Coming into a lot of $ need investment input?

Standard investment advice is that you should invest in a diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and money market funds. You want to buy a diversified portfolio of stocks as individual stocks are too risky. Most folks have a dificult time buying a properly balanced portfolio of stocks on their own. They will misbalance their portfolio by buying all small stocks or all growth stocks, or some other misbalanced assortment of stocks. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best to buy mutual funds. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low cost funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money aggressively in stock funds, and part conservatively in money market funds and bond funds. Vanguard has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea of how to do "Asset Allocation," determining how much to put in each type of fund.

If your company offers a 401K plan at work, try to invest the most you can. The money grows tax free, and some companies will match your contribution. Investing in a mutual fund IRA is also a good idea. If you have children, you may want to consider a 529 plan or other college savings plan that grows tax free.

I like index funds. Because of their broad diversification, you are less likely to have a dramatic drop in value. They also have the lowest expenses. For stock funds, I would suggest putting ~70-80% of your money in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. and ~20-30% in a foreign stock index fund. However, there are many different opinions out there on what the best mutual funds are. Read the links below and form your own opinion.

Buying a house instead of renting will save you a lot of money in the long run. You don't have to pay rent and you build equity in your house instead. Buying rental property can also be a good investment. However, being a landlord can be hard work, and many people are not good at it. If you don't know how to handle deadbeat renters, you can have trouble.

If you have high-interest debt, like credit cards, it is best to pay this off first before trying most of the investment ideas above. You should also have 3-6 months of salary saved up as an emergency fund in a bank or money market fund before trying more risky investments.

Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky, so read these websites for further information. If you find it too confusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however.

Sources:

http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation
http://www.fool.com/school.htm
http://sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetallocation.htm
http://www.diehards.org/readsites.htm
http://finance.yahoo.com/education/begin_investing
http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basics

Asset Allocation Calculators
(Determining how much to put in stocks and how much into bonds and money markets is a personal decision depending on your financial status. These Asset Allocation questionaires give you a rough idea how to do this. I like Vanguard best, but try some of the other sites as well.)
https://personal.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/FundsInvQuestionnaire?cbdInitTransUrl=https%3A//flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation/education
https://ais2.tiaa-cref.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects.exe/DTAssetAlcEval
http://www.ifa.com/SurveyNET/index.aspx

Web forum: http://www.diehards.org/
(Many investment web forums are overrun by scam artists. This one seems the most legitimate site.)

529 plans: http://www.savingforcollege.com

Pay off your credit cards. Stopping your debt from growing gives you the same return as if your stocks grew at the credit card's interest rate.

If you don't have an emergency fund, put $25,000 in a separate bank account, where you would have to physically visit the bank to get the money.

If both of those are covered, then for investments, the next question is 'how long do you plan to keep the money invested?' If it's 15+ years, then pick 5 stocks from different industries whose companies will still be around in 20-30 years (Coca-cola & Exxon are two examples). Split the money 5 ways, and buy shares in those companies.

Your first option should be to fund fully a retirement account. If you do this, and you have extra cash, then one of the best things you can do is open a DRIP Plan.

Go to : low-cost-stock-recommendations

.com

Click on the "DRIP's" Button on the Navigation Bar

These powerful investment plans are seldom talked about because brokers make very little money when they suggest them. Yet, they have proven to be one of the best, if not the best, long-term strategy on Wall Street.

They are perfect for small investors, as well as big investors. They are safe and allow you to not care about whether the market is going up or down. They are a must for any serious investor.

If you decide you are interested in DRIP Plans, I believe there is instructions on the webpage.

I strongly recommend looking into it. They are great plans.

Good Luck

''a lot'' is subjective........someting between $10,000 and $10,100,100.
whichever it is ..buy yourself something with part of it.life is short sometimes.......
If you have at least10000.pick up a book on investing.a couple of books.................read them twice.......
then you might want to decide what to do.......keep working.open a business.help out your friends and relatives.........
write it all down and whatever you decide.wait three months..............till everything settles
good luck..
you might need a financial adviser...........

Go to daveramsey.com. His advice is free and knowledgeable. He will guide you on which variety of investments is best. He has a radio show and a TV show you can call in to.

Once you have made money dont lose it gambling on the markets

Here is the trick

1) Get real estate that is going to rocket
2) Make sure it is tax free
3) Make sure the location is tuned to rapid profit
4) Enter early Phase 1 developments are best
5) Manage rentals for highest returns
6) Villas with boat slips are now giving highest returns

sell the property for a massive profit to get out of the game - forget the headaches of the stackmarkets

Go see an investment broker, not something online.

Not sure what a "lot of money" is but first if you have bills pay them.
Make sure you've got $10K in relatively liquid form (like a money market account) for any emergencies.
Got a mortgage? Get rid of it. The "tax benefit" is HIGHLY overrated.
Need any repairs around house? Medical? Car fixes?
Have you sat down with your insurance agent lately to make sure you're well covered with everything you need?
Do you have a will? EVERYONE needs one. Do you have a health care power of attorney? How about a durable financial power of attorney? If you got a lot of bucks now, do it up right with an attorney.
Still got money? Study either investing in the stock market and then do it OR investing in real estate--again, study first.
Still rolling in dough? Why not start a small business and give some folks some decent employment opportunities? Not the business type? Charity.
And yes, those ARE investments--it's about quality of life and not convincing yourself you need a lavish lifestyle. I try to avoid celeb news as it's nearly all sick and twisted, but the point is, those with MILLIONS are among the most miserable, aimless, unhappy people you can find on the planet.
Good luck--watch out for scam artists--that's not charity.

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