At 96, there's not much left to get you besides an accident, so your life expectancy could be one month or another 10 years. I remember when my Granny turned 80, she hoped to live long enough to see me graduate medical school for years later. Now we're going to celebrate her 92nd birthday and she's hoping to live long enough to see the Braves win the World Series again.

Agree totally with the laddered CD/MMF approach over 5 years. That would supply the immediate cash needs, and if you had to take the money early from a CD, you'd only loose the interest, where if you cashed out of a bond early, could loose principle as well. The reast I'd Foolishy invest in stocks. Who knows, ten years from now, you could be celebrating 105. It's more common every year.

JLC