I just acquired $30K and want to make the monies grow to its maximum potential. Any advice?

I am an older MOM with three children to raise on my own without help from dear ole Dad....My health is poor, so the time I have left in the work field is quickly going. I have no degree's so the ole minimum wage category is basically where I qualify anyway. I was left a modest inheritance that is suppossed to help me become self sufficient. And being very frugal, that leaves me about 4 years in which to work miracles.
So the money game is where I am heading but I am investment iliterate....Any help or direction out there would be soo appreciated.

Try a balanced mutual fund, they have moderately high gain potential with a low chance for risk.

I would suggest the Vanguard Wellesly fund or the Vanguard Wellington fund. They usually average 7-10% per year.

If you want more reward, but more risk, you can try the Hennessy Cornerstone Growth fund. It has been rated one of the best funds out there consistently for years. However, if you are only putting this money in for 4 years, you may not want to go this risky. It usually makes 15-20% a year, and has been know to go as high as 32% and as low as 3%.


---By the way, you could probably use the money to go to a trade school for a year. I know you may be "older", but it's never too late to get an education. You could just learn typing skills, at least it will give you an indoor, comfortable job that makes over minimum wage. $30k won't last forever, you know.

no-load mutual fund might be a good place to park it while you do some studying.

use a "big-name" brokerage to do this
Fidelity, Charles Schwab, etc.

read, read, read .... financial columns, yahoo-finance area ...

don't take big chances with this money until you know more ... and then don't take big chances with this money

your situation is quite complex, you should go see a financiall planner, or financial advisor, Look in yellow pages and at least interview one or 2

You don't indicate your age or your "investment horizon" (how long beore you need to reap the benefits from this money)....but if you are, say, 45 years old, you can put your $30K into the S&P500 (either through a mutual fund, or by buying roughly 200 shares of SPY, an S&P tracking "ETF" or "exchange-traded fund", and comfortably expect it to grow at 8-12% a year. If you do this, you can reasonably expect your money to double every seven to ten years without you doing anything else.

You will find advisors & brokers who will recommend other paths, but never forget they earn their income by charging you a commission on each trade!

Best wishes!

("Older MOM"'s are hot!)

I would suggest that you begin to interview with competant, older financial advisors to do something with your money. STAY AWAY from the stock market at this time but that does NOT rule out Mutual Funds - just your normal stocks. Not knowing age but given the information you provided you are conservative thus you should be moderate to conservative in your investing. Consult a TRUSTING & Competant advisor that can give you references of others he/she has assisted. DO YOUR HOMEWORK before investing!

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The investments with the greatest potential for profit also tend to have very high risks of loss. Risk and reward walk hand-in-hand down Wall Street. Since you don't have a lot of financial resources, you shouldn't take a lot of risk. And you should avoid putting all your eggs in one basket. I'd suggest the following:

1. Put $10,000 in U.S. Savings Bonds, specifically the inflation-adjusted I-Bond. You won't get a very high interest rate, but your money will be safe and you'll get some protection against inflation.

2. Put $20,000 in a lifecycle or target date retirement fund. Vanguard and Fidelity are mutual fund management companies that offer low cost lifecycle or target date retirement funds. These funds are for long term investment. You pick a target year that is close to the year when you hope to retire. The management company takes care of investing the money for you. They'll put it in a diversified set of investments that will spread your risks around. These types of funds can go down in value if the stock market nosedives. But they also offer good potential for long term growth and don't require you to do much after you invest. One thing to understand is that you may get tax liabilities from these funds, but the liabilities shouldn't be too large with a $20K investment.

For more information about saving and investing, you can check out the website listed below. The information in it is free.