I recently inherited $1.7 million and would like to make it grow.?

I'm too young to retire at this point and would rather invest this money in a manner that will allow it to double or triple in the next few decades. What is the best investment strategy? Also, should I spread this money among several banks? I don't like the idea of keeping my eggs in one basket; especially since the FDIC only covers $100k per depositor. I'm smart enough to avoid the lure of a huge house and a Ferrari at this point, so I'm looking for sensible advice. Thanks.
Additional Details
FYI, I have been speaking to local investment professionals about this. I posed the question here as well because I know that many people who respond in the Business and Finance section of Yahoo Answers work in the finance industry and I am seeking as much input as possible from multiple sources.

If this is for real, then you need to do 2 things:

First - ask several well-off people you know for the names of financial advisors that they know and trust. You need advice from someone you can trust, not someone who has a modem and 5 minutes to kill. The best person to work with would probably be a for-fee advisor. This is a person who will look at your situation and give you advice on what to do and how to invest your money, and charge you a fee. It might be several hundred dollars, maybe over $1000 in your situation.

There are people who do this for free - but they only recommend products and investments that make THEM money as well. This limits their advice, and you may not get the best advice possible.

Second - start educating yourself on matters of finance. The yahoo finance section is a good start. The Motley Fool is another resource. Also check your local community college, adult ed program, or other sources in your area. You need to learn to at least monitor your money, and understand what it's doing, and what people want you to do with it. If you get pitches for arcane investment schemes that you don't understand, and they can't explain, you're probably better off to stay away from them.

Finally - if you've got a long-term view of this, there's nothing wrong with parking the money for the short term in a CD or something similar while you get educated, and find a financial advisor. If it takes 6 months or a year to do this, it's OK. Just don't let it sit there for 5-10 years.

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 portfoilio 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.com 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://flagship.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

If you aren't trying to pull one over on us, I'd suggest you not ask strangers on the internet for advice but ask around (perhaps a boss, older relative, something) for a referral to a financial management company.

If you want it to grow, putting much of it in the bank wouldn't make sense anyway - but you're right, any part that you DO have in a bank should not be over the FDIC limit for any one bank. Spreading it between branches of the same bank doesn't count, you'd have to use different banks.

Since you are young, I'd put most of it into the stock market, and if you don't want to be watching it full time, put it into highly rated growth mutual funds.

i assume youre in the US..my thoughts would be to put 80% into investment funds, and 10% money markets, and the rest into easy access accounts for my Ferrari or whatever

There's really no single best investment strategy - it really depends on a variety of factors. It sounds like you don't need the money, so you can afford to take more risk.

Perhaps it would be wise to spread money in a couple different places - put some into a high-interest savings account in a bank, put some into an annuity (depending on how old you are - if you're really young, this probably won't make as much sense), but invest the rest of the money, mostly in mutual funds. I always advocate getting professional money management or financial planning help.

Here's a good page I found to help you better understand investing:
http://www.plannerconnect.com/investment-planning-investment-basics.html

Definitely keep only the amount the FDIC insures in any one bank. I would suggest talking to a personal accountant, someone who can invest your money for you with your permission. They are the ones who "know" what is going on in finance today and can advise you how to best use your money. I would suggest taking out 1/3 and placing it in several interest-bearing accounts. That way when the taxes are due on the inheritance, you'll have the money without having to liquidate your stocks or getting hit with penalties for selling/withdrawing your money early.

Tips below on how to deal with your money. Enjoy your new-found wealth.

Contact me at mikeerv@yahoo.com and I can show you some really intersting investment ideas.

Mike

Go sit down and speak with a financial advisor. He will help you invest the best way you possibly can. He will build your profile to target your retirement date and just have you walking out of his office just surprise at what you have to look forward to.

I would buy self storage facilities and CD's, everything else is too risky for my blood! A good agent can locate these facilities in states where the overhead is low and you can earn up to 4 to 5K a month on a property you purchased for as low as 80K. I would buy several and put the profits in CD's. With 1.7 you can put 25% down on several with a good cash flow... it would cover your business loan debt and Net Operating Expenses and earn you money!

Congrats on the windfall! PS email if you need help with this project, I can finance them and I know a great storage facility guy, to whom I refer all my investment clients to!

you can always give me some..... im poor

send me an email and I'll show what to do with half of that that will not put you at risk. Peace.

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