Question for you financial gurus

Before anyone can give you advice, you should probably state what you're intentions are for this money. What I mean is that is this money that you will need access to in the short-term, or is it money you can invest for the long-term? If it's long-term, then a mutual fund might the way to go, if you want to minimize your risk. Search morningstar.com and look for funds with a 4 and 5 star average. Also, make sure you are looking at no-load funds. In the short-term, the value of the mutual fund might go down, creating a paper-loss for your funds. But over the long haul, you most likely will see price appreciation. But you have to decide if you will need this money in the short-term(say <12 months) or long-term.

If this is money may be needed in the short-term, then CD's might be the way to go. Though your risk is basically nothing, your rate of return is low. As the Fed has been cutting the interest rates, so goes the rate on CD's. We invest some money in CD's via our Fidelity account. The rates are about a percentage point higher than what I can get with my bank, Chase.

Read up as much as you can on investing. I'm no pro at this by far, but I discuss investments with my brother-in-law who is much more experienced than me. If I didn't have his guidance, I'd probably get with an investment professional.