Struggleing to see my way forward

[Micron]

Morning, This is my first post. So allow me to say Hello. As I may be here for a while off and on till I find some direction.

let me set the stage:

I am single in my late 40's and make very little income, maybe 20k at best. The biggest reason is my health prevents me from making more. I may not live long enough to see Social security and I have no insurance at all.

I am set to inherit a home,car and 50k in cash. The home & car is paid. I currently have about 2k in the bank.

My question is how would you direct me to use the cash(50k+) to maximize it. I never want to use it unless I have no other choice. But I want to think I can invest it in some way so it will work for me in some way. Yet I want to be able to get to it without fee's.

My main concern is the home, I never want to put the home in jeopardy, so property taxes and Insurance must get paid obviously.

so should I get real sick and cant work I have some security. I know 50k isn't much it interms of long term security but I am frugal and I hope I'm frugal enough to make it to see Social security. My thoughts is maybe Ill have some of that 50k left, providing I don't have many unforeseen expenses in the next 15-20yrs.. Yeah right, I know..

I haven't done all them blood test check ups like one does at my age and I have a life line of family has has gotten cancer and other life threatening illness I am only assuming it coming my way too.

so what would you do in my position? I have never lived alone for any length of time I am not accustomed to it and don't know really what to expect other than I have been thinking on this for 10yrs trying to get ahead of this issue. But I just cant see my way ahead.

Thanks

[bjl584]

If you want to preserve cash then you need to keep it in cash. A MM account or in a CD ladder.

But I doubt 50K will last you 15 to 20 years no matter how frugal you are. You will need to do something to boost income.

[disneysteve]

Welcome.

First, please type in BLACK. It is very hard to read blue text.

Tell us more about the house. It's nice that it is paid for but can you afford to keep it? How much are taxes and insurance, utilities, maintenance and repairs, etc? What will your total monthly expenses be once you have the house and car? And how much is your take home pay?

[Micron]

I estimate that my expenses will right $1200. per month. Could be a bit less or a bit more depending on hidden cost that may arise.
This amount includes auto loan, and annual taxes/fees broken down to monthly amount.

The house is brick 1.5 story, two car garage, 60yrs old in good shape, Paid, taxes on it are $600. currently not in my name. Not sure If I will qualify for homestead exemption, I am not sure if I have to be a certain age or the home. Id never in my life time find anything better or cheaper. It had new windows the vpvc type installed, and painted and primed with duracoat. In my mind I must hang onto this home as long as my health allows me too; it is worth about 80-85k max.

*sorry about the blue.

[snafu]

Some specific details would be helpful. Do you have skill sets to do maintenance for a 60 y/o inherited house? Are you currently renting or in a share accommodation? Is your income due to occupation, personal choices, limited hours per week or? How is income currently allocated? What costs are associated with operating and maintaining the car? Can you afford to cover those costs from your current income? Am I correct in assuming you're in a low cost of living city/town?

Investing your upcoming $50K needs a minimum of five years and you must be able to tolerate some level of risk and sleep at night without worrying about market gyrations. You might prefer laddered CDs, Money Market or true savings account so long as you understand that current rates are very low and not keeping up with inflation. Unless you can meet the requirements for tax sheltered ROTH, profit is subject to tax.

I wonder if you would consider other options like renting the house at market value to cover costs and add to your income.

[smk]

sounds like your personal issues are more to the point here than the money. I did cancer when I was 26...wasn't supposed to see 27...oops, now I am 52. you might try being a bit more positive and optimistic. you might also try looking at how you can take advantage of the time you have to accomplish helpful things for the people around you. I don't know you well enough to get into this, but those are just some superficial thoughts.

as for the money, an adviser would need to know your longevity issues as well as much more detail on your personal financial/work situation. in the absence of that, housing can be used as an investment. you would need to rent it out for that. alternatively, you could live there and save rent somewhere else. thirdly you can sell it and invest the proceeds instead. you want to try to get some idea of when the money might be needed and make sure it is available for that purpose. a liquid reserve is a good idea, and so are assets that can be sold quickly with limited commission (i.e. not a house). bonds or bank cds that mature on or before the funds are needed have limited risk, as long as the bonds are of high quality. bond funds with maturities similar to the period when the funds are needed can be a proxy for outright bonds or cds. stocks are more risky, and a starting point might be to see if you are prepared to lose 50% of what you put into them. if you can't take that type of risk, then perhaps they are not the product for you.

these are just some financial basics, but again I think your personal situation is more to the point...

[Anton James]

Well, remember one thing, there is always someone worse off out there.

Life is there for living, live for today is my advice, none of us know when we are going!

Re investments, maybe try something that may cheer your life up a bit. I like snapping up holiday properties here and there when I can. It depends where you are but at the moment, following the credit crunch, there are lots of lovely vilas and apartments for sale at cheap prices all over the place.

Put a little sun in your life, al the best with whatever you do.

Ant.

[Blessed]

Have you thought of having a roommate in the home to boost your income??? Are you inheriting a car with a loan on it????

Call all your local banks and credit unions and check rates. We found a local CU paying 2.85 percent up to $15000 and .3 on the rest with checking. I only have to use my check card a dozen times a month to get the rate. I also found money market rates were much better at the credit unions.

Think positively!

[coffee]

I have 2 funds: Templeton GIM and Frsnklin Income fund. In the Templeton I have about 45k and it generates me around 150 a month, (plus USUALLY a really nice Jan check, last yr was over 2k)and the Franklin fund I put in 18k 16 months ago: after load I had about 17.4k in the fund. It was generating 86 a month but has decreased twice and is now 78 a month. MY OPINION ONLY: I would put 30k in one of those funds and put 10k in I bonds (horrible rates, but better than CDs or savings accts) and put 8k in an emergency fund and enjoy life with the 2k.