<prompt> Human: Im going to grad school in the fall on a teaching assistantship and my institution is paying me up front in a lump sum. I imagine this is going to screw me when it comes to taxes this year. For someone who doesnt know the first thing about personal finance, what are my options for investing the money throughout the year? Id like to have it somewhere where theres less of a temptation to touch it and perhaps earn some interest on it. Obviously I will need to make occasional withdrawals, maybe on a biweekly or monthly paycheck basis. Other grad students or PF experts -- is it normal to be paid this way? Have any suggestions on what to do? Appreciate your thoughts!  <response>: You are getting your yearly expenses paid lump sum up front? Yes be sure to do your homework on taxes or talk to a professional.The most investment returns you could squeeze out of this would be to have some kind of laddered, rolling fixed-income portfolio made of high quality, short term bonds and FDIC insured CDs. A CD or bond that matures in 1 year, one that matures in 9 months, one in 6 months, and one in 3 months. If you do this you might squeeze out a few hundreds of a percent more in interest than using a normal savings account and withdrawing as you go. Its not worth the trouble -- stick it in an FDIC insured savings account. 