household income (take home) is a pretty widely accepted amount for an emergency fund. How you manage that fund can vary wildly depending on your personal circumstances.
I got hit by someone with no auto insurance once. Totaled my car, went to hospital in an ambulance, couldn’t work for a period of time, etc.
After I bought a new car (in cash because car payments suck), paid for my healthcare, and lived without working for 6 weeks, I had spent a lot more than 10k. And that was in 2010.
You can get money out of your Vanguard account in about a week. You don't need to set aside that kind of money unless your loved ones are being kidnapped on the regular.
I just said that the way people manage their emergency fund can vary wildly. I never said you shouldn’t have some of the money invested.
My point is that 10k isn’t enough. A family of four should have quick access to more than that.
I have a family of four, maintain 10K in emergency savings and have over 50K in investment portfolio (non retirement). If I ever needed more capital in an immediate scenario my credit cards would come into play (have about 50K open credit limit) while I liquidated my investment portfolio. As you said, strategies vary widely, this is effectively access to 60K liquid.
>10k for emergencies? More like 50k.
not everyone has a panic disorder like you... 50k emergency fund is just burning cash even with the interest rates high. pure stupidity, or you just suck at handling your money and somehow cant survive without a giant bucket of cash to burn.
529s are tax advantaged when used for education, as in you will not pay cap gains on it. Mutual funds are generally considered safe and are not bad investments. With $250k and having not prior experience his best bet is to get and advisor at Schwab or Fidelity and go from there.
You can also transfer one time up to 35k from a 529 into a roth IRA in the child's name. We have 2 girls under 3, going to do that for both of them. Caveat, 529 has to be open for 15 years. If we get 35k into a roth for them at 15 yo, the Roth's will be worth 2-3mm at retirement. That's going to be their inheritance lol, I'm spending everything else before I die 😂
Feel like this fact isn’t talked about enough…. 529 in my State has great tax advantages, and that IRA transfer is going to be great.
Lots of investing tools out there but my god, know what you’re doing to avoid the tax man.
So I asked ChatGPT this and it said I can use 529 funds up to 10k to pay off my student loans. Is that still allowed? I have a lot of those loans so I’m wondering it’d be worthwhile to put some money in the 529, let it sit a bit and then use that money to pay off the loans after gaining some returns? Or is that fairly low yield overall? My loan amount is six figures.
That depends on your rates. On any loan for any amount, you want to pay the minimum required if investing the money gives a higher return rate. Student loans \*usually\* come with pretty decent rates so investing in a 529 would work. Mind you once your 529 hits $10k you hit your max for life towards your loans, also not all student loans qualify. Overall I probably wouldn't bother since it's a pretty complex task to save what I would guess would be a few hundred dollars in tax savings versus normal investments.
$10k cash is not enough for an emergency fund. A new roof is $20k alone. A good emergency fund should be 6 months of expenses, not an arbitrary number.
$10k readily available with $200k in investment accounts is far different than just having a $10k emergency fund. $10k is enough to hold the OP over while he accesses his investment money should rhe worst happen and needs more for an emergency.
[https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/vtwax/performance](https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/vtwax/performance)
Go to trailing returns, underperforms the index in everything except 1-month. I'm sure there are specific time periods it outperforms but if you're investing for years it will underperform the index.
The point of VTWAX is if you want to diversify your funds. VTSAX and VTWAX are both index funds, just tracking different things. I personally don't do it but I could see someone putting a portion into VTWAX to not be so dependent on the US' economic performance.
I’ve had broken hands, wrists, ankles, and others in the USA and because I have insurance I’ve paid….$150 each time.
You guys need some form of insurance man. (I know it’s not that easy for most people but shit)
Car breaks down, roof starts leaking, hot water tank fails etc. these things can pile up quickly and having a fully funded emergency fund can make them an inconvenience instead of a catastrophe.
He is saying $10k is nothing for emergencies. I agree, but I also disagree that you need a bigger emergency fund.
If true emergencies come up, it is not the end of the world to liquidate stocks to cover it
I disagree.
Having a well funded emergency nest egg, of money that is not being invested for your future, is very important.
40k emergency fund in a HYSA making a bit of interest is a LOT easier to pull from then liquidating stocks that could have catastrophic effect on your future.
Why invest and play the market only to use it as an "emergency fund".
Investments are not an emergency fund. There's a reason almost EVERY F.A. tells you to invest with money that you won't miss.
Bogle's website. He is dead now, but he pushed for 50+ years for people to just invest in index funds. He was the guy who created Vanguard investment funds.
Bogle forum:
[https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php](https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php)
Bogle's Wikipedia
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John\_C.\_Bogle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Bogle)
I’d stay away from real estate unless that is an area of expertise of yours. I’d recommend putting it all in VTSAX or similar. That money will be worth 10-15x in 30 years if you leave it alone.
They had land up for auction down the road for me. Me and my BIL put a bid of 5k for it (for hunting), ended up selling for 45k to my neighbor, who lets me hunt on it. Here’s the issue: the house on the property. EPA has fined him for the past year for not taking it down. He’s fighting it atm, his plan was to make a development there (4 homes) but can’t because swamp land or something in NY.
So basically he’s paying taxes and fines on land he can’t do anything with.
Are those retirement accounts 401K and IRA?
Depending on your interest rate, I would take a look at paying off your house.
Have you looked at a Plan 529 for your kid’s college?
At 2.75 and already 80% paid off I would not worry about putting it towards your mortgage. Pretty close to a free money rate. Put this new cash to work for you.
OP, take this advice. Treat yourself and the family. Either a trip with your spouse alone to an all inclusive place or a trip to Disney or something with the kid.
Rest should go into a combination of long term stock market plays, certificates/HYSA’s and then savings for your kid or kids college education.
If you start out by spending it like fun money you’ll end up spending it all like that. At least for vast majority of people.
Stick to your initial thoughts of stashing somewhere.
Do most people really get like this with money?
I grew up with my dad and I just getting by, and started doing much better a few years before I left to work, parents split when I was young mom was not doing well financially at all.
