<prompt> Human: A family member passed away and I am receiving about 150,000. I want to use it in the absolute best way possible for my family and am so lost. Here is our situation. The roughly 150,000 inheritance is made up of the following:32,000- from a variable interest IRA. We were told this is subject to taxes once we take it out and obviously varies with the market. Should I transfer this to an IRA for now? Should we leave it for now?take it out? Is the market on an up turn or down turn currently? 22,000- from a life insurance account that gained interest. I am responsible for taxes on the gained interest portion only which is 5k total in gained interest. 18,000- life insurance 30,000- cash50,000-proceeds from the sale of the deceased home. So now that you know where the monies are coming from here is our personal finances and goals. Debts:Mortgage owed 169,000 at 3.875 apr debt 22,000Goals: our home needs updates and repairs which will be around 50-60k. We bought a foreclosure well below market value so there is no worries about over improving it. would like to invest some but have no idea where to start with that. We are in our early 30s with no retirement saved as of yet. I stay home with our kids it wont be forever but for at least another 5-6 years and my husband just started with the union as an electrician. They have an excellent retirement plan but I am worried because of me no longer working and us having a late start on retirement savings. We worry about college savings for our children. We also need a new vehicle as my husbands is pretty much done for. The vehicle needs to be large enough to fit our growing family and he will take the car that I am currently driving. Now that you know the basics what would your suggestions be? Paying off our debt is number 1. But after that do we take the monies and pay off our debt and most of our mortgage and get a home equity loan to do the repairs needed on our home? Do we do the repairs in cash, start an ira for my husband and max it out? Do we invest some of it? Do we pay for most of the new car in cash? We are just lost! Obviously talking to a financial planner will be happening but we dont know where to start with figuring out what makes the most sense.Assistant: If I had 150k and no idea how to invest, Id take 20 of it, buy an investing book or two, and spend an afternoon reading. Its a small body of knowledge, and the cost of ignorance is high. Human: Also do you have recommendations on an investment book that would be good for a newbie?  <response>: The Elements of Investing is a good book but it basically tells you to buy index funds. Its about a 4-5 hour audiobook and he tells you which funds he would recommend. What is the interest rate on your debt? Personally I would pay off the debt, make the necessary changes to your house that will increase the value, set some aside for an emergency fund that could cover 6 months of expenses, and then open an investment fund with the remaining money following the suggestions detailed in the book. One last thing, dont wait for a downturn in the market, that is timing the market and not something the average investor should be attempting. 