<prompt> Human: Im mid-30s, and on a low income -just scraping by, not saving. I really dont want to squander this windfall and I dont anticipate needing it any time soon. Id like some guidance maybe links to some simple resources re. how I ought to invest it. My present thoughts are: 50 index fund, 50 cash investment e.g. term deposit, high interest savings. Assuming I want to park the money for, say, 10 years or longer, does this sound reasonable? If not, what other categories of product should I look at? And, in either case, how should I identify and evaluate particular products to invest in? Im feeling really lost here, so Im really very appreciative of any advice or suggestions you guys might have to offer. Edit: inventing investing! Also, I live in Australia if that makes any difference.Assistant: high interest savings is not a particularly good way to invest. Especially for the long term. The interest rate is simply far too small. It barely will beat the rate of inflation. If you wont need the money until retirement then you have 20 to 30 years to make it grow. Learn about investing and you should be able to grow that money into a large amount.Human: high interest savings is not a particularly good way to invest. My thinking was that putting it all in an index fund would leave me vulnerable to a share market crash scary!, whereas cash investments are relatively safe even in adverse economic circumstances and in some cases even government guaranteed. I can certainly see, however, that there really isnt any money to be made in them. What kind of balance of investment types would you suggest instead? Is there some other type of investment that I should be looking at for this purpose? Learn about investing and you should be able to grow that moneyYeah, I think Ill have to go out and read one or two easy-going books on the topic. Which may mean Ill have to park it all in a high-interest savings account in the mean time, unfortunately.  <response>: My thinking was that putting it all in an index fund would leave me vulnerable to a share market crash scary!If youre in it for the long term you dont care what it does tomorrow or next month, and as you approach needing to withdraw it you can appropriately derisk it over time. 