“Jeff, we have $500,000 and have no idea how to invest it”.
I admit, having $500,000 sitting in a checking account ready to invest, but earning little to no interest is one of those “good problems to have”. But if you find yourself in this situation, and have a level head on your shoulders, it can be a very overwhelming.
When you have a large lump sum of money, one of the important things to remember is that diversification is your biggest friend. With that in mind I would recommend splitting up your $500k into several of these options.
How to Invest $500K
- Guaranteed Returns
- Individual Stocks
- Robo-Investing
- Certificate of Deposit
- Exchange Traded Funds
- Peer to Peer Lending
- Annuity Investing
- 529 Plan
Top Ways to Invest $500,000
Guaranteed Investments
When you get to the point where you can invest $500,000 all at one time, getting a guaranteed return for you money can be pretty appealing. These are three of the top ways.
High Interest Savings Account
I know this may be the most boring investment on the list, but stay with me.
If you do not currently have an emergency fund then a portion of your investment needs to go into savings. This should be somewhere around six months of your family’s expenses
Now you can open an account with your local bricks and mortar bank, but you will get much better rates with one of the best online high interest savings account now available.
There are a ton of these accounts now available.
I recommend using our online tool to select the best savings account rates in your area.
Purchase Individual Stocks
If you are ready to do your research or have shown a knack for knowing which companies are going to get big, then purchasing individual stocks may be a great way to go when investing part of your $500k.
You can do this through a stock broker, but you are going to get a lot better rates for your trades by using an online brokerage that you control yourself.
Brokerages like Ally Invest allow you to do all your own research and make trades for $0.
That’s a huge savings by doing the investing yourself through an online brokerage.
Robo-Investing
If you want to be in the stock market, but aren’t sure you want to be picking your own stocks, then a robo-investor like Betterment will be a great way to get started
Robo-investors allow you to take a short survey to assess your risk tolerance and then take that information and invest your funds for you. Betterment even has tactics in place to reduce your tax liabilities and make sure you are avoiding as many fees as possible.
Robo-advisors give you the convenience of hands off investing, while knowing your money is being actively managed by their platform.
Certificates of Deposit
CDs have finally started returning to reasonable interest rates. They work by you depositing your money for a set period of time for a guaranteed amount of interest.
During the great recession the returns on CDs dropped to 1%, but as interest rates rise the rates have become much more reasonable and make CDs a more appealing investment for those looking to get a guaranteed income stream off their $500k.
Exchange Traded Funds
Exchange Traded funds are a great way to diversify across a bunch of different stocks while only making a single trade.
ETFs work similar to a mutual fund in that you buy a large number of stocks that are part of the fund all at one time. They also act like a single share of stock in that you buy a share of the ETF off the stock market. This means you buy small pieces of the fund from the exchange instead of going through a fund family like you do with mutual funds.
One of the best brokerages to get started with ETFs is M1 Finance. They have over 1,400 different ETFs that you can invest in with no commissions. This makes ETFs one of the least expensive ways to invest in the stock market.
Peer to Peer Lending
If you are not familiar with peer-to-peer lending I view it as one of the best ways to invest that does not put you in the stock market
Companies like Lending Club allow you to invest your money in loans that go out to other individuals. Those individuals pay back the loans, with interest, and you make back a nice return.
What I really love about the platform is that you can invest as little as $25 into a loan. That means you can choose to invest in a lot of different loans and spread out your risk inside of Lending Club.
For example, a person who invests $10,000 would be able to invest in 400 different loans. This way if a person defaults on the loan you only lose the $25 investment
I have personally been averaging 8% with my Lending Club account and that is with a pretty conservative investing strategy.
Annuities
Annuities have gotten a bad name over the years because there have been many a shady salesperson who have used the complexity of the product to their advantage. There are situations where annuities can be a very good choice and a person having $500k to invest is one of those situations where an annuity might be the right decision for some of that money.
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While there are a lot of different options for annuities, the basic idea is that you supply a lump sum of money to an insurance company and they give you a guaranteed rate of return on that money. When you start to draw money from that annuity you receive a fixed amount of income going forward. There are a lot of options with annuities so it is extremely important that you work with a good financial advisor.
