<prompt> Human: My parents and both of my grandparents all died in the last year and Ive suddenly become the beneficiary of a very large inheritance. I have never worked outside of the service industry, nor have I ever considered that I would ever suddenly come into a sum of money larger than the amount I would earn in my current place of employment aggregated over the entire course of my life - it comes as a complete surprise. I have exactly zero experience even filling out a tax form other than TurboTax, much less putting a large sum of money to use. I am hesitant to invest in mutual funds, as the ideal of the money managers is that the right term? at said investment funds is to make as much money as possible which makes perfect sense - no judgement at all without regard to certain ethical reservations I have. Is there a way to invest this money in a way that is a safe b profitable c not going to give it all to some bank to do as they will without reservation like I said too, no judgement on anyone, just my own personal ideals? I dont need anything high yield, anything that doesnt loose money will probably be an increase in my personal wealth that far exceeds my measly paycheck. Just something thats safe, or at least provides the maximum amount of benefit to others? Any ideas??  <response>: 300k is a lot of money... its also not a lot of money. Its not enough for you to live the rest of your life on, even if youre careful. Its not enough that you can quit your job. If you quit your job, in 5-10 years, youll be broke and unemployed.However, it is enough to give you a leg up in life. Pay off your debts. Find a good finical planner. Read the links from AbsVictorium. Theres 2 kinds of finical planners. One you pay by the hour, known as a fiduciaries, they dont care what you do, they wont get a kickback on anything. The other is basically a salesman, selling you their services. They get a cut of whatever they sell you. You want the first kind.Second, keep your money spread out across at least 2 banks until this is sorted out. With this much in your account, you can ask nicely and banks will do most services for free, so you can get a free cashiers check. 