Help for a friend

[Tandemlovers]

Long time lurker here, trying to help a recently divorced friend of mine.
She has recieved a divorce settlement of ~650K and is 45 yo.
She has rolled it all into Vanguard, but it has been sitting in a MM fund for about a month.
She's asked me for advice on how to allocate the funds, and is in it for the long haul with pretty good stomach for risk.

Anybody have any ideas?

 

[racy]

If I was in your shoes, I'd have her pay off any/all credit card debt first. Not knowing what her goals for the money are, nor what other investments she has, but assuming she'll use this for retirement, then I'd have her put the balance into one of those target date retirement accounts. That would get you out of the position of having to be responsible for oversight and rebalancing as time goes by.

 

[debster747]

I believe that Vanguard offers free financial planning services for amounts over $100,000 (new money) invested with Vanguard.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I think anyone would need a lot more information to give a really meaningful reply to your question, msmart. Like when she might need the money, what her obligations and income it, risk tolerance, etc.

But in the most general context with long-term money and average risk tolerance, she probably can't go wrong with a target fund until she sorts things out a little.

Careful about giving this kind of advice - you could end up being blamed for the performance of the portfolio. I like the idea of referring her to some independent advisor to at least get started.