Where would you put $70k?
 

Highest priority is safety and then return for my mom who is 76. Step-father passed away, we are cashing in an annuity to cover expenses and will have money left over to re-invest.

Right now 13 week treasury bills are paying around 5.49%. That is where I keep investing any cash that I might need back in a short period of time. Of course you can get treasury bills for anywhere up to one year. And you pay no state taxes on the treasury bills. And you can thank Fint for this information as he is who I got the investment idea from.

For fixed income look at the PIMCO portfolio, a good group that knows the Bonds market.

I invest my play money in online bank savings account . I have used UFB for almost 2 years now and it returns 5.25 % . This is a traditional savings account so your $$$ is not tied up long term in case of emergency . The interest is paid monthly .

I can access the $$$ via a debit card or can electronically transfer to my local bank . And the funds are FDIC insured . Hard to go wrong in my opinion . It's at least one option to consider .

Personally, I have an investment grade corporate bond portfolio with a coupon rate of over 7% ... average maturity of 18 years. But that's me, and not my parents .... Nope!

I have them in online brokerage offered CDs (from name banks) that pay more than treasury bills and aren't short term .... 3-5 years. I opt for Call Protected ones (less yield) and rates have come down a bit.

Current rates on Fidelity offerings ... CP.
3 years 4.6%
5 years 4.3%

Same FDIC protections and a sure thing ... and liquid.

As rates come down, the price on my corporate bonds and these CDs will increase ... and liquid.

Check them out for your mom.... shorter durations will beat treasuries usually and offer higher rates, but I don't want short term stuff ....

And rates will fall within a few months for treasuries, CDs, money markets, and online savings ... what then?

You'll wish you had "locked in" in 2 or 3 or 5 years imo. Build a "ladder" mebbe...???

This advice is worth .03 .... inflation adjusted :D

This.
It's about the safest, most stable investment out there and you don't have to lock your money up for a long period of time. For the past year 4-8- and-13 week T-bills have been yielding well. At her age, assuming she is going to need access to the money at various times, short term T-bills is where I would go.

https://www.barchart.com/economy/interest-rates

Those T bills are no safer than CDs with FDIC protection imo. Bunch of stuff can yield 5+% right now... rates WILL come back down .... hopefully not to near zero .... FrED had done a pretty decent job of threading the needle.... but I suspect FED rates will be around 4% a year from now.

I like locking in the returns .... YMMV.

Locking in returns locks you away from your money. I'm assuming, at her age, she is not investing to build a portfolio, but to get the best return on money that will be for her own needs over the next months and years. I could be wrong. Shawn did not mention what her goals were, so all advice here must be based on assumptions.

I may be mistaken, but I'm under the impression that it's state income taxes that Treasury bills are exempt from. Maybe we have a tax lawyer or a CPA on board who could clarify?

Bitcoin :D

NOPE! It absolutely does not "lock you away from your $$$" ... that's utter nonsense :(.

Individual corporate bonds, Brokerage offered CDs (from lots of banks), and even treasuries have secondary markets that are traded daily ... just like equities. The coupon rates are guaranteed until the maturation date, and if Fed tightens their rates .... and they will start, but I have no crystal ball... then they can be sold for more than they are worth today. Meantime all future purchases will not have the same yields as today. Short term is attractive now.... won't be as attractive a year or so from now.

HTH ....

One Bitcoin :D...

LOL ... you beat me to it ;)

Another thing to consider if looking for liquidity...money market funds that you can write checks on. (edit) Right now, their treasury money market fund is paying 5% or so.

https://money.usnews.com/investing/funds/articles/the-best-vanguard-money-market-funds

Lots of money market offerings have no FDIC or other protection ... fwiw.

Here's an example of an online CD I purchased for my parents (one of many)

A 5 yr CD ($20K purchase) from Morgan Stanley, purchased back in Nov. with a yield of 5% ... it will pay every 6 months until maturity. I could sell it all (or some ... in 1K increments) at any time on a moments notice.

It's value today $20,756 .... and has no bearing on the dividends payouts.

As the Fed drops Fed rates... it will increase ...

Long term individual corporate bonds are no different .... I tend to buy below Par value, but sometimes I pay more...

Buy high ... sell higher ;)

But I could sell my whole bond porfolio for significantly more than when I purchased them..... it was a 15 month buying spree fwiw.

Yeah .... I like 7% dividends .... guaranteed for nearly 2 decades, and still liquid if I need to access it... I probably won't... but who nose :).

Fixed income with a nice yield.... works for me, but I would NOT expose myself to bond "funds" .... even Pimco's. The "herd" inflow/outflow can bite ya .... and I do my own thingy.....

Investigate and research Shaun ... best advice I can offer :)

KC -
The OP's level of sophistication is such that he is on a car enthusiast board looking for a safe investment for his 76 year old mother - and you would have him trading corporate bonds on the secondary market?
He needs something simple and easy or he needs a paid consultant, maybe both. Sorry to say, Shaun is in the wrong place; too many people here trying to show off how much they know and not enough real help.

Crypto

Yep. Ignore every suggestion for research that I posted. It was only based on my experience of things learned while spending nearly 1/2 century investing.

Really...I know nothing!

Don’t know how long lived your family is. But something like long term care insurance might be the best idea.

Ally Bank has a nifty 4% no-penalty CD. We have a couple we roll over, advantages: you can get to the cash easily, no hassle, safe. All on line. Simple.