529 Plan for College Savings
If you have children who are not yet in college, you can invest in a 529 college savings plan and have that money grow tax-free until they are ready to use it for school. Each state has its own plan and the benefits vary greatly by state.
In some states they even let you deduct your investment from your state taxes. So check with your state to see if you can get those deductions.
If you live in a state where there are no benefits to investing in your state’s plan, I recommend considering Wealthsimple as the home for your 529 Savings Plan. Wealthsimple is a robo-advisor that will steer you in the direction of targeted investments to help you meet your specific goal, in this case, saving for college.
What Process Would I Take if I were investing $500k
An aunt who had no children left her only nephew and his wife a $500,000 inheritance. The couple, never really having invested before, were terrified about how much to invest whether it be invest $20,000, invest $100,000 or the entire 500K, and that they would invest the money poorly and lose it all.
That wasn’t going to happen on my watch, not even if they were investing $1,000 dollars or even investing $100 dollars of their money!
Here were the basic principles I explained to them and how I would talk to anyone else that was seeking the best way to invest $500,000.
If you are ready to invest, make sure to check out our reviews, such as our Motif Investing Review, or our post on the best short term investments before you make your final investing decision!
1. Don’t Tell Anyone You Have It – And Don’t Brag About It!
It’s unfortunate that anytime anyone falls into money, they suddenly have all kinds of new friends that they never had before. You may even find that some long-lost family members come poking around looking to “rekindle a relationship that never even existed in the first place…
Money can bring out the worst in people, that’s why the fewer people you inform about your windfall, the better your life will be. Everyone will be looking for a handout, and that will leave you with one of two lousy outcomes:
- Either you will meet every request – until your windfall is gone, or
- You will alienate a lot of people who think that your windfall is something that needs to be shared.
You can avoid that whole mess by keeping your mouth shut about your new-found wealth.
2. Pay off Any “Bad” Debt You Have
Most debt falls under varying degrees of bad debt, so a case can be made for paying off all of your debt once and for all. But that’s far too general, and it ignores the benefits that some debts provide.
That said, I recommend this debt-payoff pecking order:
- Loans from family and friends. This is more about personal responsibility than it is about financial sense, if only because people often forget they even have these loans. But if you do, now is your chance to pay them off, and secure/protect your relationships. Some things are more important than money, and this is certainly one of them.
- Credit cards and other unsecured debts. Pay them off. That includes a home equity line of credit (HELOC) on your house. HELOCs aren’t virtuous – they’re just gigantic credit cards secured by your home. No further discussion is necessary.
- Student loans. The only way to make these go away is to pay them off, so get to it. Even if you have a low interest rate, these are just big, fat unsecured debts, and for that reason you need to make them history in your life. This is even more true if you had a parent cosign because you couldn’t get a a student loan without cosigner. You’ll feel worse than awful if you somehow blow your half-million dollar stash before paying these off.
- Car Loans – Maybe. If you use your vehicle for business and it’s a tax write off, or if you’re within two years of paying it off anyway, a case could be made for keeping it open. Otherwise, pay it off.
- Your Mortgage – An even bigger Maybe. Since a house is a very LONG term asset, a mortgage actually makes sense, particularly if you’re getting a generous tax deduction in the process. However, if your mortgage is of the exotic variety – interest only, an ARM, a balloon, or a sub-prime – ditch it. You don’t need any of that uncertainty in your life.
3. Make a One-Time, Big-Time Charitable Contribution
To fully appreciate having big money, you first have to prove to yourself that it doesn’t own you. That means giving some of it away, and doing it as early as possible.
I’m a Christian, so for me that means making a tithe. That involves donating 10% of my increase to furthering the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you’re a Christian, I recommend doing the same.
It’s easy to pretend that this biblical directive doesn’t apply to windfalls, but it actually does. It’s all about “walking the walk of your faith walk. As it says in the Good Book,
“From everyone who has been given much, much will be required… – Luke 12:48 (NASB).
You’re rich now, so the giving bar has just been raised in your life.
If you’re not a Christian there are all kinds of needs all around. Pick your favorite charity, or group of charities, and be generous. This is your chance to make a difference. It’s about helping others when you’ve been richly blessed, and also about exercising your mastery over your money.
