Investment - I recently inherited several hundred thousand $'s from my Dad. I am 53 and married. Up?

The only safe option for any amount of cash is to buy silver or gold ingots and hide them at home. Anything else leaves you open to theft by the government. Cyprus has stolen 40% of all bank deposits to pay its bills. They tried to steal 100% but KGB was a large depositor and they decided not to risk such a big heist. Several other countries promptly passed bills for the same purpose. Financial advisers are predicting collapses in many countries within five years.