Soo, I recently came into a bit of money, not a ton, but more than I've ever had in my life, and I don't quite understand what to do with it.
I've tried to read some online info, but I just feel more overwhelmed than before I started, and there is absolutely no consensus whatsoever in the slightest, and everyone seems very confident that they are right.
I contacted a couple of financial advisors, but those interactions have left me feeling a bit off-put, I feel pretty protective of what I do have and I'm kind of a control freak, so I want to understand the reasoning behind the suggestions they made. However, it all seemed very opaque and information I read either goes over my head just slightly or seems misleading. I'm used to reading scientific publications and if anyone tried to published some of the graphs I keep seeing from financial services groups, they would be laughed out of the room.
In the end, I'd like to understand exactly why I would put my money somewhere, and then feel fine about just leaving it alone. Anything that requires even the slightest management on my part is going to make me too obsessive, I'd like to trust someone who knows what to do to inform me, but no one seems to in the business of instilling confidence.
I'm for sure not asking anyone to make a plan for me, I just need to know if there resources that I am missing that would help me understand this process better? I'm thinking about just throwing it in an index fund and walking away, but how do I figure out which is the best one for me? I get how they work, but the details beyond that are kind of lost on me and I'm tired of talking to people who are motivated by their slice of my pie to inform me.
I know this is a very privileged problem but I was not raised around financially competent people (my dad just tells me to buy gold because the end of the world is coming), and I'm feeling really stressed out by this whole affair.
I see several of our Really Smart People have already responded with specifics, so I want to focus on something else: What question are you asking?
You say you want to just put your money in something and leave it there.
But then you say you want to find the "best thing for me".
I posit that "you" are a moving target, and what is "best" for "you" is going to change over time.
In addition, at some times some financial vehicles will make you more money, and some will make you less, and you could even lose money in others.
So I suggest you think deeply about the question you actually want answered.
Reading your post, I would think it goes something like this: "I got a gift of money. I do not want this gift to lose value. I want to find a way to safely, and passively, invest the money so it becomes more money."
You want to keep the gift safe. You know money can make more money, if invested. So you want to invest it in something that has a reasonable return. Something guaranteed.
Anything guaranteed is going to lock your money away and make it inaccessible for a period of time. The longer you can be without it, the more you will make on it.
So think about those factors, and what your particular "settings" are for those variables. That will help the Smart People of Hubski guide you in a direction that meets your needs.