Answer

I'm 36 and may soon win a personal injury case for the amount of $50,000 up to $1,000,000 or more. Who can I get advise from on this matter? I'd rather collect it all in one lump sum and then invest it myself but I knew very little to protect myself. My goal is to make it easy to keep up with and simple. Also I would like to put all of it in one place to have just one statement a month (yet be diversified in a portfolio). I would like to invest into a vehicle that will allow the principal to grow month after month while paying me dividends each month to live on. Also I can't take any risks in losing any of it. I will need to keep it as liquid as possible so I could get to it if I needed to. If I win big I don't want to risk anything, just slow growth. If I set up a structured settlement I would have no principal after they finished paying it. That's why I want to invest it myself. I guess I'm looking for a dream investment account. Can you answer these questions?

My advice is to invest about $500 and a few hours of time and see a certified financial planner, preferably one that is fee-only. With so much money at stake, it will be well worth it to pay a few hundred dollars to manage many thousands. You can get the names of fee-only planners from 1-888-FEE-ONLY and the names of certified financial planners (CFPs) from 1-800-282-PLAN. If you are really as conservative as you say, you'll want to structure a portfolio weighted toward fixed-income securities. Keep some stock (or growth funds) for long-term growth, however. Many financial planners provide ongoing investment management services for a percentage of the assets being managed and use low-expense mutual funds and other securities. You might want to consider this as well. One last thing...there is no such thing in investing as "not taking any risks." With bonds, there is interest rate risk and with cash assets, there is purchasing power risk. Keep this in mind as you make decisions.