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My Mom has about 60k in savings. The interest she gets, monthly, is ridiculous. We are planning on using this money to help take care of her in the future. She is 92 and of pretty sound mind. My brother is encouraging her to invest the money with the hopes that the investment will pay off in regards to adding to her amount. I am afraid of the risk involved and think she should leave it in savings and add to it from her checking account when she has a little to transfer. What do others think and, if the advice is to invest, what should she invest in? She is planning on seeing a financial advisor but I want her to see one with "elder care" experience.

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My advice is, don't do anything with it. Don't invest. Don't do risky things. Leave it as it is, in the bank. Use it for her.
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When we e sold mommas house she had alot of equity and I was advised by my attorney to purchase a cd because it would earn more than a checking account. So I took $120000.00 of it and bought a cd with 4.6 % interest and put the remaining $50000.00 in her savings. We only purchased for a year and the first statement she received she gained $960.00 and some change.
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She could put her money in a simple money market account that makes more interest than a bank would pay, and the money is accessible within about 24 hours of requesting it.

The stock market right now is not the place to put money you can't afford to lose, plus I'd say she doesn't have enough to make a significant profit with anyway.
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That is my thinking as well.
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If a bond ladder sounds too intimidating, you can set up an online high yield savings account (HYSA) that will pay a little less, but still a lot more than the local bank. All three can have FDIC insurance.

If you bank online anyway, the only difference is that it can take few days for the money to transfer from savings to checking vs instantly.

I’m guessing that the current savings pays less than $1 per month; a HYSA could pay $200, a CD ladder $250+.
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Summernole May 17, 2023
Thanks, Frebrowser. I have never heard of either of these options. She gets about $12 in interest each month. Are there any risk involved with either of these? Especiallly if the market tanks?
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CD ladders that you manage yourself. You can get 5 percent interest now. But that may be in shorter term CDs. I wouldn’t invest in anything longer than, say, 2 year CDs because that way money will become available as she is likely to need it. Ally Online Bank has good rates and is easy to deal with online. Also you can set up beneficiaries easily at the same time you buy the CD. Others make setting up beneficiaries much more difficult.
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Summernole May 17, 2023
Can she access her money immediately if she has an unexpected emergency?
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AnnReid mentioned a CD ladder and I agree. Short-term, low-risk investment that my 104-yr old Aunt has money in. My 94-yr old Mom just put in another $40K from her checking into a bond ladder per her investment advisor. I told my Mom not to keep a lot of cash in her checking account due to the risk of frauds and scams (and some of that risk coming from her own mind with the beginnings of dementia and memory loss).
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You posted in 2021 that mom had a "financial advisor" who had her gift you an IRA (which you probably weren't eligible to fund if you weren't getting employment income).

Forget the "financial advisors". They are salespeople. Use some of her funds to visit a certified Elder Law attorney and make sure you have all her end of life paperwork in order--POA, MOLST or POLST and will.
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Summernole May 17, 2023
You must be thinking of someone else, Barb. My Mom has never gifted me an IRA. She did loan me $4,200 recently and I am paying her back $200 a month. I hope this won't mess her up if she ever needs to qualify for Medicaid and it shows in the five-year "look back". If we have a signed aggreement on this loan, and I am paying her back monthly, will we be okay?
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I read your previous posts. So you live with your mother. Do you work? I doubt your brother is interested in using your mother's money to help take care of her, because YOU are probably the plan for that.

Are you okay with that?
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Summernole May 17, 2023
I live with my mother and I am retired. My brother and I are both listed with Power of Attorney. In fact, I think he is the primary POA. My brother is very responsible and caring of my mom and would certainly use her money in her best interest. I just happen to be the one who lives with her and takes care of her when she needs help. He works long hours. I am okay with this.
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So, a "financial advisor" aka salesperson will want 1% of that money every year to manage it.

I don't think mom can afford that.

Standard advice is not to put money that you are going to need within 5 years in the markets.

At 92, it seems pretty likely that mom will need that money for her care within 5 years.

What would be safe to do is to create a CD ladder--CDs that are FDIC insured that mature serially. So, you buy a 3 month (or 6 month, or one year) CD for 1k each month. When the first one matures, you buy another.

www.Bogleheads.org is a great place to ask these kinds of questions.

Whis mom's POA? That is the most important thing to do right now.
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AnnReid May 16, 2023
The magic words- “CD LADDER”.

Managed my mom’s care this way, absolutely feel confident in this.
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Leave it alone you're going to need it .
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