What to Do With 300k (25 Best Tips to Help)

If you want to know what to do with 300k, this article will help a great deal.

It reveals a lot of helpful information as well as best tips on how to know exactly what to do with 300k.

 

Importance

You’ve been buying those scratch-off lottery tickets now for the last 10 years.

You discipline yourself and you only buy one a week so that’s $52 for the year over the last 10 years amounts to $520.

You keep telling yourself that eventually the odds will be in your favor, and you’ve got to win something significant sooner or later.

On a whim, you decide to be daring and bold and on this particular trip to the convenience store, you buy two scratch-off tickets.

As usual, the first one ends up being nothing.

You pick up the second ticket and it is one of your favorite games.

To win you have to match one of the three winning numbers with the other 11 possibilities.

You begin to start scratching the outside coding of the ticket with your lucky penny and you can scarcely believe your eyes, one of the matching numbers corresponds to one of the winning numbers and the prize is $300,000.

After the gold dust has settled reality sinks in and you begin to wonder what to do with this massive amount of money that you’ve just come into.

Hopefully, it won’t be spent on any medical bills soon due to the excitement that your heart has gone through.

Let us, therefore, dream about ways that we can put $300,000 to good use when our ship comes in.

 

Personal Story

While serving in the United States Navy and being stationed overseas with my immediate family, I had originally contracted with the Navy to serve for four years.

Subsequently, I was offered a C school opportunity but to take advantage there needed to be a certain time left on my contract.

To take advantage of the C school opportunity I had to extend for a year and a half which brought my contractual terms with the navy up to serving 5 1/2 years.

I soon received a promotion to E-6 and was offered the opportunity of reenlisting bringing my total enlistment up to ten years in doing so was offered a variable reenlistment bonus that was dependent upon my rating.

The bonus was $5000.

Talking it over with my wife we decided to take the offer and received a $5000 lump sum.

Being a young family, the $5000 ended up going to purchase baby furniture, household furniture, a much-needed stereo system, etc.

At the time these items were much needed but I wonder if the money, knowing what I know now, would have been spent differently.

 

25 Ways & Tips on What to Do Investing $300k

 

1. Breath

You have received $300,000.

It’s all a little bit overwhelming and you are wondering what to do?

For the moment take in all that is going on, express your gratitude, and breathe.

Perhaps, deposit the check into your checking account but wait.

 

2. Do Your Due Diligence 

After a set amount of time, now the work begins.

That work starts with your doing your due diligence or begin researching on best ways to utilize that $300,000.

This process can begin by searching online, perhaps talking to your financial advisor or other trusted individual who has a sense of how to manage money and make their money work for them.

Perhaps a practical suggestion is either taking to your computer or with pen in hand began to make notes about possibilities, listing them, and writing about the various pros and cons associated with these options.

 

3. Invest in Real Estate 

If you own your own home currently, an option would be to purchase an investment property.

The investment property could be utilized to realize monthly income from the tenant who chooses to rent your home.

This would add to your assets and help you to realize a fairly decent return on a monthly and yearly basis through the rent money that you receive.

Also, there are certain tax breaks associated with being a landlord and owning rental properties.

If considering this option and thinking about possible benefits derived from your IRS filing, it is always important to check with a professional tax advisor to ensure that your strategy is sound and that the deductions possibly provided are accurate and can be realized.

 

4, Invest in Precious Metals 

An important part of an investor’s portfolio should be under the financial banner of diversity.

One of those diversified investments can be the purchase of precious metals.

Those precious metals could include silver, gold, and other assets.

You can purchase silver and gold from a reputable company through the online process or you can choose to buy certificates of gold rather than having the bars or coins at your home or other secure location.

 

 

5. Have an Emergency Fund 

Another possibility of utilizing a portion of your $300,000 would be to set up an emergency fund.

This emergency fund acts as a buffer and generally represents the expenses within the household over a 3-to-6-month period.

This emergency fund is for those situations or circumstances that occur in the household that have financial implications.

Some of those challenges could be the loss of a job, illness in the family, equipment failure, etc.

An emergency fund is set up to cover the costs of these expenses if in the event any of these challenges happen.

 

6. Have a Financial Advisor 

It is important to know, and you may have already realized that investments can be fairly complicated and overwhelming.

Fortunately, some qualified individuals have financial and investment integrity that are hired by other individuals to manage their portfolios.

These individuals are known as financial advisors.

When choosing this course of action to engage a financial advisor, it is important to find someone who is not just concerned about their commission and fees but has your very interests and investment success at the heart of their professionalism.

