Signed papers for "early retirement"

[Gpax7]

I am 56 and signed papers for "early retirement recently. Hope to learn a lot here like others. Worked for previous employer for 35 plus years but have had to become caregiver for DW.
Healthcare is a surity for both, plus her Medicare
She has SS disability and I a fed. retirement.
Willl be getting $25K to RE from a work environ I won't miss.
Any ideas on where to put the $25K?

[dunc0029]

Just wanted to welcome you and say congrats on your early retirement!

[Dawg52]

Welcome. Depends on if you think you need the 25k anytime soon or not. If you need it within the next 3 years, I would just stick it in a cd. If not, I would* allocate it according to your overall investment mix. Good luck!*

[grumpy]

If the $25K you mentioned is the early out bonus, I think there is mandatory 20% withholding that will come out of that. So I think you are only going to see $20K. I would recommend you put it into a good money market mutual fund like Vanguard Prime while you figure out what to do with it.

Grumpy

[Nords]

Welcome to the board, Gpax.

That $25K is a nice amount to put into a money market & CDs for any expense surprises as you and your spouse adapt to your changing lifestyles.

You'll probably be paying taxes on the $25K and you may owe estimated taxes if nothing is witheld from that $25K lump sum. So rather than buying one huge CD you may want to break it up into smaller CDs that you can tap without big early-withdrawal penalties.

[SteveR]

Welcome Gpax. I am happy for your ER but I am sorry you wife is having health issues. I know many people that have been caregivers for spouses and it is a demanding job all my itself.

Hang in there. It is tough.

[JohnP]

Welcome Gpax and congratulations on your retirement!* When I retired (three years ago) I got the bonus and 6 weeks of vacation for the largest paycheck ever - with the largest tax withheld.*

I'll second the other posters and suggest putting that cash in a money market account (somewhere like Vanguard.com or Fidelity.com) and also avoid insurance salesmen.* You'll probably feel like you're skipping school or ducking work for a while but you'll get over that.

JohnP