re: Large Inheritance at the age of 62, WWYD??

Put it in a short duration bond fund and use the cash flow to fund her retirement accounts for the next few years.

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How do you pick these? Do you have a screen?

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I would start at looking at dividata.com - the ones rated 4 and 5 in their "Top Stocks" is a good place to start. I think all "~6%" stocks would be a little risky, so every one of those - balance with K or INTC, and you can get to 5ish - maybe 5 1/8 - which is pretty good in today's environment - again - we're talking about 4 years - anything can happen.

You probably know more about ETFs than I do - aren't some of those paying dividends with reinvestment now? Certainly there is a low-risk one of those in the 4 1/2 to 5 percent range - that would be an annualized yield of almost 6 percent over 4 years. Yeah, the equity can take a hit, but equities are still the way to be bonds, CDs, savings accounts - about the only thing in the same league is real estate - but I'm not sure 4 years is the right window for that either (except she can roll that into long-term income - especially if leveraged properly - but like I said before, owning investment real estate is like a part-time job that you pay to get into - can be very lucrative, but not everyone likes to manage their investment hands on like that.)

Another thing to consider, perhaps, is an annuity - at least for part of it - can anchor the risk (and the yield, unfortunately) of an equity based approach.

What would I do?

I would invest 100K in PFF.

I would invest 100K in VTI.

and 100K in VNQ.

Charity would get 40K.
60K for fun trips, etc.

UGAZ/DGAZ

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Most of my knowledge is in stocks, ETF's and options and not so much in bonds but I know the rates are awful.

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Interest rates are near zero, but there could be benefits to putting money under the mattress even at negative bond yields. This is especially true in a deflationary environment (which is coming) because your money will buy more when you take it out than when you put it in.

I am about 5 years from her age. I suggest:

$30k auto to last 10 years

4-5k for vacation. Maybe treat the kids

50/50% on Wellington and Wellesley Admiral shares

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she is thinking about buying a new car.

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While a new car would be nice, look into a late model, low mileage vehicle.

One usually takes a huge hit in depreciation on a new vehicle in the first year.
There are exceptions though but that is the general rule.

A new car will run $35-40K, whereas a good late model with low mileage will run $15-20K.

My comment was with respect to the situation presented in the OP, not in general.

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This woman should not be plowing this into equities.

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I agree with this. This is a windfall and she doesn't 'need' a return on this money. Even the best stocks/funds/ETFs can lose 25-40% in a given year.

I just don't see a reason for taking that sort of risk at her age and with no knowledge about investing. Even putting her in something like a target date fund would be risky if she didn't understand it, and she won't.

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PFF was down 23% in 08

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I saw this yesterday when I checked it out but it also recovered quickly and was still paying out a hefty dividend.