How to invest a $240,000 inheritance

This piece sits with a reader whose situation calls for real care: 63 years old, fewer high-earning years behind her after time at home raising a family, still working but watching her health decline from rheumatoid arthritis and unsure how much longer full-time work is possible. An inheritance has arrived, and the question is how to invest it. The thinking it works through reaches past fund selection to the things that matter most when work may end sooner than hoped, such as how this money turns into reliable income, which accounts shelter it best given a modest tax picture, and how to balance growth against the need for stability and access. The timing of government benefits naturally comes into the picture too. It will speak to anyone approaching retirement with an uneven work history and uncertain health, looking to make a lump sum do as much steady work as it can.