Invest $50,000.00

[Whiskers]

If you had an extra $50k that you didn’t need until retirement, say in 20 years, where would you invest it and why? If in stock/equities, would you dollar-cost it in over time?

[terran]

I would invest it as a lump sum in a 60/40 mix of US/international total market ETFs. Either VTI or ITOT and VXUS or IXUS (or the equivalent Vanguard mutual funds VTSAX and VTIAX if I was investing at a brokerage that traded those funds commission free).

[Monerexia]

ITOT set it and forget it.

[Halfsees]

I'm not sure reading where you are in the investment order. I'm assuming you've thought though how to invest the most tax advantaged way to invest in your particular situation? If so, I would do some VNQ if I'm able to go though a ROTH, and then VTIAX/VTSAX, although I'm not sure what mix. I'm personally trying to get in some right now after foolishly only dipping my toes the last downturn and have set up a bunch of limit orders a few days ago of about a few thousand each starting at what it was priced at the time going all the way down to 21% below the high by dropping a dollar in the price with each limit order. I chose this strategy because I don't mind if some of it remains cash but want to capture lower prices if I get the opportunity to do so. It might be even smarter to just dollar cost average, but this is my attempt to balance my irrational desire to time the market with a plan that I set and forget no matter what the market does in the future.

[talltexan]

I don't know how that nut compares to your annual expenses, but this may be a good opportunity to shift your 401K contributions up to the max for the next few years...keep this money ultra-safe for living expenses, and get the new contributions clear of the tax man.

[Aardvark]

I have a similar amount to invest... And I'm spending way too much time thinking about what to do.

In truth, it just FEELS ridiculous to throw in a lump sum when it seems as though there is a good chance of another correction coming in the near future.

I like what Sehr suggested a lot, and I am thinking of:
-50% Dollar Cost Average over the next 3 months. Invest regardless of the market movement
-50% dump it in large chunks, maybe even all of it at once, if the market gives me a particularly good reason to do so; this also has to be spent within 3 months. Anything left over can be CDA'd after these 3 months are up.

This approach gives me the feeling that I am getting the best of both worlds - and at the end of the day I am chasing the feeling of having done the right thing as much as I am hoping for a good ROI.

Investment strategy looks something like this:

Asset type allocation:
Cash:        5% (max!)
Bond:        25%
Equity:       70%

Asset regional allocation:
US:              40%
Emerging:   20%
Developed:  40% (some overlap with US)

Rough estimates lead to:
SCHB: 26% (equity US broad, TER 0.03%)
SCHF: 32% (equity developed non-US large/mid-cap, TER 0.06%)
SCHZ: 20% (bonds US, TER 0.04%)
SCHC: 4% (equity developed non-US, small-cap, TER 0.12%)
SCHE: 18% (equity emerging broad, TER 0.13%)

[talltexan]

If retirement is twenty years away, does your current cash flow/savings need a tune-up?

[RWD]

I would invest it immediately according to my investment policy statement and stop worrying about it.