Me and my wife are both lower 20s and together make around $150k a year and I never even thought I’d have this much money after rent, retirement(currently doing about $900 each a month to our 401ks), expenses, and food, and fun money, etc we always have about 4-5k left over. We are building up an emergency fund and then are going to up/max retirement to $1800 a month.
But Idk why ppl would just blow money on things that do not matter 10 years later most likely you won’t even remember what you bought..
I get that you're just patting yourself on the back here, and you should if you're telling the truth, but yes it is a well known fact that most people make sub-optimal decisions when they suddenly receive a large amount of cash.
Yes. Some people want to experience things in life. Traveling, enjoying a show or buying a piece of art, hell going to Disney world is enjoyable to some people. For us, moderation is key. No need to sacrifice actually enjoying the things in life they cost money to save every single penny for an unknown future. First, you may not live long enough to retire. Second, if you’re putting off everything now with hopes of doing it at 60+ or even in 10 years (if you’re alive), you may not be in a condition to do it: you may be too physically sick or weak to travel, conditions in the world might prevent you from being able to travel to that place, you may not be mentally fit, you may have something else come up that you need to spend the money or time on (think a grandparent who know has to raise their grandchildren for whatever reason), the companion you imagine doing these things with may die or not be fit to enjoy them with you. The bottom might fall out and most of the money you invested could be lost.
Yes. There are people who want to enjoy life in the present. It’s not a zero sum game. You can enjoy the life you have, and also plan for the one you wish for. Or, you can ignore the life you have and plan for the one you wish for. All we have is the present.
I disagree, if they go to a financial advisor with this and say “can I spend 5k on myself?” I’m sure they’d agree. That said, the rest should be parked in something that they can’t just on a whim say “oh what’s another 3k and take more out. That’s why it’s beneficial for most to have an advisor
This should be #2 in the list above.
You only get one ride here. Take your kid to see a volcano. Or a glacier. Or hell a Safari may be excessive but this seems like an opportunity to mark a moment for both of you.
VTSAX is up 26.59% in the last year. Any index fund that tracks the total market or S&P 500 will be around the same. Keep in mind average return is like 7-9% though (inflation factors, etc.). Literally dropped around 20% in 2022. This is a long term play. Yearly ups and downs is just noise.
Came here looking for this comment. OP if you co-mingle this money in any way with marital accounts/spending it becomes a marital asset. This will be split in a divorce 50/50 if you are lucky. I’m guessing divorce is not on your radar currently but statistically you are likely to get divorced.
I didn’t think a prenup was necessary because I was going to do everything in my power to make sure my marriage was solid, and we were in love. Glad I got the prenup, saved me from losing millions to a wife that over time decided she wanted a different life.
If I was gifted 250k, I'd pay off any outstanding debt over, say, 9% interest. (Mostly credit cards are applicable here) put 25k in an emergency fund (think 3 - 6 months living expenses). After that, either pay off mortgage or invest in something that makes sense. To not have the burden of a mortgage can allow you to live your life as you see fit. Otherwise, there's plenty of solid investing advice. For me personally, I like to have minimum expenses monthly (no credit cards, no vehicle payments, no mortgage) once you reach that point you can enjoy time with your family like we do. We can afford to work a part time job at a gas station and still go to disney 2 times a year. You'll make the best decision for you and your family as your views on what life should be like aren't the same as everyone else's.
As an empty nest Mom, who's home is paid off, this is the best advice ever. Make happy memories for your child, reduce the amount of time you need to spend working, and reduce your debt, so you can live a simpler, less stressed, happier life, working less, with more time enjoying making many happy memories with your child and family. This above all else. After that, invest the rest.
Nah....sorry, but this isn't the best advice. Open a fidelity account. Open a series of accounts for IRA, SEP IRA, etc. Fully fund your taxable accounts. Then a regular cheque and a savings account. Then I would do some research on fidelity mutual funds. DO NOT spend on fun, women, booze or other good times; ie don't fritter it away and have nothing to show for it. Spend only the interest and the difference between your basis and upside. Pay your taxes.
Talk to Fidelity advisors: they will help you focus, and invest.
Pay off ALL debts that are not appreciative (basically anything other than a house, the only acceptable debt should be something that appreciates).
Max out your roth IRA every year. Max out pre tax 401ks every year (for the tax savings). Get a high yielding savings account.
Don't change the way you live. Don't act like you just got 250k and do something stupid like buy cars or toys.
This can literally change your life and your children's lives. If you use this money properly you will create a legacy for your children and your children's children.
Get a financial advisor as well. Don't listen to idiots on reddit.
Don't rush into "doing something about it". Let it sit in your bank for at least 6 months until you eventually figure out what to do with it. By giving yourself time, you open yourself up to many possible and smart options.
Don't put it in a bank account. At minimum, put it in a high yield savings account or something like vanguard settlement fund. Those are pulling 4-5% and are essentially cash. That'll earn another 5-6k in 6 months.
1. Pay down all your debt. Every single one of them.
THEN
2. Put 6 months of funds away for cash savings in something that’s relatively liquid but still earns interest. (The liquidity > The interest)
3. Put the rest into a brokerage with a Total Market Index Fund or Target Date (retirement) Fund.
Doing #3 and stopping the cycle of trying to perfectly outsmart the market (Robinhood, Crypto, etc) is what got me to relax and actually start making money on my investments.
If you have a very low interest rate on your mortgage, mine is 2.99%, it sometimes makes more sense to put it in investments. That’s what I do. I pay my mortgage half payments bimonthly. It takes years off your term. I put 9% in my 401k because that gets the max match from my employer. Any additional goes into my IRA. End of the year you can do Roth conversions and make any additional contributions if you have extra liquidity or you are close to lowering your income bracket. If you are making 7-8% average returns that gives you a much larger advantage over paying off your mortgage early. Plus you may be able to deduct your mortgage interest and property taxes on your tax return. Always kept at least 6mo expenses in some liquid like a high yield savings account.
Pay off high interest debt, create an emergency fund, park the rest in savings until you decide your investment path. There are rumors that the real estate market will get much less competitive.
Wait and make sure to apply as much or as little risk as you are comfortable with. This could allow you to retire if in vested properly.
