Hi! Not sure this is the right board - but would appreciate any re-direction! Title says it all. I need to figure out where to invest a half million from the sale of my home for approx. 1 year. Thoughts?
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Not financial advice, but given how volatile the stock market is, if you need the full amount of capital back, a high-yield savings account would be the safest that I know of. Anything else, you risk losing capital at the 1-year mark. A 1 year CD may also be an option, but it’s less liquid than a savings account.
Phaz
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Hi Duxman,
PhazFool is correct: Put the money in a 1 year CD or a savings account.
Any cash you need in the next 3 to 5 years should never be invested!
Investments change value, up and down.
How about a bond fund? NO! Bond funds lose capital value in a rising interest rate environment, like now.
How about a SAFE Stock? There is no such thing. The value of every stock will go up or down. There is no SAFE stock!
Story:
In 2020, we had a spectacular year and we decided to move. We are currently building a house with cash that I made by selling stock, predominantly in Nov and Dec of 2020!
That cash has been sitting in savings accounts and money market in our Roth IRA’s since then. We paid for the land in Jan 2021 but excavation did not start until Oct 2021 and the first bills were in Nov 2021.
What has happened to our portfolio since I made all the sales?
It made some new highs in 2021, peaking on Nov 9, 2021.
Right now, we are down 45.28% since Nov 9th!
If I had not made the cash and left it invested, I might be getting 60 cents on the dollar selling now!
So, if you need it in the next 3 to 5 years, keep it safe!
Does that help you?
Gene
All holdings and some statistics on my Fool profile page
http://my.fool.com/profile/gdett2/info.aspx
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Thank you Gene! Any thought on maybe T Bills? Definitely won’t invest in equities - my retirement account got smoked in the S&P and some of the OKTA, FIVR type investments made last year. Just trying to figure out whether I can get something “safe” that closes the gap on inflation.
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Hi Duxman,
If you buy them through Treasury Direct and hold them to maturity, they will work. You can get 26 week T-bills.
BUT:
- NO Bond Mutual Funds!
- NO Bond Exchange Traded Funds!
They will LOSE value!
I don’t do dollar specifics, but for our building project I had over 30 years of our annual living expenses sitting in a savings account and money market account!
When I needed to start paying bills, every cent was there!
DO NOT INVEST IT!
Does that help you?
Gene
All holdings and some statistics on my Fool profile page
http://my.fool.com/profile/gdett2/info.aspx
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Thanks again Gene.
Yes - I was thinking 1 year T Bills through Treasury Direct. Should earn around 3% and very safe (and exempt from my high state taxes).
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Gene:
I love your story every time I read about it.
In 2021, I was not thinking particularly about retirement eventhough I have been preparing for it in the pas few years. However when came to my stocks, I felt I had to sell some after the big 2020 and 2021 rise due to valuation concerns. I can argue that if I had a long term horizon and I did not need to touch that money I shouldn’t have sold any but I did and thought I was such a tactician.
I did not sell much and I have been against making large changes to my portfolio in a very short amount of time. Also, since I was not retired, I did not want to sell so much to add to my income taxes which I thought was already pretty heavy. My income has been basically a salary (and stock options).
If I were in retirement in 2021, I think I would be more willing to sell a bit more than just replenishing my expected 5 years expenses cash cushion. That would give me more cushion and some cash to acquire big ticket items. I would still be careful about not taking too much if I don’t need it.
For the cash, aside from laddered CDs, what about Treasury bills and notes? Maybe 10K in the I-bonds? what would yield more than 3% over 1 -4 years?
tj
Hi thejusticier,
I just keep the cash in our savings account, so this is ideas to look at.
The I-bonds are a start but limited dollar-wise and have holding periods.
In this environment, I might look at shorter-term CD’s. I suspect the rates are increasing. When the rates start to level off, change to longer term as they hit their maturity date. That should get you reasonable interest rates.
Compare CD rates with the treasuries. Treasuries may have advantages over the CD’s. But with treasuries, selling early can be a problem since the cash value may decline.
Does that help you?
Gene
All holdings and some statistics on my Fool profile page
http://my.fool.com/profile/gdett2/info.aspx
CD or Series bonds. Best you can do right now. MF does not have any good recommendations that i see
FDIC insured CD is safest. Structure carefully to avoid insurance limits.
Preferred stocks can give somewhat better yield at higher risk. Best time to buy is when interest rates peak. Diversification in multiple issues can help reduce the risk.