And I can tell you from experience that it’ll feel pretty darned good too…
4. Decide What Kind of Life You Want to Create
In previous posts on this topic, I recommended doing nothing as the first, best way to handle a large windfall. That will give you time to come to grips with your newfound fortune, and hopefully to make better decisions on what to do about with it. But I’ve refined that recommendation a bit, and think that it will be better if you spend that doing-nothing time thinking deeply about what kind of life you want to create for yourself and for your family.
Here’s the thing…a windfall of $50,000 can do a lot to improve your finances. Unfortunately, that kind of money probably won’t be a game-changer in your life. But $500,000 – I’m sure you get where I’m going with this, imagine the feeling of what to do with one million dollars! Wow!
This kind of windfall creates all kinds of new options. And let’s face it, that kind of money probably won’t come more than once in your life. For that reason, you should think seriously about how the money can best be used to create the kind of life that you may have only dreamed of up until this point.
Exactly how that will play out will be different for everyone, but here are some directions that are well worth pondering:
- Do you want to retire, as in right now?
- Do you have other assets or passive income sources that will make that possible? Or can you make it happen on $500,000 alone?
- Do you want to change careers, and do work that you totally enjoy, even if it doesn’t pay the kind of money you have been getting up to this point?
- Do you want to live in a radically different place, like on a farm, or even in a foreign country?
- Do you want to start a business?
- Is there a dream that you’ve always wanted to pursue, but couldn’t because of financial limitations?
Coming into $500,000 means that you can dare to dream. And you should, because that kind of money can make dreams come true. The choice you make will affect everything else you do with the money, which why this hurdle has to be crossed early.
5. Do Some Deep Soul-Searching About Your Risk Tolerance
This step is important because you will likely invest most of the windfall, and you have to decide in advance how much risk you are willing to live with in the process.
More than anything else, risk tolerance is about how you will feel and react to the loss of a significant portion of your wealth. It might be best to start with the assumption that you will invest 100% of your $500,000 in the stock market. Then ask yourself how you will feel if your portfolio falls by 10%, 20%, 50% or even more.
Given the performance of the stock market over the past 15 years, it’s not unreasonable to assume a loss of 50%. If that kind of loss really troubles you, then you will have to keep only a minority of your money in the stock market.
For example, if you would be okay with a 10% loss, you probably don’t want to invest any more than 20% of your money in stocks. This is because a 50% loss on a 20% stock position will translate into a 10% loss on your entire portfolio.
You need to address this issue before investing any of your windfall in risky investments.
6. Emphasize Safety of Principal
In #4 above I said that a $500,000 windfall is a game changer when it comes to creating a life for yourself. But it’s also a game changer when it comes to investing your money. If you are a new investor with say, $10,000 to invest, you might want to invest the money aggressively so that you can grow it. But when you have $500,000, you have a lot to lose.
That idea needs to dominate your investment strategy. That’s why safety of principal becomes more important as your wealth grows. For that reason, you should emphasize fixed income type assets.
Here are some that I really like:
- Set up a generous emergency fund. I’m talking about up to 24 months of living expenses here, so that no matter what happens you’ll be covered in the short-run. You can earn some decent rates of return with either high-yield money market funds or certificates of deposit with online banks such as Capital One, Synchrony, or CIT Bank.
- Peer-to-Peer (P2) Lending. These are online lending platforms where you act as a direct lender to individual borrowers. As a direct lender, you earn interest rates on your money that far exceed anything you can get with a bank investment. This is an investment activity that I myself have been involved in since 2008. I’ve been averaging something on the order of 9% per year. Not only is that much better than what you can get at a bank, but it competes with long-term rates of return on stocks. Only P2P investments are a lot less volatile than stocks.
Two of the best P2P lenders are Lending Club and Prosper, and you should consider splitting your P2P allocation about equally between the two.
You certainly don’t want to put your entire fixed income allocation into P2P lending, but having a large share of in these alternative investments can really improve your overall rate of return.
- Bonds. With interest rates being as low as they are, you have to get a bit creative here. I would favor tax-free municipal bonds, since the tax savings provides a higher net yield. I would also hold short- to intermediate-corporate bonds, and maybe even some mortgage-backed securities and convertible bonds. Bonds should make up at least half of your fixed income portfolio allocation. Yes, they’re incredibly boring, but are also fairly safe, and safety of principal has to become one of your new investment guidelines.