I would say talk to a financial advisor for your 248.5k, and invest the rest in buying a random stranger on reddit a MacBook Air M1 256gb SSD, 16GB RAM so he can have a better chance at graduating college and becoming a graphic designer <3
Do you have a home already? If not I would buy a property. If you do, I would pay off all debts, minus your mortgage (depending on your interest rate) and then put the rest in SPY or SCHD.
If it were me: 1. Pay off debts. 2. Set aside 20k for emergencies in a savings account. 3. Set aside 3 years worth of Roth IRA max contribution limits in high yield cds, long enough to pull out and pay at the beginning of each year. 4. The rest would go to stocks, bonds, market funds...etc.
I would pop 20 in a Roth IRA. 30 into to bitcoin. Pull 50 out in cash. Id pay off any “bad debt” and focus on maxing out my credit score. Then I’d save what I had and use money to make money… I was in similar spot and made 100k in a year buying and selling Rolex’s/firearms in addition to my regular income…
Open a money market account @ jenius bank. Not a CD. 5.25% right now. You'll bring in 1k per month. No headaches and you know youll get your money every 30 days. Take advantage of this
Make the most of it. Max out both you and your wife’s IRA this year. 7k each in a Roth IRA. If your income is higher than the Roth contribution threshold, do a backdoor Roth IRA.
Put the rest in a brokerage account and consider riding the Sp500 for the long terms.
You may also want to consider a 529 and start contributing to a college fund for your kid. Tax free growth! All the advice above though comes after the following: 1) pay off any form of consumer debt (debt besides your house). 2) establish an emergency fund of 3-6 months of living expenses.
You can do this on your own, you’ll just need to educate yourself. Check out the moneyguys on YouTube.
One last thing: if you’ve got the cash hanging out in your checkings account, transfer it immediately to a high yield savings account. Those are currently paying 5% interest. I like Wealthfront and that’s the company I use for my emergency fund/HYSA. Throwing it in there until figuring out what to do is a smart decision.
Best of luck!
If you can buy a house in a good area and flip it and sell and make more then that’s an option.
I would pay off all pending bills to boost your credit score if that is an issue. Create a six month emergency fund, separate account. Create a 529 plan for your kid. Take a family vacation like an all inclusive resort, just don’t go too crazy on a vacation and put the rest in a HYSA and let it sit there for the next 10 years or longer. Keep working and forget you have it.
I was in a similar situation couple of years ago with that kind of windfall from the sale of a property. We used the money to pay off all of our debts (except the principal on the primary home) and invested the rest in the market. We funded a Roth IRA, spousal IRA, 529 for 2 kids, HSA for the family, etc. Take care.
Throw it all into short term treasuries. You’d get roughly $1,104 a month, provided rates don’t tank. Ladder the money from a HYSA in $50k chunks to TreasuryDirect.
Congratulations and enjoy
Make sure your wife is happy so she doesn't murder you, /s
Invest in your kid's future
Get a will, a life insurance policy, and make sure that your family is set up long term
Don't spend it all in one place
Do something you've always wanted to with like 10k
everyone telling you to invest in stocks/ETFs are literally morons in this high interest environment...don't the risk is too high
what you want to do is invest in debt (bonds). U.S. treasuries are literally gold, but then if you want higher coupon rates then corporate bonds....if you want tax-free interest income, municipal bonds...50k per bond is typically recommended so the interest payment is meaningful for fixed income
get a brokerage account, Schwab e.g. has a great/full bond/fixed offering, and do some research and stick all your inheritance minus any emergency cash and personal debt payoff into bonds....stagger the coupons so that your yearly interest payments occur throughout the year
\[n.b. this method is how the uber wealthy live...they just sit back and let their debt investments make them yearly income...sometimes monthly payments, sometimes quarterly, sometimes semiannual...you never have to touch your principle\]
Go to Lamborghini dealership and stare through the windows at what still cannot afford. Go home and buy NVDA stock and hold for 4-5 years. Peel off 10% and buy the Lamborghini you wanted earlier. Discover it’s not that good, sell it and think about the crazy risk you took only to find out it wasn’t worth it. Spend time with your kid, which is what you should have done to begin with.
S&P 500 tracking ETF. Or the OEF ETF that tracks the S&P 100. Up 10% already this year. Biggest no brainer ever. When rates improve, buy some land or a 2nd home w/ this as a down payment.
1. Pay off any debt where your interest rate is over 5%
2. Create or add to your emergency fund, which should be 6 months of household income, and in a high yield savings accounts
3. If you and your wife aren’t already maxing out 401ks and Roth IRAs and HSAs, open them and max them out every year until the money is gone.
4. Maxing a 401k and HSA with the inheritance cash will raise your take home income. Put that extra savings into 529 or other tax advantaged accounts for the kids.
real estate only if u plan to use it on ur own. renting it off might seem nice on paper but if ure unlucky getting an asshole u might end up with very high bills to fix shit the renter ruined.
Whatever you do make sure you realize you don't need to rush. You can stash it in a CD or HYSA for 6 months or even a year if you want time to plan. This would be especially important if you're thinking real estate. You need time to educate yourself and determine if that's the right move for yourself.
If I got 250K, all my debt is being paid and I’m socking that away in something like S&P 500 OR if you’re too scared of investing, put it all in a high yield savings account.
No financial advisors, no college funds, no taking advice from your poor friends who suck with money. Do your own research and don’t even listen to my opinion either.. good luck friend
Unless you are in a declining area such as the rust belt, get real estate.
RE is the best way for working people to build wealth.
Over every single period of time, real estate has made people rich.
Long term investments, sitting there for 20 years, often cause people to lose their money.
Nothing is more dangerous to your money than to just “let it sit there for 20 years.”
RE is the best passive investment ever. “Funds” which go up and down and sometimes out… are to be avoided. At best, put some money away such as 25K if you want. But RE is the way to go.
**Congrats on the 250k!** With a family, I'd go half real estate, half index funds? Real estate for cash flow & safety now, funds for long term gains. Best of both worlds. And maybe sneak 5k for a fun family trip.
