I recently paid off all my creditors.

[erinlough]

I inherited a little bit of money from my parents estate and I chose to pay off all of my husband, my own, and my son's personal and housing debt. I feel great right now, but 10 years from now when I retire........maybe I'll be sorry. Oh well, what is...is. My question is: What would you invest in right now if you only had 10 years to retirement?

[gasperc]

1. smart move to pay off debt

invest in altenative energy, it will boom but watch it closely because it will likely form a bubble and bust like the housing and internet bubbles.

[Sherman A1]

2. That's a tough one.

I think you did the right thing by getting yourself as debt free as possible. I have all my Credit Cards clear and just use them on a monthly basis with a pay off at the end of the month on each. Just a house loan and two car notes beyond that.

I would just sock away what you could until this mess levels out and get as high an interest rate as possible.

[yorkiemommie1]

13. we pay off our sole cc every month

ours accumulates 'points' as i'm sure many others do so we use the points to buy gas cards.

[Sherman A1]

15. Agreed

I love the bonus points thing.. I use it for gift cards at Christmas and such. It helps a little with expenses at those times of year and it builds up pretty quickly by running every possible expense through the credit card itself, groceries, gas, phone bills, auto insurance, car repairs (just had a fender bender, left the insurance check in the bank drawing a few pennies in interest until needed to pay the credit card), new car down payment (did the same with it, leaving the money in the bank until it was time to pay the credit card), restaurants, travel, general shopping, etc

When it's time for new electronics I always use the store's "X" number of month 0% programs and pay it off one month early.

You really can't beat the credit card companies, but I do what I can to run their game in my favor.

Just got a $50.00 gas card through a hotel chain loyalty program as the points were set to expire, so cashed them in for something to my benefit.

[Kittycat]

3. Pay off our house, and my student loans. Then put the rest away for the boys college.

[Warpy]

4. I'd get out of debt, too

and that's the first thing I did when I inherited. I am lucky in that I inherited enough to survive on by living on interest and dividends. I haven't spent anywhere near my income, so there's little danger of dipping into the principal. I have been giving away a lot of what I don't need.

Getting out of debt will be essential, especially in an inflationary period where servicing that debt is going to become much more expensive as credit card rates are raised and minimum payments doubled and then tripled.

You all now have something most people in this country lack, net worth. That will allow you much more flexibility in years to come if the worst happens and you are forced to borrow. You will be able to. People with little or no net worth will not be able to. If you can remain employed until Social Security kicks in, you might find that Social Security is adequate to pay the bills if housing cost is reduced to property tax.

That was a beautiful gift to your son.

[erinlough]

9. Thanks, but his debt's were small and

he wanted to keep and pay off his education debt. He has always been a great help and just an all around nice guy.

Money doesn't mean much to me. By that I mean I have always wanted enough to live, eat, and enjoy, but I don't need a great deal. In the two months it took me to decide what to do with the money I had headaches every day. I wrote to the financial institution which had my dad's money, and by the way were very dissapointed in my decision, that I could not emotionally handle worrying about the gains or losses of these investments, sell the bonds and prepare a check for me. They took 4 days past my request and the bond went down $4,500 in that time. I was so sick of dealing with them I just took the money and ran.

I remember telling a man I dated once, who was very impressed with the money he had, that I wouldn't make a good girlfriend for him because I just wasn't that impressed with his fortune. I will never be a rich person, and I think I'm glad of that.

[IowaGirl]

12. Erinlough, I can relate, I will never be a rich person, either.

It gives a really great feeling to help out my children. As far as investments, I've always got my best return on carefully chosen property. Are you at all handy? Some properties are going pretty reasonably now. I'd think about buying something for a rental property, keeping it well maintained and doing some improvements. Then in a few years when the housing market turns back around, you could resell, hopefully for a profit.

[caesartoday]

19. Being in dept is being in shackles

Get out while you can.

[BOSSHOG]

5. Max out IRA's for you and your husband

Paying off debt is a great way to save. Wind energy might deserve a good look for investing purposes.

[sarcasmo]

6. Good on you paying off all the Debt.

Gold, and my book The Sunday snake oil salesman.

[Debi]

7. You did it right - unless you had a VERY LOW rate on any of your debt

you could not have made the sum up in intrest on money saved (maybe your mortgage...otherwise no).

Many people don't like going to financial planners - but I'd say they're worth the $$ you'll pay them if you don't know what to do yourself. And you can interview several and decide on the one that you feel most comfortable with.

Do you want instant access to your $$? Or are you willing to lock it up somewhere that may have tax consequenses if you withdraw it?

[erinlough]

10. I don't need instant access, but

we ran into a situation with some IRA's that my parents had where we have to pay the tax burden on them. I don't want to leave that burden on my son.

[Debi]

11. I do think speaking with a financial planner is the way to go

what small amount you pay them will be nothing compared to being able to access your $$ when you want and to earn the most $$ on it you can. Talk w/friends or your bank and don't be afraid to interview several.

[1monster]

8. Paying off all your creditors WAS the single best investment you could make.

Would that I could, I would do the same.

[erinlough]

14. Thanks all for the great advice

I made an appointment with our unions financial advisor (teachers union) I have checked with others and they are happy with her. I feel much better talking to like minded people that I trust here at DU. I have had much luck in other groups on this site when I have asked advice. I do so trust Democrats, and I love this site!

[Lasher]

16. Maybe you should have checked with this financial advisor before you liquidated your parents' assets

You mentioned a tax burden associated with your parents' IRAs. I'm wondering if you might have just made that worse. For example, dividends and capital gains are taxed at 15% - but that's only if you have held the equity in question for 366 days. If you do not, then it's considered 'short term' gains, which are taxed as ordinary income.

[AnneD]

17. I recommend....

reading the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

www.daveramsey.com

Don't fall into that trap again. You have done really well by paying off your credit card debt. Set up and emergency fund now....6 months worth. Cut up your cards and never use them again. Your emergency fund will help.If you never get into credit card debt again you can meet retirement goals. Pay down your mortgage early and start a good Roth IRA.

I aspire to be debt free as you are.

[mc jazz]

18. just in time

The banks wanted to keep your money, and made it hard for you to do the right thing because their reckless profiteering has driven them into insolvency. Only a few will get their money out in time or put it somewhere safe now. Obviously a flight to safety would hasten the inevitable, comes down to whether one believes this can be contained and saved or not. If the former then keep your money in, otherwise buy treasuries, gold or go to cash. Forget yield just aim to get your principle back
Many people will loose fortunes by going for an extra 1% yield in the illegal and corrupt hedge funds, fraudulent derivatives and idiotic cash investments in illiquid assets (property funds) that time and time again collapse when housing downturns
The whole collusion between the elite bankers and politicians needs to be uncovered, might not happen till after their house of cards crashes down.
If you think this is a rant I can't forget all our factories and communities laid to waste because finance was the 'future'. What a lie that has turned out to be. Now we must rebuild our industry brick by brick and restore what was lost through greed

[progressive_realist]

20. Off-topic, but I like your sig line

Lots of people seem to forget that time and money may be the currencies of life, but their value comes from the experiences you obtain with them.