To be clear, I was not advocating for hiring a financial advisor to do the investigating. My concern with regards to the OP is that she may not have a handle on everything she has or needs to deal with. A couple hours with a trusted professional, IMO, would be money and time well spent. Whether or not a financial advisor is worth it for the investing is a question for a much later date as I feel strongly (for what that’s worth) that no major financial decisions should be made at this time. The thing to do now is gather information and make sure she has a good understanding of all the facets of her finances as she sits today. Then, tomorrow can be planned.
That was my thought as well. If you have not been involved with the finances, like my wife, I would plan on spending 4 hours or so with a fee only financial planner. You may have many decisions about how to take title to inherited IRAs, what to do with getting assets into your name, dealing with pensions or insurance, having credit in your own name, long term care, how to file for maximum social security, etc. etc. Investing is a small part of financial planning and it would be good to spend a few hundred bucks to get the answers you need from someone who knows what questions to ask. Some decisions can be very costly and irrevocable especially around IRS and pension questions. All these things can be learned, but maybe you do not want that as a hobby.
When that is done get them to set you up a simple asset allocation portfolio with a risk that you are comfortable with ( are you OK with losing 10% of your money? 25%? 50%?) that you can implement with Vanguard or someone like them or read the recommended books and do it yourself. I don't think the investing part is too hard to learn if you have motivation. Withdraw needed cash, set rest to invest according to plan, repeat and rebalance after one year. Can be as simple as that.