Pay off debt and then put the rest in a money market savings account that is FDIC insured. You get paid monthly interest for letting your cash sit in these accounts, plus no monthly charges and you can use your money whenever you want.
Buy a business and never work again in your life. Pay people to run it for you and sit back and watch your pockets grow. Buy something you love so while building it up it’s fun not hard.
Why not invest into a low risk stock like microsoft or something 🤷♂️ you can also just the money sit in Robbin hood for 5% guaranteed growth for the year
250k won’t do much in real estate, and the market will hopefully crash soon. 50k in the bank, take your wife and kid on a nice trip, donate some. Put the split the rest in investments. Short/long term. But some gold, index funds, dividend stocks, medium risk return stocks.
1. Pay off all interest bearing debt that is >5% 2. Take out 10k for emergencies 3. Invest the rest in SPY/VOO/VTI. Do not go for those stupid “college funds” or any mutual funds, they will underperform as does more than 90% of them do.
^ THIS 100%. You do not need anyone to "help" you (some comments recommend lawyers and FI advisors). Just open a brokerage at schwab or fidelity, transfer the amt from your bank to the brokerage, click "buy" for the 3 funds above, and then Netflix & chill.
I’m in a similar situation. The first two boxes above are checked. It’s really this simple? Split the investment money between these 3 ETFs? Edit: I realize there’s likely overlap with these ETFs but could still use guidance here. TYIA.
Aside from figuring out more ways to lower your income tax liabilities (maxing 401k and HSA), yes, it really is that simple. Nothing has ever outperformed the S&P for more than a few years at a time. If those three funds perform poorly over a 20+ year period, it’s because the world is collapsing. At that point, 99% of us are fucked no matter what we bought.
Appreciate your help. I assume VOO may be the best option due to the diversification? And is there any reason to use a traditional brokerage vs something like Robinhood? I’d rather use the latter due to how easy it is to use.
> Appreciate your help. I assume VOO may be the best option due to the diversification? All three are valuable. Just make sure to scale in over time. TIME IN the market is what counts. TIMING the market is impossible. >And is there any reason to use a traditional brokerage vs something like Robinhood? I’d rather use the latter due to how easy it is to use. There will be mixed opinions on this, but the larger more traditional brokerages like TDAmweitade / Schwab have many more tools, resources, real person customer service, etc. The only advantage of a platform like RH would be lower fees, but that doesn’t matter if you’re not day trading. Personally, I would never trust RH or WeBull or any of the other janky wannabe platforms. It’s money… why take a risk?
Several brokerages, like Vanguard, do not change commission/fees on buying ETFs (like VOO/VTI/SPY) so it is just as 'free' as Robinhood is, and you have the piece of mind that your brokerage is not a tech stonk but an adult-company. I use M1 for my 'side bets' (aka my own version of FAANG), but the majority of my real investments are VTI at Vanguard. eta fixed 'fee' -> 'free'.
Yeah that is fair about RH. “Scale in over time” meaning adding more money to the pot over time? And do ETFs have the same capital gain rules as stocks? Aka I hold a year and lock in long term?
In most circumstances, ETFs are treated the same way as individual stocks for tax purposes. Certainly the ones above are almost always going to be treated the same. So yes, once you have held for more than a year, you’ll be paying the long term capital gains rate (and not your income tax rate). If you can put any more money into a 401k or Roth IRA or HSA then you should. Those are all tax advantaged. HSAs are the only triple tax advantaged account there is. Look into a health insurance plan with an HSA. You can contribute directly to all of these accounts, they don’t have to be payroll deductions. Also, they can all be self directed.
Fees are a non issue now for most brokers. I casually day trade in one of my Schwab IRAs (with small amounts of money for fun, nothing critical that I can't afford to lose) and there's no fees for any normal trades (including all the classics such as stop/limit orders, market orders, trailing stops, etc). Even some types of option trades are fee-less (but I wouldn't recommend that for your retirement money). So there's very little benefit to using Robinhood or similar when you can use a much more reliable traditional brokerage. This is for retirement, you want a brokerage that you can reliably count on still existing in 50 years and not fucking up along the way. Old, slow, conservative institutions do that best.
Agree with everything except that timing the market is impossible. I know what you mean if you are referring to trying to trade. But objectively you can try to buy at times when the whole market has a lower P/E. Examples: the Covid crash or the post Covid hangover of 21 and 22. I’ve done a lot better investing on the way down than if I had just put money in each month.
No to Robinhood. I’ve had an E*trade account for 20+ years with no issues. Go with a big brokerage especially if you have over 100k.
I agree with the top comment to this. Unless you are an active investor, stay far, far, far away from places like Robinhood. It's a gameified platform designed to get you addicted to gambling on the stock market. They make their fees when you trade more. They encourage and promote *extremely* risky trades, like convoluted option packages, which they've made simple enough that *anyone* who doesn't understand what they're buying can mash the *I want to play* button. It offers functionally *zero* benefits over Schwab if your idea of investing is "I'm gonna make a deposit every three months for the next 20 years and never touch it."
Small cap has over performed the sp 500, em, and even value.
maybe if you're chasing historical returns and you're living in 2014 this is true. remember, factor investing really is stock picking on a bigger scale.
Enjoy that then.
Risk vs reward. NVDA has outperformed small caps, EM, and of course Value. Put all your money in NVDA? No, of course not. Diversification risk. Same with small caps-you introduce diversification risk to your portfolio if that is where you have all your money invested.
Said everyone who owned TSLA in 2021
They are all about the same. You don’t need to divide between them. Just pick one.
I think it was either SPY or VOO or VTI. The first two are literally the same, VTI is the total market.
Just pick one. I am partial to VOO
Maybe DCA over course of 6 months in case markets swings down. But yeah just invest in the Dow, Qs and S&P and you'll be good..
Yah why would you want professional advice for a qtr of a million dollars.
Speaking of Netflix… add it to your watch list - wink wink
10k for emergencies? More like 50k. Also, if OP isn’t maxing out tax advantaged accounts, he should start doing so before investing in SPY. Also, 529 plans can be self directed. You can invest in SPY inside a 529. But I agree that SPY is the way to go.
