DFIGTREE wrote:
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thanks dave -
excellent!

finwicke[at]earthlink.net wrote:
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Laddered CD's or Goverment bonds. No risk. She's an elderly widow.
BUT when she leaves the assisted living place and goes to a Nursing
Home, unless she has LTC, she will start depleting her wealth in a
hurry and wind up on medicaid (good bye Social Security) after she is
finished paying all she can as a private pay patient..

Dave

Pardon the grim, somewhat intrusive tone of the following
questions: Have you any idea what her life expectancy is? Or
just post her age, and this might be helpful. Also, does her
will leave her stocks etc. to a trust or to a relatively
young person, such that the stocks can continue growing over
at least, say, 20 years? Once you have a timeframe,
experiment with some of the free online asset allocation
tools listed at
http://home.earthlink.net/~elle_navorski/id8.html for ideas,
and discuss this with her, as the law may require. (Wasn't
sure if that went without saying.) Alternatively, use the
information gleened from these tools to prepare for a
meeting with a for fee financial planner. You and she might
also read up on "estate planning." There may be some tax
implications you want to bear on mind, depending on exactly
what we're talking here, like maybe an IRA or annuity, or
how her state treats estates when she passes.

I am not an investment counselor per se. I am only parroting
some of the basics, some of which derive from personal
experience with one of my own relatives.

finwicke[at]earthlink.net wrote:
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What does she want the investment for? To grow for heirs?

Elle wrote:
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thanks - full time nursing care would be covered by her insurance

You say she's in "assisted living." Has she or her advisors
planned for the time when she needs full time nursing care?
The costs of that can run say $70k a year for a mid-quality
facility, covering room and board and some medical support.

how would you allocated this elderly widow's assets:
house sold and all assets liquid - she has excellent medical insurance
for life, content in an assisted living place, all living expenses
covered thru social security.
approx what percentages would you recommend be invested in stocks,
bonds, CDs, elsewhere? a return on this money is not needed for her to
live on - but of course a decent return wouldn't hurt.
thanks!