re: Elderly family member asked me for advice on what to do with his money.

Eh...especially if the point is to ensure something can be passed on, I am a big proponent of the notion of never ever leaving the equity market.

By all means, dip it to 40% or even below 30% of your portfolio, but you are just missing out on money letting a huge lumpsum of cash sitting in CDs.


All you really *need* to have is a couple of years worth liquid, and a couple of years more in an intermediate investment like bonds.

Even if the rest of the equity is in just dividend paying stocks that you cash the dividends of, that is better than CDs IMO.