I recently came into about 20K and want to put it away. I want a good return (of course), but I don't want to be penalized for withdrawing if I have to. Without this money, I am financially sound. I make enough money at work to where I don't need to access these funds for bills or anything like that. I will, however, likely be getting married in the next 12-18 months where a little bit of that money might be nice to have. Anyone have any tips on where I should start looking to put my money? (I'm just looking for advice. If I end up making bad investment choices, its my own problem...I know that) thanks

P.S. If I put a lot of it into a 30, 60 or 90 day CD and just continue to roll it over until I decide its long term use, will that be bad?

That's the end of that $20K.

Pax, you cynic, you.

If you leave it in a CD you will be losing value long term since the interest on the CD is less than inflation. If you are worried about losses look for a stable value mutual fund. There are many funds out there to select from.

Have you heard of the Capital Depreciation Fund? If you send it to me, I guarantee a 50% return of your money.