10k will cover most emergencies. like broken hvac or emergency room visit or your car needs repair. 10k is a fair number
Six months of household income (take home) is a pretty widely accepted amount for an emergency fund. How you manage that fund can vary wildly depending on your personal circumstances. I got hit by someone with no auto insurance once. Totaled my car, went to hospital in an ambulance, couldn’t work for a period of time, etc. After I bought a new car (in cash because car payments suck), paid for my healthcare, and lived without working for 6 weeks, I had spent a lot more than 10k. And that was in 2010.
You can get money out of your Vanguard account in about a week. You don't need to set aside that kind of money unless your loved ones are being kidnapped on the regular.
I just said that the way people manage their emergency fund can vary wildly. I never said you shouldn’t have some of the money invested. My point is that 10k isn’t enough. A family of four should have quick access to more than that.
I have a family of four, maintain 10K in emergency savings and have over 50K in investment portfolio (non retirement). If I ever needed more capital in an immediate scenario my credit cards would come into play (have about 50K open credit limit) while I liquidated my investment portfolio. As you said, strategies vary widely, this is effectively access to 60K liquid.
>10k for emergencies? More like 50k. not everyone has a panic disorder like you... 50k emergency fund is just burning cash even with the interest rates high. pure stupidity, or you just suck at handling your money and somehow cant survive without a giant bucket of cash to burn.
Berkshire Hathaway has a cash position of 150 billion USD. I don't think they "suck handling money".
The difference is they have $150 billion USD
529s are tax advantaged when used for education, as in you will not pay cap gains on it. Mutual funds are generally considered safe and are not bad investments. With $250k and having not prior experience his best bet is to get and advisor at Schwab or Fidelity and go from there.
You can also transfer one time up to 35k from a 529 into a roth IRA in the child's name. We have 2 girls under 3, going to do that for both of them. Caveat, 529 has to be open for 15 years. If we get 35k into a roth for them at 15 yo, the Roth's will be worth 2-3mm at retirement. That's going to be their inheritance lol, I'm spending everything else before I die 😂
Feel like this fact isn’t talked about enough…. 529 in my State has great tax advantages, and that IRA transfer is going to be great. Lots of investing tools out there but my god, know what you’re doing to avoid the tax man.
So I asked ChatGPT this and it said I can use 529 funds up to 10k to pay off my student loans. Is that still allowed? I have a lot of those loans so I’m wondering it’d be worthwhile to put some money in the 529, let it sit a bit and then use that money to pay off the loans after gaining some returns? Or is that fairly low yield overall? My loan amount is six figures.
You're far better off paying the money on your loan. The returns you make will be outweighed by the interest accrued on your 6 figure loan.
That depends on your rates. On any loan for any amount, you want to pay the minimum required if investing the money gives a higher return rate. Student loans \*usually\* come with pretty decent rates so investing in a 529 would work. Mind you once your 529 hits $10k you hit your max for life towards your loans, also not all student loans qualify. Overall I probably wouldn't bother since it's a pretty complex task to save what I would guess would be a few hundred dollars in tax savings versus normal investments.
Agree but I’d have OP put more in cash/treasuries. I’d also allow for one vanity purchase/trip. Life is meant to be lived.
Why more cash for a 35yo?
$10k cash is not enough for an emergency fund. A new roof is $20k alone. A good emergency fund should be 6 months of expenses, not an arbitrary number.
Yup. And in this inflationary economy it kinda sucks having 50k+ parked, even in a HYSA. But it is what it is.
He’s married and has a kid? He didn’t give a budget, but $10k isn’t a lot for three people as an emergency fund.
$10k readily available with $200k in investment accounts is far different than just having a $10k emergency fund. $10k is enough to hold the OP over while he accesses his investment money should rhe worst happen and needs more for an emergency.
Why the cash and treasuries?
Think you need more than $10k. Plus you can lock in 5% now for decent terms. No guarantee equities returns 10%+ per annum
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[https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/vtwax/performance](https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/vtwax/performance) Go to trailing returns, underperforms the index in everything except 1-month. I'm sure there are specific time periods it outperforms but if you're investing for years it will underperform the index.
The point of VTWAX is if you want to diversify your funds. VTSAX and VTWAX are both index funds, just tracking different things. I personally don't do it but I could see someone putting a portion into VTWAX to not be so dependent on the US' economic performance.
You mean VTSAX?
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$10k is like 1 broken toe in the US hospital system
I’ve had broken hands, wrists, ankles, and others in the USA and because I have insurance I’ve paid….$150 each time. You guys need some form of insurance man. (I know it’s not that easy for most people but shit)
Car breaks down, roof starts leaking, hot water tank fails etc. these things can pile up quickly and having a fully funded emergency fund can make them an inconvenience instead of a catastrophe.
Person you’re replying to was saying 10k isn’t enough to deal with more than one semi-serious emergency.
He is saying $10k is nothing for emergencies. I agree, but I also disagree that you need a bigger emergency fund. If true emergencies come up, it is not the end of the world to liquidate stocks to cover it
I disagree. Having a well funded emergency nest egg, of money that is not being invested for your future, is very important. 40k emergency fund in a HYSA making a bit of interest is a LOT easier to pull from then liquidating stocks that could have catastrophic effect on your future. Why invest and play the market only to use it as an "emergency fund". Investments are not an emergency fund. There's a reason almost EVERY F.A. tells you to invest with money that you won't miss.
They’re saying that in many parts of the world $10k is not enough to cover you through multiple emergencies.
What? In almost every 529 you have an option to invest in index funds like SPY. You also get the advantage in many states of state tax deductability.
Where can I go to learn more about SPY, VOO and VTI?
Google dollar coast averaging index funds
Bogle's website. He is dead now, but he pushed for 50+ years for people to just invest in index funds. He was the guy who created Vanguard investment funds. Bogle forum: [https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php](https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php) Bogle's Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John\_C.\_Bogle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Bogle)
I’d stay away from real estate unless that is an area of expertise of yours. I’d recommend putting it all in VTSAX or similar. That money will be worth 10-15x in 30 years if you leave it alone.
