[grandcider]

I've suddenly come into around USD200K from an inheritance. What is the best way to park this money and get a decent return with low risk? I expect to need this money for some expenses a few years down the road.

[discobay]

While you're deciding where to invest it you could put it into a time deposit for a month. Some banks are giving away gifts for investments of over a million in HKD.

[PDLM]

It depends how many a "few" years is. You should be able to get around 5%pa on a time deposit of, say, 12 months for that much money (from a second tier bank like BEA perhaps).

Anything promising much over 5% is going to have some sort of risk attached to it so unless you are prepared to invest time and effort both to evaluating the possibilities and then at least semi-actively managing the investment(s) you'd probably be better off with a simple time deposit.

The other factor to consider is what currency your future expenses will be in - if it is not USD then you need to consider the possible exchange rate trends.

[dougp]

If you're stuck for ideas, I'll look after it for you

[kombuchakid]

Have a talk with your principal bankers, that is the people you do most of your financial stuff with.
You will be pleasantly surprised at the vast improvement in the level of service, now that you have a couple of hundred k to your account.
The fact that it is American K will only increase the amount of fawning you can expect.

Don't forget to make the necessary changes to your will.

[andante]

how abt parking them w me?

[grandcider]

A USD time deposit with BEA seems to be a no brainer as they give 4-5%. But isn't the USD a rather weak currency over the long term? How can I get a decent low-risk return without currency risk?

[freeier]

plunk all 200k into brasil winning the wc. if u get it right you don't have to worry about getting the interest 8-)

on a serious note, if u have that view then u have to take the decision risk and put it in some other currency or so. choose your native currency, i.e. something u wld wnat to use in the long run (a place u retiring in).

weakness in USD is numerically compensated by the higher interest rate.

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by grandcider

But isn't the USD a rather weak currency over the long term? How can I get a decent low-risk return without currency risk?

Weak relative to what? The key question is what currency these expenses in a few years time will be made in...

[chookie]

Originally Posted by grandcider

But isn't the USD a rather weak currency over the long term? How can I get a decent low-risk return without currency risk?

Depends on the alternative currency - if it's HKD then it's pegged to the USD and the currency risk is minimal (unless the peg gets shifted to RMB but that's a whole other topic)