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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   2217 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 1, 2026

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.

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My parents are giving me $250k because they gave an equivalent amount to my sister so she could buy an apartment in London. I don't really want the money and have tried to argue them out of giving it to me (would rather they enjoy their retirement) but they are insistent, especially since they gave it to my sister. Being able to pay in cash for a house in Baltimore (if I stay here) would be pretty huge, but I'm not sure where I will be in a few years time so a house doesn't seem like a great use of time or money right now. Should I just keep it in the market until then (transferring to my preferred stock/bond distributions where appropriate)? Are there any other big ticket items that I should consider purchasing? A car would probably be useful, both for my practical and romantic life, but if I move to Europe in the next two years (maybe 30% chance), it's a terrible investment. I could also donate most of the money to charity, but that feels both like slapping my parents in the face, and potentially making life much more difficult for myself. Even if the money were to just sit in money market, it would be an extra $10k of income a year, which is substantial.

On the eve of a very large potentially global war, I would secure a primary residence (if I didn’t have one already) before throwing it into the market.

The problem is I am potentially moving away from Baltimore within 1 year and have signed a lease for the next year already. I will know by the fall if I'm going to stay, in which case I will be house hunting in earnest.

Buy a place and rent it out. Or airbnb if it's suitably central

edit: actually if I'm giving serious advice, use some of the money as a deposit to buy a place and use the interest to pay down the principal, and put the rest into other investments

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