<prompt> Human: Hey guys,To cut a long story short, I have just finished my bachelors degree at university and have struggled to find a viable job would help cover living expenses and the like. However, around the same time something happened and I had gained a decent amount of cash Roughly 60,000 Pounds which is currently sitting in my account. Although this is great in terms of my situation given that I have been operating as your classic student living off pot noodles and the like, I have never been in possession of anything close to this amount The maximum I had in my account to this point was something like 900 quid so as you can imagine I am slightly terrified of even touching it. I know it will help out a lot now that I dont have to worry as much about making rent and the like on the short term, but I dont want to squander it and find myself back in the same position within a few years. So my question is this, how can I use this recent increase in funds to my advantage? How should I go about looking after it? Should I put it all into a high interest savings account or use it to invest? Although I have put some research into all this I still dont feel confident in how I should conduct myself in a way that will allow this cash to benefit me in the long term as apposed to the short term. Any help would be appreciated!Just want to point out I have paid off my student loans so that is not really an issue  <response>: This is about 100k US. A typical 22 year old Im guessing would probably blow through it in 5 years on vacations, drinks and clubs, cars, IPhones, etc. Someone with a bit more discipline would use it for a down-payment on a small house that they dont need at such a young age anyway. The really smart thing to do would be to invest it in a low fee index fund. Youd forget that you even had the money. Continue living like the frugal recent graduate you are - roommates, making your own meals, budget vacations, etc. Your standard of living can slowly increase as your wages do, but youll never touch that money.In 30 years when youre getting older and tired of slaving away at some corporation all day every day, and all your mates are complaining because they didnt save enough and will have to work till the day they die, you can sit back and be confident that youve got a couple million GB pounds earning more dividends than most earn in their yearly salary, and you are financially free. 60000 lbs 100k is really not a whole lot these days - especially in areas like the UK where home prices are absurd. But you take that and the one thing you do have - lots of time - and let exponential growth do its thing. 