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Originally Posted by JOHNNIE36 I agree with some of your thinking but what if that $1m would have been in stocks. What would it have been worth now? Apparently the lady and her husband were very conservative people. Don't think you'll talk her into stocks.

I'm not necessarily talking about stocks, but anything where the principal value can fluctuate. I happen to think one of the best buys in fixed income are intermediate-term investment grade corporates. But they have interest rate risk and credit risk, and so part of the question is: are we trying to eliminate virtually all risk? Or just excessive risk?

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I do think she ought to start giving it away now and watch the smiles on the faces of her children. She'll never see those smiles once she's gone.

There's something to be said for seeing the money used and appreciated in your lifetime. A woman in our church congregation put it into her will to give the church about $300,000 for the construction of a multi-purpose building that can be used for many church and community functions (she never married and has no familial heirs). Eventually, she decided that she wanted to see the building go up in her lifetime, so instead of leaving it for her will, she donated the $300,000 while still living. Well, last year the building that now bears her family name was dedicated, and one of the first events we held in it was a "party" celebrating her 90th birthday.