<prompt> Human: I owe:- 15K to IRS- 100K in student loansShould I invest? Buy bonds and stocks?How do I make this money work for me?  <response>: Is this payment going to be taxable? If youre not sure consult an accountant--and if it is then Id set aside whatever an account tells you will be owed in taxes. Perhaps even pay the taxes early so youre not tempted to dip into that money later. I assumed the 15k you owe to the IRS does not relate to this payment but was a prior tax liability. If thats correct, Id address the money you owe the IRS immediately so as to avoid any further late fees and interest payments. That should leave you somewhere in the neighborhood of 50k - 80k depending on whether youll have to pay any taxes on this payout. What kind of interest rates are your student loans at? To the extent that any are reasonably low interest say 5 or less Id set aside 3-6 months worth of expenses as an emergency fund and use the remainder to pay those loans starting with the highest interest loans working towards lower interest ones. This all assumes you dont have any other higher interest debts e.g. credit cards and that you dont have anything else you need to spend money on. If you need a car for work this could be an area where the money is better spent. But those kinds of situations are really circumstantial. Generally speaking you cant go wrong putting a little bit aside for emergency and putting the rest towards debt. 