Originally Posted by wildwood

I don't post here often and I don't really know anybody here. There is some rather poor advice floating through these postings. The worst may be what your friend suggests. The best is to look for financial advice at your local bank or perhaps an independant financial advisor. Tax advice probably should be the first thing you think about. Another good choice is something conservative like a CD and or a money market until you figure it out. I am not sure you can trust most brokers. They are often selling what their company tells them to sell. Mutual Funds are a problem because the same thing happens. The salespeople push what they are going to make the most money on. There are some good no-load funds out there. The right advisor will steer you in that direction. Diversify!!! Eventually you might want some in CD's, some in stocks, some in Mutual Funds. Talk to more than one or two advisors. With a sum that large you could pick two and split it between them. Give them a year and see who has done best. They usually charge a percentage of the amount invested. It's been a while since I have looked into it, but it seems like 1/2 to 1 percent is about right. The banks may not make a direct charge but you pay for their advice one way or another. That does not mean they don't give good advice, but just know that somewhere it will cost you.

Real estate depends on where you live and for most of the country, the time is not right. Where I am, houses are sitting for a long time, but the prices are not dropping yet to any great extent. Buying land for development is for pros, not novices. It could take years to realize any gain and you mght never get any. Any land that is in the way of progress has already been picked over if the progress is going to happen within the next ten years. I wish you well.