Life Situation: Tax status - Married in Bay Area CA
Gross Salary/Wages: 60K
Individual amounts of each Pre-tax deductions - 10% employee stock purchase plan
Other Ordinary Income: I am sole income provider, my wife recently quit her job and would like to go back to school
Rental Income, Actual Expenses, and Depreciation: I rent a room for $700/month, and bring in almost 4k/month
Adjusted Gross Income: Usually can save about 1k/month
Liabilities: 100% debt free, I own two cars that are worth about 5k/each and in good condition
Assets: Amount & description - Recently inherited about 60k. I would really like to buy a house in the next 1-2 years as my wife wants to start having children in the next 5 years. Planning to start IRAs for my wife and I since I don't have 401k matching at my work. Also have about 12k in my company's stock. Combined assets are 72k-11k( to start IRAS)=61. This total does not include 6 month emergency savings of 25k
Question(s): What is the best way to allocate my money so that I can see some returns and not get screwed by inflation? I'd like to keep around 40k as liquid as possible because we aren't sure exactly when we want to buy. I currently can't afford any neighborhoods I'd like to raise a family in the bay area. We eventually want to move out of state once I gain enough work experience to somewhere more affordable.