I Am Getting $28,000 From A Legit Lawsuit. What Is The Best Way To Invest This Money?

I have about $8,000 in debts and plan to pay them off right away, but I have no idea what to do with the rest. I want to do something now and put the money into an investment to where I cannot take it back right away. Have a problem with spending and Im afraid just to throw it in savings.

CD means certificate of deposit.

After paying off your debts, invest in U.S. bonds. 1.5 billion Chinese can't be wrong.

the best way i would invest is go to a bank and open a CD which means Cash Deposit , check with banks for the highest rate ( which is the rate you will earn interest) but you can pick the amt of time you want to keep it there , for ex. 6 mos , 1 yr , 5 years , the longer the time the better the rate , but this way you will never lose your money and you can extract what youve earned in interest at any time

pay off ur debts.
put 1000$ in emergency fund/account. do not touch except emergency.
visit daveramsey.com to get common sense info on how not to blow it.
learn hard lessons form others mistakes.
invest in some good books on how to increase ur income and keep it.
burn up all ur credit slave cards.
create a plan of where and why the money is spent on things of real value not junk.

My advice: Tell no one you got money, then no one can ask to borrow any. Put the money into a CD and let it gain interest while you decide what to do with it. Its your money, you are the only person who has a say in how it is spent.

that's right put it in c/d's they have 3 month, 6 months,1year,so on so for
you can also use it for secured loan

First determine what your short term and long term goals are and that will help you determine how you should allocate your money.

Ideally it would be good to have a short term reserve for emergencies. A 6 month reserve of expenses would be prudent.

Then you could look at other short term goals. For example, if you desire to save to buy a house within a couple of years then it may be best to keep the money in a short term investment like a CD, treasury bill or money market account.

However, if you would like to save this money for long term then I would recommend an index fund with Vanguard. A total stock market index fund would be a good fund to start with. A Vanguard target retirement fund may be worth looking at too. The target retirement funds have target allocations determined for you and are adjusted as you get older so you do not have to think about it too much:

https://personal.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/...

I don't agree that CD's are the way to go for the whole $20K. I have most of my money invested in Vanguard index funds. If you're not used to investing, and think you may freak out and sell every time the market goes down a little, then buy back in when prices are sky high (a common beginner's problem), you can get a hybrid fund with a mix of stocks, bonds, and other investments in it. The "other stuff" will smooth out the bumps and help keep you from freak-out selling during the market ups and downs. Just go to Vanguard or Fidelity and search for "hybrid funds". The long term returns of a fund are more important than what it did last month, so try to think long term. If you need to make a million dollars in a month or two, I can't help you. 8^(

I like target retirement date funds for 401K's and IRA's, but I think they generate too many taxes with all of that asset reallocation over the years to have them a taxable account. Depending on how much you make, you can gradually shift your money from taxable funds to an IRA so you won't have to pay taxes. I think the Roth IRA is a smoking deal. For 2008, the contribution limit is $5000 for most people, assuming you made at least that much in paychecks. Vanguard or Fidelity will set up a Roth for you. You just call their 1-800 number and tell them what you want to do. A Roth IRA is basically the same as a regular taxable mutual fund; you just don't have to pay any taxes on the earnings. It's only for retirement though. You'll pay a penalty if you pull your money out before age 59 1/2. You can always roll the money over into a different IRA fund if you want to though.