reported by Dr. Don of BankRate.com

Dear Dr. Don,
I sold my house and am walking away with $31,000 profit on Tuesday. I am planning on buying a house, but not until May. How do I make the most on my return over these few short months — stocks, money market, short-term CD? I’m confused.
– Jon Jumble

Dear Jon,
Match the life of the investment with the planning horizon. If you expect to need the money in May, don’t invest in stocks. Invest

The Wall Street Journal
Cash is regaining some of its sparkle.

With the Federal Reserve leaving short-term rates unchanged last week, many financial planners are recommending that clients put their extra money into short-term securities and high-yielding savings accounts to boost their returns.

That’s a shift from last fall, when money managers were moving into longer-term investments to lock in still-favorable yields. Banks, too, are beginning to change course. After

Sales fever has hit the high street over the last week but as well as bargains on clothes and electronics, the new year can also be a good time to grab decent deals on your finances.

A number of banks and building societies have launched new rates on savings accounts, credit cards and mortgages. But these rarely come free of pitfalls, so it is worth paying attention to the small print.

Barclays tops the poll

The options include index and actively managed funds, but the actively managed funds are not individual funds. They are portfolios of funds that contain so many funds — up to 19 in some cases — that they could end up performing a lot like index funds. Or worse when you take into account their higher fees.

For better or worse, many of Fidelity’s best-known funds — Magellan, Contrafund, Low-Priced Stock, Diversified International — are not in the plan. It d

Money market funds are designed to maintain a stable price (or net asset value) of $1.00 per share. The high quality, short-term nature of a money market fund’s holdings virtually assures this share price stability. In addition, money market funds must adhere to strict regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the government agency that regulates mutual funds, with regards to quality and maturity of the issues in which they invest. Note, however, th