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Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 30, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I've found myself in the position of being responsible for my elderly mother's finances. She has 800k to her name and has to earn approximately 20k per year off of it for necessary expenses.

I have a totally different risk tolerance in my station of life than she does, so all of my knowledge kind of goes out the window.

For now I have about 300k of her money in a HYSA, earning 4%. Not really sure where to park the rest.

JP Morgan keeps hassling her about some of their managed funds. Gotta admit I'm kind of attracted to allowing them to manage it (with a 1.3% fee though). They also are pushing an annuity which I just went ahead and declined.

If I just put everything into a CD at this point, it'll more than cover her expenses, but who knows what rates will do in the future and it seems like leaving money on the table (which at her age might be fine to buy some security). Also, she'd love to maintain as much as possible to leave to her 4 children. How would you handle this?

Vanguard Target Retirement Income Fund

The Target Retirement Income Fund is designed for investors already in retirement. The fund seeks to provide current income and some capital appreciation by investing in Vanguard index funds. This fund’s allocation to stocks and bonds [30∶70] is the allocation that all Target Retirement Funds are expected to assume within seven years after their designated retirement dates. Investors in this fund should be willing to accept modest movement in share price and be able to tolerate the market risk that comes from the volatility of the stock and bond markets.

Or, if you're feeling risk-averse: Vanguard Total World Bond ETF

  • Seeks to track the performance of the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Float Adjusted Composite Index.

  • Broad, diversified exposure to the global investment-grade bond market.

  • Unique ETF of ETFs structure.

  • Intermediate-duration portfolio, with exposure to short-, intermediate-, and long-term maturities.

  • Provides current income with high credit quality.

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