I agree with the PPs who suggest not doing anything with the money for the next 6 months. Give yourself time to think it through.

Are you happy with your current home? The costs of relocating might not be worth how much you would be able to upgrade. Personally I would pay off the current mortgage if I was happy with my current home, and then plan a monthly budget for your existing income. I would then set aside the remainder of the money as an emergency fund.

I would post this question on bogleheads.com

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Find a reputable Financial planner and come up with a plan to use this windfall. Check out http://www.napfa.org/

+1

Do you work or are you on disability? I don't know if there are different implications if you receive SSI but that is something you may need to look into as well.

You're wise to take your time and think it through. Good luck!

+2

Absolutely take your time and ask your financial planner if you need to think about legal ramifications. Perhaps you need to think about setting up a trust vs. a simple will, for example.

Good luck!

+3

Tell yourself you're not going to do anything with the money for at least six months. It will help take the pressure off making a decision.

Yes, find a financial planner (my preference is for fee-based; I think otherwise you're too likely to end up with someone selling you something that's good for him/her rather than you), but do your own research on whatever s/he tells you.

Congratulations and good luck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Find a reputable Financial planner and come up with a plan to use this windfall. Check out http://www.napfa.org/

+1

Do you work or are you on disability? I don't know if there are different implications if you receive SSI but that is something you may need to look into as well.

You're wise to take your time and think it through. Good luck!

+2

Absolutely take your time and ask your financial planner if you need to think about legal ramifications. Perhaps you need to think about setting up a trust vs. a simple will, for example.

Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:Find a reputable Financial planner and come up with a plan to use this windfall. Check out http://www.napfa.org/

+1

Do you work or are you on disability? I don't know if there are different implications if you receive SSI but that is something you may need to look into as well.

You're wise to take your time and think it through. Good luck!

Find a reputable Financial planner and come up with a plan to use this windfall. Check out http://www.napfa.org/

I would probably pay down the mortgage on your current home and continue to live there. Moving is expensive - transactions costs alone are 6-9 percent of the home's value. You can then direct the money you were spending on your mortgage to improving your standard of living.

Alternatively, you could invest some or all of the money. The key here is to make sure you spend as little as possible on fees. I would recommend some index funds with Vanguard, maybe the ones with higher dividends, maybe combined with a corporate bond fund.

Anonymous wrote:WITH ZERO MORTGAGE you STILL cannot pay your bills??

This does not sound right OP - you need to meet with an accountant and go over what you are earning versus spending. If this is truly the case, you need to change your spending habits or get a new job.

The best investment would be to buy a rental property and use the rental income. That way, you don't ever blow through the underlying investment, which will increase in value over time. Pay cash for a cheap rental property. And pay off your mortgage if you can.

Owning another property is a huge financial commitment.
You are a complete moron. OP is disabled and low income.

WITH ZERO MORTGAGE you STILL cannot pay your bills??

This does not sound right OP - you need to meet with an accountant and go over what you are earning versus spending. If this is truly the case, you need to change your spending habits or get a new job.

The best investment would be to buy a rental property and use the rental income. That way, you don't ever blow through the underlying investment, which will increase in value over time. Pay cash for a cheap rental property. And pay off your mortgage if you can.

How about buying a townhouse that has a floor you could rent out if you wanted to? Use the rent to help cover the mortgage?

What about investing the money and using the dividends to live off?

Spend a little to fix up your current house, invest the majority of the rest spending only very little and pretend you don't have it in case you really need it for the future.

OP, if you paid off your mortgage, wouldn't you be able to use that money every month towards your other expenses?

I hope some other people have good advice for you. My sense is that most people who read drum are pretty well off and only have advice that word for the well off, not the struggling.

Personally, in your shoes I would want to hang onto that money and not spend it every month.

I recently came into some money....more than I have ever had and it's a little overwhelming. I really want to be smart about it and not waste it.
Some background: I'm a disabled single mom, I own a townhome but have only made a small dent in the mortgage. The money would be enough to buy a nicer but still small townhouse and pay it off completely but then I would still struggle with my regular expenses plus the property taxes and repairs and things that may come up. what I would like to do is spread it out over time and sort of have a set amount each week as an allowance/salary to improve our quality of living. This will allow me to out my kids in extra curricular activities for instance and not live on such a tight budget.

Is there a certain type of account I need to set up? How would I go about this? Do you have any other ideas as to how to best invest or make use of this money?