<prompt> Human: Hello all, My mom, who is 59 years old, received 200,00 in her divorce settlement. This is her only retirement fund neglecting social security. She has no debt, a take-home pay of 1750, and her current rent is 1100 ridiculous, but she refuses to downgrade. She is thinking about using all of the fund to purchase a house with cash and then saving every month for retirement. Im not sure what she should do. If she left the money in the bank and got 8 she would have 350,000 in seven years according to an online calculator. If she bought the house she would probably save 400month for retirement which amounts to 35,000 in seven years. However, she would also own a house which is worth 200,000 and she wouldnt have paid rent to anybody for seven years.Any of advice would be wonderful. Thanks!  <response>: She would own a house, but still have to pay utilities and property taxes, as well as maintenance. It is unliklely at her age that she can undertake the maintenance herself. As another poster indicated, she would immediately owe ordinary income taxes on 200k if this is in an IRA. She would likely only net 100-120,000 from the money.On the other hand, if she invested in a 4060 stock bond portfolio, she could reasonably drawdown about 8,000 per year. This may tide her over until SS kicks in and then shell have a little more breathing room. 