Q:I just closed a $50,000 CD and will need income in three years. I don't like variable annuities and I need to protect my principal for my daughters. I am 66 and I have an IRA (only $10,000).

I get a small check from Social Security now. I need advice on how to invest this money.

For now, it is in a money market bank account. I am losing money at 2 percent, but I am afraid to [move it and] put it in the wrong place.

I have lost money in the past with very bad financial planners. All they want is a big profit out of your investments. I don't have time to wait long-term to get income.

N. Abella, Miami

As you said, you're losing money, with no way to make it back.

Yet investing for growth and then income is most definitely long-term investing, meaning you have to have staying power, both emotionally and financially, in order to bear the volatility that stock and bond markets bring.

Fear can derail a new investor. So can lack of patience and understanding. Perhaps that was part of your prior experiences.

If you want to become an investor to try to keep up with or exceed inflation, and I hope you do, educate yourself on global growth and income mutual funds.

There are many fine no-load fund companies willing to give you lots of information so you can make a more informed decision.

Then tip-toe in with a little of your savings at a time.

No one says you have to invest it all at once.

For the rest, until you're ready, just roll over a CD for the short term or stick with the money market or both. Good luck.

Meg Green is a certified financial planner. Mail questions to her c/o Sunday Business, The Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132 or send an e-mail to

askmeg@MiamiHerald.com. Include your full name and city of residence.

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