September 2018 –Q:We are retired and have had all our money in cash for years. Should we be investing – any suggestions?
A: Your strategy should depend on your need for the money. If you are using this to supplement your income, then you may want to consider investing half of it into things such as income-producing stocks and preferred stocks. With another 25%, you may consider a charitable gift annuity with the AFA Foundation. This would leave 25% to keep in cash to help support your emergency savings account.
However, if it is money you do not have to worry about for 10 years or more, you may want to consider an investment strategy that includes investing about 70% of the money. The remainder of it should be in cash.
You can use a combination of mutual funds and individual stocks for your investments. But remember that there may always be some volatility, leading to years on the downside as well as years on the upside.
____________________ Dan Celia has been in financial management for more than 30 years. He works closely with AFA Foundation and can be heard six days a week on AFR Talk (afr.net).