A good strategy in finding a reputable financial advisor would be to seek counsel from trusted family members and friends who engage a financial advisor and receive their recommendation.

Also, it is important to do your investigation and interview the individual as if you were hiring them for a job which in reality you are doing.

 

7. Education Savings

If you still have children at home and they plan to go to college perhaps an option to invest the money as well as your child’s education is through a 529 plan.

A qualified 529 plan is considered a gift as it relates to tax filing.

There are particulars involved as to how much can be contributed, by whom, and tax return filings (joint or separately).

It is best to consult with your financial planning advisor as well as your CPA or tax advisor.

 

8. Family

With the windfall, you may wish to think about family members and perhaps, not necessarily give an outright gift but help in some way through a loan or investment purchase.

If wishing to help out family and be repaid it is important to treat this process as if it were a binding contract with a stranger.

Make sure that the terms are spelled out, any interest payments, repayment, etc.

It would be best to obtain professional advice with the drawing up of any contracts.

 

9. Stocks 

As an example, suppose you wish to invest in the company of Coca-Cola.

They have been around a considerable amount of time, the company is on firm footing, the various financial reports are positive, the leadership is visionary and is taking Coca-Cola to new levels with the unrolling of new products, etc.

You want to be part of that success and in doing so you will purchase stock.

Owning stock in a company is owning a portion of that company.

As such, your stock value may rise, there may be the giving of dividends, possible splitting of stock, etc.

All of these possibilities may provide a good return on your investment.

 

10. Buy a Business

Perhaps, with the $3000 received you may wish to invest in a business.

This business can be already established and is up for sale or can be a startup business.

Through the investment of a business, there are the associated benefits of long-term income and the possible earning of passive income that does not require too much of your oversight.

As with all investments, there is an element of risk but quite possibly the dream of having your own business now has taken a giant step towards reality because of these available monies.

Below are some businesses to consider, depending on your interest:

• How to Run a Hair Care Business
• How to Run a Wine Business
• How to Run a Welding Business
• How to Run Soap Making Business
• How to Run a Shipping Business
• How to Run a Lip Gloss Business
• How to Run a Knitting Business

 

11. REITs 

REITs or Real Estate Investment Trust is an investment vehicle in which a variety of real estate ownership is pooled together and owned by several investors.

Types of property ownership with a Real Estate Investment Trust could include warehouses, commercial real estate, apartment buildings, etc.

With this investment, there is no “hands-on” involvement as it relates to providing oversight or management of these properties.

 

12. 401(k)

As a self-employed individual who may own a business there are additional possibilities as it relates to the investment vehicle of a 401(k).

As a business owner, you have the option to invest larger amounts of money that are set aside for your retirement years.

With this investment are associated tax advantages.

As of this writing, a business owner was allowed to contribute up to 25% of their compensation.

Again, as with all things that relate to tax filings and returns it is important to not only do one’s research but seek the counsel of a tax advisor to ensure that you stay within the legal limits of the tax IRS laws.

 

13. Online Brokerage 

An added option to invest your money is by taking advantage of an online brokerage account.

Several well-established and respected financial investment firms provide the investor with a brokerage account.

Some of the well-known names of brokerage account firms include Vanguard, Schwab, Fidelity.

To determine what is best for you as it relates to an online brokerage company it is best to do your research and possibly reach out to trusted friends and family about their experience or use of any of these brokerage firms.

Also, many investors aggressively interact with their investments while some are more on the sidelines and interact on a passive note.

This would be part of your consideration in your selection of a firm due to an example such as Vanguard because of their dedication to providing service to their customers in handling the investments.

On the other hand, if you are more of a hands-on investor you may wish to go with a broker that provides a trading platform to their customer and charges no fees to reduce overhead costs.

 

14. Retirement or Brokerage 

As it relates to a brokerage account a further decision would need to be made.

This is based on the reality that there are two types of accounts to choose from.

One account would be defined as a retirement account that reflects retirement programs such as a separate IRA, 401(k), or a Roth IRA.

These particular retirement options focus on growth on a tax-deferred basis and are invested underneath the heading of long-term investments.

The second type of account would be a brokerage account.

This type of account is also an investment option but is typically utilized when individual wishes to fully maximize their growth potential.

In addition, they wish to have access to their money for potential other investment possibilities that may be taken advantage of in the short term or the long term as well.

 

15. Diversity 

As it relates to investments, the watchword is diversifying.