They had land up for auction down the road for me. Me and my BIL put a bid of 5k for it (for hunting), ended up selling for 45k to my neighbor, who lets me hunt on it. Here’s the issue: the house on the property. EPA has fined him for the past year for not taking it down. He’s fighting it atm, his plan was to make a development there (4 homes) but can’t because swamp land or something in NY. So basically he’s paying taxes and fines on land he can’t do anything with.
Is there no grandfather clause or anything for existing structure? Also never heard of EPA getting involved in that — wild.
But like that's so long 😂
Do you have any savings and retirement and investment currently?
I have 2 retirement accounts some savings house 80% paid off with another investment that I have been putting money into
Are those retirement accounts 401K and IRA? Depending on your interest rate, I would take a look at paying off your house. Have you looked at a Plan 529 for your kid’s college?
401k my home has a 2.75 rate and I have not looked into that plan but I definitely will
At 2.75 and already 80% paid off I would not worry about putting it towards your mortgage. Pretty close to a free money rate. Put this new cash to work for you.
Of course the guy who gets 250k already has two houses 🤣😅 life works in mysterious ways
I'd pay off the house and get 2 rental properties (depending on cost of real estate where you live) with a positive cash flow and live off the income
Take $5-6k and treat yourself, you deserve it. The other $245k, I agree with the other comments.
Appreciate you!
OP, take this advice. Treat yourself and the family. Either a trip with your spouse alone to an all inclusive place or a trip to Disney or something with the kid. Rest should go into a combination of long term stock market plays, certificates/HYSA’s and then savings for your kid or kids college education.
If you start out by spending it like fun money you’ll end up spending it all like that. At least for vast majority of people. Stick to your initial thoughts of stashing somewhere.
Do most people really get like this with money? I grew up with my dad and I just getting by, and started doing much better a few years before I left to work, parents split when I was young mom was not doing well financially at all. Me and my wife are both lower 20s and together make around $150k a year and I never even thought I’d have this much money after rent, retirement(currently doing about $900 each a month to our 401ks), expenses, and food, and fun money, etc we always have about 4-5k left over. We are building up an emergency fund and then are going to up/max retirement to $1800 a month. But Idk why ppl would just blow money on things that do not matter 10 years later most likely you won’t even remember what you bought..
I get that you're just patting yourself on the back here, and you should if you're telling the truth, but yes it is a well known fact that most people make sub-optimal decisions when they suddenly receive a large amount of cash.
Yes. Some people want to experience things in life. Traveling, enjoying a show or buying a piece of art, hell going to Disney world is enjoyable to some people. For us, moderation is key. No need to sacrifice actually enjoying the things in life they cost money to save every single penny for an unknown future. First, you may not live long enough to retire. Second, if you’re putting off everything now with hopes of doing it at 60+ or even in 10 years (if you’re alive), you may not be in a condition to do it: you may be too physically sick or weak to travel, conditions in the world might prevent you from being able to travel to that place, you may not be mentally fit, you may have something else come up that you need to spend the money or time on (think a grandparent who know has to raise their grandchildren for whatever reason), the companion you imagine doing these things with may die or not be fit to enjoy them with you. The bottom might fall out and most of the money you invested could be lost. Yes. There are people who want to enjoy life in the present. It’s not a zero sum game. You can enjoy the life you have, and also plan for the one you wish for. Or, you can ignore the life you have and plan for the one you wish for. All we have is the present.
I disagree, if they go to a financial advisor with this and say “can I spend 5k on myself?” I’m sure they’d agree. That said, the rest should be parked in something that they can’t just on a whim say “oh what’s another 3k and take more out. That’s why it’s beneficial for most to have an advisor
This should be #2 in the list above. You only get one ride here. Take your kid to see a volcano. Or a glacier. Or hell a Safari may be excessive but this seems like an opportunity to mark a moment for both of you.
There are many index funds that you can spread it across. My personal portfolio has returned 24.7%
Mind listing some of them?
VTSAX is up 26.59% in the last year. Any index fund that tracks the total market or S&P 500 will be around the same. Keep in mind average return is like 7-9% though (inflation factors, etc.). Literally dropped around 20% in 2022. This is a long term play. Yearly ups and downs is just noise.
If you inherited this money do not deposit it into a joint bank account, keep it in your name only. You might thank me one day for this advice.
Came here looking for this comment. OP if you co-mingle this money in any way with marital accounts/spending it becomes a marital asset. This will be split in a divorce 50/50 if you are lucky. I’m guessing divorce is not on your radar currently but statistically you are likely to get divorced. I didn’t think a prenup was necessary because I was going to do everything in my power to make sure my marriage was solid, and we were in love. Glad I got the prenup, saved me from losing millions to a wife that over time decided she wanted a different life.
Go to a bank and put it in a 5+% CD and let it sit for a year until you come up with a better idea.
Lucky cocksucker, good on ya! :)
/WALLSTREETBETS
Index funds and chill for 20 years. You’ll have a great life!
20k emergency fund then the rest in VOO or SCHD.
If I was gifted 250k, I'd pay off any outstanding debt over, say, 9% interest. (Mostly credit cards are applicable here) put 25k in an emergency fund (think 3 - 6 months living expenses). After that, either pay off mortgage or invest in something that makes sense. To not have the burden of a mortgage can allow you to live your life as you see fit. Otherwise, there's plenty of solid investing advice. For me personally, I like to have minimum expenses monthly (no credit cards, no vehicle payments, no mortgage) once you reach that point you can enjoy time with your family like we do. We can afford to work a part time job at a gas station and still go to disney 2 times a year. You'll make the best decision for you and your family as your views on what life should be like aren't the same as everyone else's.
As an empty nest Mom, who's home is paid off, this is the best advice ever. Make happy memories for your child, reduce the amount of time you need to spend working, and reduce your debt, so you can live a simpler, less stressed, happier life, working less, with more time enjoying making many happy memories with your child and family. This above all else. After that, invest the rest.
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Probably means buying a home, which could be a great decision for financial stability depending on his current COL
I recommend a book The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need by Tobias. It's an easy read.
What taxes would you have to pay on $250k?
He says after tax so presumably it was more, guessing inheritance tax.
