Trying to figure out what to do with some money; not a whole lot. The investment return hasn’t matched Bidens ( and Congress) rate of inflation. At my age, 82, I’m not interested in taking risks.

Trump may get it down but if I could get 6 or 7%, it still wouldn’t grow much after taxes.

You not gonna find anything risk free making much above 4% gauranteed.

Bank OZK a brick and mortor bank is doing 4.60 on 7 month CD, 4.15 on 13 month CD.

Schwabb SWVXX is getting 4.20% gauranteed but flucuates with interest rates, last year it was bring in mid 5% range and you money is only tied up one day

Some guy posted he did a fidelity mutual fund for 5 years in the low 5%

5 year guaranteed fixed annuity at Schwab is paying 5.25%
$100,000 minimum.

3yr is 5.05%

I got 5.15% in a 5-year annuity at fidelity last week. It`s called a Multi Year Guaranteed Annuity (MYGA). You still have access to 10% of your money each year (if you want) and no taxes on interest until it matures. You do have surrender charges if you need access to all your money, but you can get 3-5-7 and 10 year guaranteed rates. After the annuity contract expires you have access to 100% of the money plus all interest to do whatever you want. I think this is a better option than a CD unless you only want a 1 or 2 year option. I like the fact that I know what it will do and not what it might do.

Just throwing this out for consideration. We put lots of our inheritance money in School Bonds. Some are paying 4% TAX FREE so the kept yield is around 5.7%. The Texas ones are guaranteed by the Permanent School Fund (PSF) Bond Guarantee Program.
If you have an investment company, give them a call and see what they have.

Interesting. 4 percent tax free.
Is there a max?

Not that my guy mentioned, we went mid 6 figures.

What good does a new annuity do for an 82 yr old? NONE. Be sure to read the fine print. I looked at school bonds but didn't have the $$$ to get any.

I get that, but he asked. Just putting all information out there.

My point is: How do I beat inflation? A 5 or 6 percent return doesn’t give me the purchasing power that I lost due to Bidens looting of the economy. Trump may be able to help but a solid 5 to 6% over the last couple of years is a loss of purchasing power.

Come on Man.There are all kinds of annuities. A Multi Year Guaranteed Annuity / MYGA (3-5-7 year) is similar to a CD with deferred interest, and you have access to 10% of your money per year with no penalty unlike a CD. He wanted 6%-7% with no risk . You tell me where you can get that kind of return with no risk. You want safe and no risk......put in a money market..........but you aren`t getting 6%-7%. The only true no risk is a coffee can and a shovel method but then you have to worry about dementia setting in.

The only way to beat inflation is to risk the liquid in the market or some other investment. I don’t risk my savings much these days. The 4-5% park your money options are risk free so that’s my preference. I like short term 6 months vs multi year options.

Pretty hard to do, if not impossible, without taking risk.

My point is still that with the real rate of inflation over the last couple of years at approx. 7% under Biden, there’s not a low risk debt instrument out there that I don’t lose purchasing power with.

At 7% inflation, this years dollar only buys 93% of what last years did. Add 5 or 6 % interest and you still can’t get the same amount of groceries as the previous year.

Hope Trump can get it all under control.

Like anything else there is risk with anything returning more than 5%. Nothing risk free typically returns more than inflation.

The other truism is that the 7% return is decreased by taxes.

THIS - fixed guaranteed annuities are great for retired and older folks - I have four of them - principal is guaranteed as is the return - you can do 3-7 years - you can withdraw 10% every year without penalty (so if you go this route it should be with money you will not need for that period of time).

All earning are tax deferred until you cash it out -

Yep there is no such animal - either you go in the market and take on the risk or you go into CDs or fixed annuities and you can at least stay even with inflation

Great idea...

I have a fixed annuity from long ago - paid 13 back then, now it's 5%. But mortgage was 7-9% back then. Not against annuities but read the fine print and research the company. They are like life insurance - needed when you are young to protect your family. Funny, actually a life insurance agent told me to dump mine.

MOVXX tax free 3.49% in my tax bracket equals 5.5%-6%.

If you got that 7% from some government site, it would have been published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, previously under Biden's command. They presently claim something lower than that. Even before Biden the numbers were falsely low, always have been, and always will be. If the numbers were accurate the government would have to increase Social Security and welfare.

Trump can do a lot, but he cannot control interest rates. Other than the overnight lending rate that the Federal Reserve sets, all other interest rates are a result of the open market in bonds.

Actually Texas real estate has been my best bet considering inflation. The home that I bought for $100k 30 years ago is now worth about $275 or more. I have a homeowners exemption so taxes are bad. Of course, I’m living in it so can’t consider it a financial asset.

The rent house that I paid $40k for is now about $200k. The rent house is hurting me. Grandson and his wife are in it and I’m taking a beating. I can come out ahead by giving it to them and save $. Only problem is that I found out the hard way that the woman almost always gets the house in a divorce and they are always possible.BTW, it was my grandparents house. When they passed, I bought it from my mother. Can’t get a homeowners exemption as it is classified as commercial.

That is not necessarily true these days. I kept the house, course she took a big check but it is what it is.

Sadly that is the way it is. You can’t really ever beat inflation without taking some risk. When inflation was much lower so were the rates savings paid. Honestly I don’t know the best advice for someone your age. Typically I always say put it in the market but that assumes a long time horizon. Stocks can go up and down a lot over the short term but at time periods over 5 years it is pretty rare for them not to go up and I think only twice in history did they not go up in a ten year period.

I guess I would look at your goals and needs and then maybe come up with a diversified solution. A portion is the safe 5% investments, maybe a smaller portion in the market, maybe some more real estate. With the high interest rates on mortgages house prices have been coming down some and I think are finally becoming attractive again to cash buyers.