This means that not all of your investment money is placed into one specific investment vehicle.

Your investment money should be spread out over many options available to you to have a diversified portfolio.

Put in another way, it is best not to have your portfolio be all stocks, bonds, or other alternative investments.

A well-diversified portfolio has a percentage of their money placed in these vehicles and more.

 

16. Index Funds 

Another investment option is through the purchase of Index Funds.

By buying Index Funds you become an owner of bonds or obtain an accumulation of portfolios of stocks that reflect a specific index.

An Index Fund provides more diversity and variety across a broad spectrum of holdings or ownership.

Index Funds are generally associated with low management fees and therefore a major portion of your money is utilized in growth investment rather than the spending of your investment money for fees.

 

17. Mutual Funds 

Another investment option is the purchasing of Mutual Funds.

Mutual Funds differ from Index Funds in that Mutual Funds are more of an opportunity for a hands-on management process.

Although costlier, Mutual Funds are designed to perform better than other specific markets.

However, as with all investments, it is important to remember that there are no guarantees as it relates to investments.

However, Mutual Funds can be a good part of your diversification strategy.

 

18. ETF’s 

Electronic Traded Funds or ETFs have a similar component to Index Funds.

The exception is, however, that the transactions associated with ETFs are done daily similar to the purchasing and buying of stocks.

ETFs are designed to be less hands-on and generally are given over to automatic transactions which doesn’t require much oversight from the fund manager.

 

19. Bonds 

Companies that are experiencing growth or want to continue growing the business will often reinvest in themselves.

This can be accomplished by upgrading their infrastructure, purchasing equipment, upgrading needed hardware, etc.

To raise this revenue, they will offer to sell bonds to investors.

The investors can purchase these bonds and when the bonds reach maturity, the investor receives a return on their money.

 

20. Go Back to School

Perhaps it has been a long-sought-after dream to go back to school and earn that degree.

Having $300,000 will go a long way to fulfill that dream and be a great investment in yourself.

 

21. Vacation

It certainly is not selfish to spend some of your windfall money on yourself and your life partner.

With a very small part of this money, you and that special someone can take that dream trip that you only thought about but never thought would come true.

 

22. Charity

Another wonderful and truly philanthropic way of giving back in gratitude for what you have received is to donate an amount back to charity.

There are no financial rewards for you in doing so but there would come a great feeling of knowing that you helped enrich the lives of others by providing this gift.

 

23. Pay Off Your Bad Debt

A consideration in utilizing your windfall of $300,000 may be the use of this money to liquidate any problematic debt that you may have.

The important considerations to take into account would be whether it is good debt such as a mortgage or whether it is more of a negative debt such as loans or credit cards with a high rate of interest.

If considering this option a possible tool that one can utilize to see what sort of money they might save by paying off debt can be found by using the Debt Payoff Calculator.

 

24. Home 

A powerful investment of money that has long-term ramifications and a good return on investment dollars is the owning of your own home.

The two options would be just to use part of the money as a 20% down payment to purchase the home or a more sizable chunk of the money put towards the home purchase.

 

25. Stock Market 

A standard action that investors take that has proven to be a good return, over the long haul, of money invested is through the stock market.

You certainly could invest in the market and make your own choices, if you are confident and comfortable, as to what stocks to buy or you could use a brokerage firm and the services of a professional stockbroker.

Of course, there would be fees associated with the latter option and would be a decision that you would need to make.

 

What to Do With $300,000 FAQ

 

If My $300,000 Came Through an Inheritance What, if Any, Are the Taxes?

There is no federal inheritance tax but there is a federal estate tax.

 

What Is a Financial Planner?

A financial planner is a knowledgeable individual who successfully creates programs and offers strategies for individuals to reach their long-term financial goals.

They may offer financial advice as it relates to

• Investments
• Taxes
• Retirement
• Estate Planning

 

You Can Do It

$300,000 is a considerable amount of money.

Equally considerable are a variety of options that you can entertain when thinking about the use of this money.

You can certainly seek counsel from others, but it is important to do your research and match up the use of your money with your values.

It is important not to let the shadows of $100,000 cloud your personal beliefs about money and your judgment.

 

Conclusion

You find that you have $300,000.

The question is what should I do with this money?

It is a significant amount and deserves a significant amount of time in researching, investigating, and formulating a plan of action on how to proceed in maximizing its use.

Remember, you will receive volumes of advice.

Listen to this advice but blend it with your strategy based on what is important to you and your loved ones.