Buying individual bonds is not only time-consuming, but can also be expensive. For that reason, your bond holdings should be held through either mutual funds or exchange traded funds that specialize in each bond category.
What percentage of your portfolio should be invested in fixed income type assets? To my thinking, as much as possible!
But even if you think of yourself as an aggressive investor, you should still have at least 50% invested in fixed income assets. People invest aggressively to get $500,000; now that you have it, your strategy needs to change completely.
7. Invest in Yourself
Somewhere in the middle of all that investment allocating, you should be prepared to invest some money in yourself. That should happen sometime after you set up your fixed income allocation, but definitely before you start investing in risk assets, like stocks.
Investing in yourself is an opportunity to both improve the quality of your life and to increase your income and net worth in very tangible ways. You need to take this step very seriously.
What exactly do I mean by “invest in yourself? On the financial/career side, it could mean any of the following:
- Investing in a new business venture
- Investing in your current business (new equipment, marketing campaigns, product lines, etc.)
- Creating passive income streams, like rental real estate or silent partner business arrangements
- Acquiring or improving critical business or job skills
- Improving/increasing your education
- Taking investment courses, or attending investment seminars
Any of these can improve your income in the future, which is exactly what a good investment is supposed to do.
On the personal side, you may want to invest in opportunities for better health, such as exercise or weight loss programs. You may also want to spend some in areas that will help to improve the quality of your life.
For example, maybe you have always wanted to learn how to play a musical instrument or master a foreign language, but because you were so busy earning a living, you just didn’t have the time or the money. Now you do, so have at it.
8. Add Risk Investments in Measured Steps
I just want to re-emphasize that this is an investment area where you don’t need to get crazy. If you already have at least $500,000, you’re no longer a small investor, and you shouldn’t be thinking like one.
Still, you will have to build growth into your portfolio, if only to make sure that it keeps pace with inflation. That’s what stocks can do, at least in the long run. But don’t overdo it! Keep your stock allocation to something well below 50% of your total portfolio. That will provide you with the growth that you need, but without exposing you to a ridiculous level of risk.
That said, here are some of the possibilities:
Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Unless you’re a successful and seasoned investor, you’ll probably prefer funds over individual stocks. That will eliminate the need to worry about security analysis, buying and selling, and re-balancing. I like actively traded mutual funds, because they offer an opportunity to beat the market rather than just keeping up with it.
But if you are content just to keep up, then you might want to favor index-based ETFs. You’ll probably want to spread your mutual fund allocations across at least 10 different funds, particularly the ones that are actively managed. That will keep you moving forward in case one or two of the fund managers starts to lose their investment touch.
Robo Advisors. If you prefer a totally hands-off approach to investing in stocks (or even bonds) you can always punt and go with a robo advisor. These are online investment platforms that provide professional investment management at extremely low fees.
For example, Betterment charges only 0.15% of your portfolio to manage an account of at least $100,000. They determine your risk tolerance, allocate your money between about a dozen stock and bond ETFs, rebalance your account regularly, and even perform tax-loss harvesting to minimize your capital gains tax liability. That’s a whole lot of value at very low cost. Learn more about them at our Betterment Investing Review!
Individual Stocks. Even if you know little about investing in stocks, you may want to try your hand at it anyway. After all, you may find that you have a hidden investment talent. Just understand that investing in individual stocks is much more risky than the alternatives. For that reason, you should keep only a very small percentage of your portfolio in individual stocks, thoroughly research any stocks you buy, and maintain a trading account with a low-cost brokerage firm.
Take a close look at firms such as E*Trade, Ally Invest, and TD Ameritrade. Not only do they have low (or NO) fees, but they also have the widest investment selection available. See more about our favorite brokerage in these reviews:
AssetLock. This isn’t a stock investment, but rather an asset protection software package. AssetLock lowers your investment risk by creating what they call the AssetLock Value. They use proprietary software to alert your financial advisor to contact you in the event of adverse market conditions. This will enable you to get out of certain investments before losses reached the point of no return.
I’m actually an AssetLock approved advisor, not so much because I make money on the program, but because I love the product. People are usually much better at buying into investment positions than they are at selling them. AssetLock helps with this surprisingly difficult process, and keeps you from losing money at the worst possible times.