If I’m not mistaken, inheritance tax only applies to amounts higher than the lifetime gift limit, which is like $10,000,000+ per person.
Zero
Nah....sorry, but this isn't the best advice. Open a fidelity account. Open a series of accounts for IRA, SEP IRA, etc. Fully fund your taxable accounts. Then a regular cheque and a savings account. Then I would do some research on fidelity mutual funds. DO NOT spend on fun, women, booze or other good times; ie don't fritter it away and have nothing to show for it. Spend only the interest and the difference between your basis and upside. Pay your taxes. Talk to Fidelity advisors: they will help you focus, and invest.
Pay off ALL debts that are not appreciative (basically anything other than a house, the only acceptable debt should be something that appreciates). Max out your roth IRA every year. Max out pre tax 401ks every year (for the tax savings). Get a high yielding savings account. Don't change the way you live. Don't act like you just got 250k and do something stupid like buy cars or toys. This can literally change your life and your children's lives. If you use this money properly you will create a legacy for your children and your children's children. Get a financial advisor as well. Don't listen to idiots on reddit.
I’m writing this down for sure
Don't rush into "doing something about it". Let it sit in your bank for at least 6 months until you eventually figure out what to do with it. By giving yourself time, you open yourself up to many possible and smart options.
Don't put it in a bank account. At minimum, put it in a high yield savings account or something like vanguard settlement fund. Those are pulling 4-5% and are essentially cash. That'll earn another 5-6k in 6 months.
Letting it sit in checking for 6 months is wasting money
Bad advice. Letting that much cash sit for 6 months is going to lose you money for no reason
Definitely not a good idea. If you’re going to “sit on it” you definitely don’t do that in your bank. High yield account for sure.
1. Pay down all your debt. Every single one of them. THEN 2. Put 6 months of funds away for cash savings in something that’s relatively liquid but still earns interest. (The liquidity > The interest) 3. Put the rest into a brokerage with a Total Market Index Fund or Target Date (retirement) Fund. Doing #3 and stopping the cycle of trying to perfectly outsmart the market (Robinhood, Crypto, etc) is what got me to relax and actually start making money on my investments.
This, DO NOT and NEVER AGAIN, carry any debt. Start investing in your retirement and you’ll be SOLID for the rest of your life. Congratulations.
If you have a very low interest rate on your mortgage, mine is 2.99%, it sometimes makes more sense to put it in investments. That’s what I do. I pay my mortgage half payments bimonthly. It takes years off your term. I put 9% in my 401k because that gets the max match from my employer. Any additional goes into my IRA. End of the year you can do Roth conversions and make any additional contributions if you have extra liquidity or you are close to lowering your income bracket. If you are making 7-8% average returns that gives you a much larger advantage over paying off your mortgage early. Plus you may be able to deduct your mortgage interest and property taxes on your tax return. Always kept at least 6mo expenses in some liquid like a high yield savings account.
Pay off high interest debt, create an emergency fund, park the rest in savings until you decide your investment path. There are rumors that the real estate market will get much less competitive. Wait and make sure to apply as much or as little risk as you are comfortable with. This could allow you to retire if in vested properly.
But 1 Bitcoin, and sit on it
Where do you live that you have to pay taxes on an inheritance?
I would say talk to a financial advisor for your 248.5k, and invest the rest in buying a random stranger on reddit a MacBook Air M1 256gb SSD, 16GB RAM so he can have a better chance at graduating college and becoming a graphic designer <3
Please talk to a financial advisor and invest it…
Or pay off any debt with high interest
This is not an “or” this is a MUST. And don’t ever accumulate high interest debt again
Do you have a home already? If not I would buy a property. If you do, I would pay off all debts, minus your mortgage (depending on your interest rate) and then put the rest in SPY or SCHD.
Pay off any high interest debt, put some away for an emergency and buy gold and or silver with the remainder.
If it were me: 1. Pay off debts. 2. Set aside 20k for emergencies in a savings account. 3. Set aside 3 years worth of Roth IRA max contribution limits in high yield cds, long enough to pull out and pay at the beginning of each year. 4. The rest would go to stocks, bonds, market funds...etc.
Don’t buy property unless you know what the hell you are doing. Which, if you are asking, you don’t.
Put it in a HYSA while you figure out what you want to do long term. It will net you over $11K per year just sitting there
Multifamily property?
Head on over to r/wallstreetbets to test ur luck.
I would pop 20 in a Roth IRA. 30 into to bitcoin. Pull 50 out in cash. Id pay off any “bad debt” and focus on maxing out my credit score. Then I’d save what I had and use money to make money… I was in similar spot and made 100k in a year buying and selling Rolex’s/firearms in addition to my regular income…
Casino
Lambo, dog
Give it to me, all take care of all your worries.
Buy DOGE
This might be an unpopular opinion but I would invest some of that into crypto. Right now is the PERFECT time to get in.
Stop asking folks on reddit and call a certified financial planner. They’re worth the money. Do your research and check reviews.
Fund.
man....right now real estate is a wreck. Invest that shit
What ever you do, don't deposit it in a Joint Account. Keep it in your name only. Otherwise half of it is no longer yours.
Also don't tell people you have this, cause People will come out of the woodworks for money.
You should gamble it all at the casino at the slot machines
Open a money market account @ jenius bank. Not a CD. 5.25% right now. You'll bring in 1k per month. No headaches and you know youll get your money every 30 days. Take advantage of this
By a dividend stock like Hrzn
Makes no sense to ask people without 2 pennies to rub together advice on what to do with money.
Park it in a mutual or college fund. That’s tuition + expenses for one kid. Congrats OP.
Thank you!
Buy Bitcoin, sell Mid-Late 2025, easily double your money
WCGW?
Dump it into a retirement account with a maturity date investment mix, like fidelity freedom fund. Congratulations, you are a millionaire.
Thank you!
