You know that joke – “Do you wanna hertz donut?” – where you answer “Yes” and then get punched in the arm? Well, that’s what came to mind when reading today’s email about a $195k inheritance getting knocked down to $95k – “Hurts Don’t it?”

As I do for all my blogalicious readers w/ crazy conundrums, today we shall feature an email along w/ my un-spellchecked and top of the brain answering skillz.

Well okay, there’s definitely more thought and time that went into it than that, but you get the point – I just copied and pasted my answer here instead of tweaking it up to be blog-presentable. But that’s okay, right? You’re not reading the NY Fabulous Times up in here or anything. You’re on a blog w/ “sexy” in the title for goodness sakes ;) But enough rambling, on to the show!

How would you advise a 20 year old girl that had $195,000 invested (inheritance) last year, only to be screwed by the economy and now has only $95,000? Should I keep it in there?? My stocks are spread evenly throughout, I don’t belong to just one particular company.

I also get a check from my mom’s SS for $1,400 a month. After bills, I’m left with around $800 or so. I have no job, as I can’t work right now because I go back and forth to [edited] all the time. Long-distance relationships can be a B-word sometimes.. I’d love to find work online, though.

I ALSO hope to be getting this woman’s full policy, 100k, for a car accident I was in 2 years ago. IF I get the full amount, I’ll have about 50k left AFTER fees and medical bills.

Please, send me advice!
Nevada Queen

RE: Investing – Yes, I’d totally keep that money invested, ESP while things are so low right now and you have *plenty* of time to earn it all back and THEN some. As the saying goes, “buy low, sell high”. If you quit now, you’ve lost the rest and you’ll probably want to get back in again down the road when all is “normal” again and the prices are high. Of course, no one can say for certain it’ll get back up there, but history shows it will – and i bank on that.

That being said, what I would do is meet with a financial adviser and see which investments would work with what you want out of it. They may tell you stuff you already know, or they could even suck balls, but even so it may help you sleep better at night. I’d check around your friends and ask for references and then set up a meet & greet with one (which should be totally free btw) and see what they say. I’d happily spend a few thousand over time if it means earning much more in the long run, ya know? just make sure to go w/ someone you trust and makes you feel comfortable.

And if you DO get that extra $50k from that accident? Then having a plan ready to go for it will do you nicely. and that’s something a planner can help you with.

RE: Online work – Have you thought about blogging? if you’re passionate about it, you could start earning a little somethin’ somethin’ on the side from doing that. It always takes more work than people think, but it’s def. do-able, esp if you don’t have a 9-5 gig. If you don’t like writing, maybe try picture blogging or celebrity bashing ;) haha….or celebrity loving for that matter. anyways, the point is – if you can learn how to navigate the online world, you can then use that for future jobs down the road, not just for blogging. Learn Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, online marketing, etc. it’s all fun stuff and won’t bore you to death.

I hope this helps! Keep in mind I’m no sexpert, so don’t punch me in the face if anything goes awry from any of this ;) And keep us updated – we love hearing how this stuff turns out! How about you guys out there? Have anything to add to this?