I am about to come into a substantial amount of money and would appreciate suggestions how to invest it?

The best advice here is to take professional, independent advice - not from a bank or buiding society, who will only recommend their own products. But please do take advantage of the tax-free ISA system before it comes to an end. Marks & Sparks Money are good for this.

Get advise from an Independent Financial Adviser, Banks & Building Societies can put you in contact. Halifax did me proud as have Barclays ( formally Gerrard ) . Dont listen or act on unqualified advise on where to stick your dosh.

Submit it into my care, and I will look after it wisely for you.

I have some excellent contacts in Governments across Eastern Europe and Africa, who let me know of forthcoming and guaranteed "opportunities" to invest.

If you want in, email me, and I will ensure you get a return of 200-400% per annum for a cut of 25% of the total investment.

You wont be sorry.

property has been my best investment over time.I have lost on stock market investments heavily and pensions are no good and no doubt there will be plenty of advisers willing to loose your money for you.Dont forget a fool and his money are soon parted

Assuming you want to grow it over at least 20 years i feel you should be 100% in diversified stocks and index funds from all over the world. There is no historical justification for holding any other assets like bonds or gold for the long term. You may read Jeremy Seigel's "stocks for the long run" which discusses these things.

http://www.amazon.com/Stocks-Long-Run-Je...

I can imagine a simple two item portfolio
50% "brk-b" and 50% "DLS" , do some research, brk-b will own the best of American "value" companies and DLS will give you small value companies and some real estate trusts from across all the world. Over the next few decades these should do better than the broad markets by 1-2 percent a year. Assuming broad market return 6% above inflation, you can hope for 7% above inflation.

But hey, it is your money, do your own research. You should not trust anyone. I feel you should get a fee only financial advisor. I am not one. A little time well spent learning about investing will be time well spent. The book suggested above is a good place to start.

I will put up some of my portfolios based on the above at
http://longtermequity.blogspot.com/

Of the above I own brk-b. I am not a financial advisor, these are my personal opinions, you really need to do more research and think for yourself.

You luck b*gger apart from giving my family that struggle though life day by day a load of it I would say property is the best investment. If the marked does go down and you have bought some don't panic it will always pick back up again. Spend it wisely and enjoy yourself. Best wishes.

The three always come into play...ancient chinese method. Lend some (invest into stocks, bonds mutuals), save some (CD..Money Market), buy some land (real estate). I've followed this method for years and it seems to do very well. Its the only way to really grow and hedge at the same time.

Well done...you've got a head start from most people.

The key thing is what do you want to achieve - a retirement fund, to be rich, to build businesses....

Firstly, I would go to a financial planner and ask them to outline a plan for you. I would check out at least 3 of them. Do not sign anything unless you feel comfortable with them and their plan.

If you want to be stupidly rich I strongly urge you to purchase Rich Dad Poor Dad & Rich Dad Poor Dad: Guide to Investing both by Robert Kiyosaki. I also recommend purchasing stocks and investing in property. If you're interested in making lots of money, start a business.

If you just want your money to grow and enjoy life then invest a PEP or some other funding plan.

Good luck

Ask friends and family for referrals to trusted local independent financial advisors. Then interview them.

Trust your gut - trustworthiness is much more important than big office, fancy receptionist.

They should ask about your goals, dreams, aspirations - and they should LISTEN. Investing is not rocket-science, but a good advisor should be able to steer you around some common emotional investing mistakes, and hold your hand over time to prevent you making those and other not so common mistakes.

Take proper professional advice and pay fees for it rather than allowing someone to take commissions.

The advice should run along the lines of:

Pay off any debts including the mortgage
Work out how much you are spending on cars, clothes and holidays
Put some away in a cash account as a "roof needs repaired" type fund
Invest some for the medium term
Invest some for the long term

Assets should be spread between equities, property, cash and fixed interest investments.

Always get a second opinion and always remember that if it seems too good to be true - then it is!

Good luck :)