The Financial Success Blueprint. This is my own comprehensive retirement plan review, that will help you stay on top of your retirement investing. With this program, I can offer you the following:
- A specific strategy for retiring when you want and how you want – even if you don’t think it’s possible.
- The special technique I use to help clients visualize what their ideal retirement actually looks like.
- An easy way to organize all of your investments into a logical framework so you can really see what’s going on.
There’s a lot more that we can do with the Blueprint. If you like what you’re reading in this article, check out The Financial Success Blueprint and see all that it has to offer you.
9. Spend a Little on a Few Things that You REALLY Want
This is where we come to the fun part of getting a windfall. But take this step seriously – coming into a windfall should be fun!
If you have been driving an old clunker for the past couple of years, now would be a good time to break the bank and upgrade your ride. If there is a dream vacation that you have been wanting to take, you have the money so make it happen. Spending a small amount of money on a few luxuries can help you to avoid going into a full-blown consumption frenzy later on.
Naturally, you don’t want to get carried away with this step. I’ve had clients who come into very large inheritances, only to blow most of the money on new houses, new cars, boats, and high living. That’s not a mistake that you want to make! It could very well set you up for a lifestyle that you will not be able to afford in just a few years.
So there you have it – a nine step strategy to preserve and grow your capital, improve your life, and even have a little bit of fun!
I am 53. Currently no debt. 26 year old who is on her own but who I help slong the way. House is paid for. Will keep the house unless my father needs it for income for his health. He’s 84. I live with him. House willed to me. I’m a teacher but I began late and will only make it to 20 years if I work 4 more years, 25 if I work 9 more years. I am physically exhausted and burnt out from the profession. 30 years is the maximum for teacher retirement. No way I can teach 14 more years, so I will be lucky to get fourty percent of my now 60k year salary which could increase to 70k. I will receive that monet at age 60 if I live to see it. My social security will be cut in half because my employer no longer pays into it, so if I am lucky I will get 500 month. And you know the rules with age pertaining to when you take social security benefits. In addition to that I have 600k in the bank that I have wasted money on my whole life because I am so conservative, don’t know how I should invest, and I don’t trust people. I am exhausted and burnt out and want to work to live and not live to work. My question is, if I can make it to 60 and work 6 or 7 more years, how can I live off 500k by investing it, and how should I invest it? I would appreciate any advice you can give. Thank you.
Hi Keesha – $600k is a lot of money, and too much to be sitting in the bank collecting low interest. If you invest the money adequately you should be able to retire at 60, or thereabouts. I’d sit down with a financial advisor, one who comes with personal recommendations. There’s no way to tell you how to invest without knowing all your financial details, so you’ll have to share those with that person, and be ready to accept his or her recommendations.
I am coming into a large payoff. Why don’t you mention real estate investing?
Hi JPW – It’s really an investment category all its own. It’s also more “hands on” than most people are comfortable with. Real estate investing in individual properties is part investment, part business, so it’s not as simple or easy as most think.
Hi there.
I just came into $500K. I want to know the best way to invest it and maximize my return.
Please help!
Hi Vince – If you have no idea whatsoever, you really need to sit down with a qualified financial advisor. You need to determine your goals, requirements and risk tolerance. It isn’t a question that can be answered by a blog comment. The answer is different for everyone based on personal considerations. The tips in the article are just suggestions, but if you don’t know for sure, you need direct advice.
I have a little bit of a different question. I’m thinking about selling my house and not buying a new one but renting for a while instead and buying a house later. After commission, taxes, etc my profit will be 363k. My question is in the tithe, do I tithe 10% of that? I want clear about tithing from the “increase.” Thanks
Hi Evelyn – You need to pray about that, and read the Bible verses that pertain to the tithe. But the Bible does say that the tithe is to be based on your increase. That comes from a lot of different sources, not just wages and salary. (In biblical times, the “earnings” were often crops, livestock or fish, so it’s actually a lot more general.)
I’d be careful about selling the house unless you have definite plans for the money. You don’t want to do anything that will risk losing that kind of money, especially since it probably took a lot of years to build it up.
I just came into 2 checks 1for 140k and another for 570k. I never really invested before and always lived well day to day working. I am really lost having this money cause I feel I will blow it making bad decisions. Any advice
Cm
Hi Dd – You’ll want to invest the money in a diversified portfolio. Since you are new to investing, you could try using a robo advisor, like Betterment or Wealthfront. If you want more personal attention, you could also try using a full-service broker. They will appoint an investment advisor who will manage your investments for you though the management fee will be higher.
