On the basis that you’re only young once, would you not advise your relative to blow say 5 – 10% of her good fortune on herself now, e.g. holiday, clothes, home improvements, etc.? If your relative doesn’t need this money now, she should plan to use it to supplement her pension when she retires. So how many years to retirement and what pension can she expect? Will all her debts, mortage, car loan, etc. be paid off by retirement? Has she an emergency fund? If not, she could consider using some of the inheritance now to pay off debt and set up an emergency fund. Then what return will she need from her investment to supplement her pension? So she could start investing now with the aim of supplementing her pension, or, if she doesn’t know now with accuracy what her pension will be or when she will retire, the money could be safely invested in e.g. a mix of post office certs, high yield deposts, etc. until she can.