Legal Question in Investment Law in California

Re: inheritance investment

Yes.......instead of casting about for investment recommendations from strangers, take a course or two in investing and money management at your local university extension or adult school.

Lawyers might be better qualified on average to spot a fraudulent investment scheme based on our training and experience, but making investment recommendations is not within the ordinary scope of a law practice, and might in many cases be unethical.

We are presently in a serious recession where stocks of many quality companies are looking cheap by historical standards, but who's to say where the bottom is? For example, the U.S. auto industry, all three of them, are before Congress begging for a bailout and discussing bankruptcy as the alternative. These are unprecedented times, and people who thought they were smart to buy oil at $100 when it went to $147 are now kicking themselves because it is now below $60 a barrel. People who bought second homes five years ago for rental income and appreciation are letting them go into foreclosure.

CDs are relatively safe and probably a good idea while you're learning, but consider that in the long haul "cash and equivalent" type holdings are vulnerable to erosion by inflation. For younger people, a diversified portfolio of stocks in good strong companies (or mutual funds) has historically outperformed cash or fixed-income investment vehicles.