My daughter has a student loan of about $50,000. I inherited an annuity. It’s slightly less than $300,000. I’m a senior pensioners, plus reasonable soc.sec. Payment, so I’m not destitute; by no means well off. Would you advise paying off her student loan or leaving it as her inheritance
Hi Dorothy – It depends on how well you’d be without the 50k. Since it’s inherited, you’ve obviously been living without it, so giving it to your daughter now could really help improve her financial situation. You can parcel it out to her over 3-4 years if you aren’t sure. Just make sure that giving her the money now won’t leave you short-handed. One of the best things you can do for your daughter is to not be a burden to her. If paying off her loan will force you to depend on her financially, you may be replacing one obligation with another. But that’s an attempt to look at both sides of the question.
Great article Mr. Rose. Outline, structure, and finish. Good info and easy to understand. Thank you.
Jeff:
Why do you not recommend annuities as good, stable investments? Is it because they do not represent good, stable investments?
Thanks!!
Bob
Hi Robert – First, annuities are complicated investments. Second, some of them have provisions that don’t work to the investor’s benefit. Third, they generally charge very high fees. Fourth, some of the people who sell them are less than reputable (they don’t fully disclose what the annuity involves or charges). Fifth, annuities aren’t right for everyone.
That said, there are some good annuities, that when properly structured can do exactly what investors want them to do. Those are the good kind, and they’re out there too, at least for the right kind of investor. They certainly aren’t an investment for the average person.
Hi, Im 54 year and my wife is 52 we both not working , apllied to ssdi due to physical ilness, i have over half a million on 401k two rental properties paid for and a good size of equity in my own home, we need 6k net as monthly income to support our monthly expenses, without income from working , how can we get to that point, I was thinking in selling our property and use equity to put down in several properties, to live in one and rent the others adding to our rental income portofolio, and also also rollover our 401k to a roth ira or something similar where we can get the interest paid to us monthly( dont know if its possible), any help on this issue would be apreciated.
Hi Joaovitor – You’ve got a pretty involved financial profile, so I think it would be good for you to sit down with a financial advisor and consider your options. Without knowing you personally, I’d be hesitant to provide direct advice. Plus you’ve got some variables to consider, like how much will SSDI be, and how much rental income can you receive on the rental properties. You may also need ongoing advice as your situation develops. But overall I think you’re in a good position to get the income you need, based on what you’ve written here.
i am very surprised,or i missed, max out retirement accounts!! fully fund you IRA’S, if you continue to work, max the 401k’s. take advantage of every pre-tax investment you can.
I have $500,000, as I sold my house and am renting for one year. In that year, the plan is to buy a house, so I’ll need the money any time. What investment would work for me? I’m 76 yo, pensioner, and dumb about investment. I must buy in a year, or lose my pension. My super is zero.
Hi Shelagh – Since you must buy a house within a year, and risk losing your pension if you don’t, then you can’t take chances with the money. Have it on deposit with a local bank, invested in money markets funds or very short term certificates of deposit. Your biggest concern is protecting the principal value of the money, not earning a large return on it.
With $500,000, you’ll exceed the $250,000 FDIC insurance limit, so you should split the money evenly between at least two banks that way you’ll be covered.
Hope that advice helps!
Right Cat! Hahah. I have no problem knowing what to do with $500k. It would be gone tomorrow. $124k to my student loan debt, a couple hundred in retirement, a house, and some investing. It would go fast.
Right now our student loan balance is about $500,000 between the two of us since hubs went to med school and I got a graduate degree. If we got an inheritance of that size we’d probably put most of it toward paying off those student loans.
Great advice and it’s laid out very well. No wonder you are so successful, I’m sure your clients appreciate your approach. One thing I would do if I were in this situation is automatically pay down the mortgage. My reasoning for this is that it increases your cash flow by your mortgage amount. This, in turn can lead to other opportunities. Say you’re unhappy in your job and want to make a career switch, but you would have to start off at a lower salary. With a binding mortgage payment, this might be out of the question, but if you suddenly don’t have to make that payment, you now have the flexibility to consider that leap.