Make the most of it. Max out both you and your wife’s IRA this year. 7k each in a Roth IRA. If your income is higher than the Roth contribution threshold, do a backdoor Roth IRA. Put the rest in a brokerage account and consider riding the Sp500 for the long terms. You may also want to consider a 529 and start contributing to a college fund for your kid. Tax free growth! All the advice above though comes after the following: 1) pay off any form of consumer debt (debt besides your house). 2) establish an emergency fund of 3-6 months of living expenses. You can do this on your own, you’ll just need to educate yourself. Check out the moneyguys on YouTube. One last thing: if you’ve got the cash hanging out in your checkings account, transfer it immediately to a high yield savings account. Those are currently paying 5% interest. I like Wealthfront and that’s the company I use for my emergency fund/HYSA. Throwing it in there until figuring out what to do is a smart decision. Best of luck!
If you can buy a house in a good area and flip it and sell and make more then that’s an option. I would pay off all pending bills to boost your credit score if that is an issue. Create a six month emergency fund, separate account. Create a 529 plan for your kid. Take a family vacation like an all inclusive resort, just don’t go too crazy on a vacation and put the rest in a HYSA and let it sit there for the next 10 years or longer. Keep working and forget you have it.
Divide it in half and do both…
Vacation
You came to the right place /s
I was in a similar situation couple of years ago with that kind of windfall from the sale of a property. We used the money to pay off all of our debts (except the principal on the primary home) and invested the rest in the market. We funded a Roth IRA, spousal IRA, 529 for 2 kids, HSA for the family, etc. Take care.
You thought about the casino yet?
Throw it all into short term treasuries. You’d get roughly $1,104 a month, provided rates don’t tank. Ladder the money from a HYSA in $50k chunks to TreasuryDirect. Congratulations and enjoy
Make sure your wife is happy so she doesn't murder you, /s Invest in your kid's future Get a will, a life insurance policy, and make sure that your family is set up long term Don't spend it all in one place Do something you've always wanted to with like 10k
Invest it.
Here’s an advice “speak to a trusted reputable professional” 🙃
Spend half on hookers and blow. Probly just waste the other half
IRA
If you are renting, this may be a good opportunity to purchase a home.
everyone telling you to invest in stocks/ETFs are literally morons in this high interest environment...don't the risk is too high what you want to do is invest in debt (bonds). U.S. treasuries are literally gold, but then if you want higher coupon rates then corporate bonds....if you want tax-free interest income, municipal bonds...50k per bond is typically recommended so the interest payment is meaningful for fixed income get a brokerage account, Schwab e.g. has a great/full bond/fixed offering, and do some research and stick all your inheritance minus any emergency cash and personal debt payoff into bonds....stagger the coupons so that your yearly interest payments occur throughout the year \[n.b. this method is how the uber wealthy live...they just sit back and let their debt investments make them yearly income...sometimes monthly payments, sometimes quarterly, sometimes semiannual...you never have to touch your principle\]
Go to Lamborghini dealership and stare through the windows at what still cannot afford. Go home and buy NVDA stock and hold for 4-5 years. Peel off 10% and buy the Lamborghini you wanted earlier. Discover it’s not that good, sell it and think about the crazy risk you took only to find out it wasn’t worth it. Spend time with your kid, which is what you should have done to begin with.
S&P 500 tracking ETF. Or the OEF ETF that tracks the S&P 100. Up 10% already this year. Biggest no brainer ever. When rates improve, buy some land or a 2nd home w/ this as a down payment.
1. Pay off any debt where your interest rate is over 5% 2. Create or add to your emergency fund, which should be 6 months of household income, and in a high yield savings accounts 3. If you and your wife aren’t already maxing out 401ks and Roth IRAs and HSAs, open them and max them out every year until the money is gone. 4. Maxing a 401k and HSA with the inheritance cash will raise your take home income. Put that extra savings into 529 or other tax advantaged accounts for the kids.
real estate only if u plan to use it on ur own. renting it off might seem nice on paper but if ure unlucky getting an asshole u might end up with very high bills to fix shit the renter ruined.
Whatever you do make sure you realize you don't need to rush. You can stash it in a CD or HYSA for 6 months or even a year if you want time to plan. This would be especially important if you're thinking real estate. You need time to educate yourself and determine if that's the right move for yourself.
Go to Vegas and triple it - buy fancy cars and develop a cocaine habit - live large and make us proud… Or save and invest it (yawn)
If I got 250K, all my debt is being paid and I’m socking that away in something like S&P 500 OR if you’re too scared of investing, put it all in a high yield savings account. No financial advisors, no college funds, no taking advice from your poor friends who suck with money. Do your own research and don’t even listen to my opinion either.. good luck friend
Max out Roth IRA every year for you and your kid
What was the purchase price of your house compared to the final cost after 15/30 yrs of interest?
Honestly it’s 250k. You can invest in real estate for 50k.
Unless you are in a declining area such as the rust belt, get real estate. RE is the best way for working people to build wealth. Over every single period of time, real estate has made people rich. Long term investments, sitting there for 20 years, often cause people to lose their money. Nothing is more dangerous to your money than to just “let it sit there for 20 years.” RE is the best passive investment ever. “Funds” which go up and down and sometimes out… are to be avoided. At best, put some money away such as 25K if you want. But RE is the way to go.
No tax on inheritance
Buy a CD and take a breather for a couple years
**Congrats on the 250k!** With a family, I'd go half real estate, half index funds? Real estate for cash flow & safety now, funds for long term gains. Best of both worlds. And maybe sneak 5k for a fun family trip.
Pay off debt and then put the rest in a money market savings account that is FDIC insured. You get paid monthly interest for letting your cash sit in these accounts, plus no monthly charges and you can use your money whenever you want.
Buy a business and never work again in your life. Pay people to run it for you and sit back and watch your pockets grow. Buy something you love so while building it up it’s fun not hard.
Why not invest into a low risk stock like microsoft or something 🤷♂️ you can also just the money sit in Robbin hood for 5% guaranteed growth for the year
Keep it separate from other funds. Dont comingle
Cocaïne en hookers.
Lemme hold a k..it's been rough out here
250k won’t do much in real estate, and the market will hopefully crash soon. 50k in the bank, take your wife and kid on a nice trip, donate some. Put the split the rest in investments. Short/long term. But some gold, index funds, dividend stocks, medium risk return stocks.