If your grandparents created the trust in your behalf, it’s likely they did that through an attorney. The trust probably also includes some rules intended to protect you and insure that you have money to meet your needs over the long run.

The plan your dad is suggesting sounds questionable and may not be in your best interest. Talk to the attorney who administers your trust and learn as much as you can before deciding anything.

My advice would be to invest in something stable. Put your money in an IRA or Roth IRA. Don’t mix your money in with other people. It never works out and you could lose it all. I’m sorry to say but your dad does not have your best interest at heart.

Get an investment advisor or stock broker (you are over 18 Y O ?) and check with trust attorney !

Buy and read A Random Walk Down Wall Street. Then get yourself a decent financial planner and hold them accountable. Do not get involved in a real-estate scheme with your father/brother/anyone else. Your money should double every 7–10 years if invested properly. It’s an exponential curve and the earlier you start the faster it grows.

Don’t put it in with your father/brother. You see the red flags already. It could only lead to pain and possible loss of the money. Talk to a financial planner and put it in some safe investments.

Well I would just feel kind of bad, because I think they are depending on my money to make an investment.

@Cindy1302 If it’s legit, a bank will go in with them on it. They wouldn’t need your money with that much down.

Invest if you like but what you are considering is not a good idea. And don’t mix up your money with family members.

@Cindy1302 I don’t want you to lose your money, but I have no idea about investing or houses or any of that stuff. All I can say is giving your money to your relatives that are not “moral” seems like a bad idea. Friends and even relatives can take advantage of you ESPECIALLY since they are your friends and relatives. You need a better option than them. Talk to a lawyer maybe?

@Cindy1302 You seem quite young and naive. This is your money, not your family’s. Don’t be pushed around and get some advice from professionals. also, don’t let anyone put pressure on you to decide. It can sit in the bank gaining interest until you invest it.

It totally depends upon how much you’re talking about. But a general rule of thumb is to pay down any consumer debt first (credit card, car). I wouldn’t loan it to your family as you’ll never see it again. You need advice from someone you trust—not your family members or an anonymous question and answer site. We don’t have nearly enough information to offer you any good advice. I recommend a book “Personal Finance for Dummies”

Visit the local bank, talk with a “Personal Banker”

A Personal Banker is a finance professional who manages the accounts and finances of their clients. They are responsible for overseeing all aspects of their clients’ accounts, providing them with banking services like loans or credit cards, and advising investment opportunities.

You aren’t a bank. The only reason a person would come to you for a mortgage is if they don’t have the income, assets or credit rating to qualify for the amount they want. That puts the risk on you now. If they default, you have to go through the eviction process, which isn’t easy, then you have to prepare the house for sale, more costs, especially if your tenants were scumbags, then you have to sell it for more than you already put in to it, while the taxes keep running for as long as you own it. This business is very fraught, and you’ll almost certainly be buying low-quality debt. Do NOT do this, under any circumstances.

Feeling bad is a hell of a lot better than feeling like a stupid broke idiot, who was warned over and over.

I would invest it, but don’t go around lending it to people yourself. Banks and other institutions do this with little more than a credit check because they can protect themselves with large numbers and knowing statistics. You presumably won’t have that. The money will get tied up in long term loans and if one defaults, you could get seriously screwed. If you loan to people you know, it can wreck relationships.

I would advise you to invest in the stock market. Right now, stocks are down so investing now means you’re getting in at a lower buy-in. Don’t invest in specific stocks unless you know what you’re doing. If you can, find a mutual fund with a low load and low expenses. Or get an indexed fund. Get several. Learn to diversify your portfolio. Over the long run, this will be safer than making individual loans AND alot less work for you.

The WORST thing you could do right now though, is leave money in a bank account. Those inflation numbers you hear about…that’s how much your money is SHRINKING every year. When you hear about 7% inflation, it’s as if you burned 7% of your cash. You MUST seek a rate of return on your money to counteract this. This is why we should all be OPPOSED to inflationary policies by our governments. This crap benefits politicians and bankers and hurts the rest of us.