How to invest a small guaranteed monthly income?

Question

I’m receiving a small guaranteed tax-free income of $260 (U.S. Dollars) a month for the rest of my life.

The guaranteed income will go up at least 1.67% annually if not more.

I’m feeling a bit guilty throwing away this money every month for the past 5-years. How should I invest this guaranteed monthly income?

A couple of things to note:

1) I do decent in regards to income, I’m somewhere in the top 11-15% of income earners, depending if you look at individual or household.

2) I'm in my mid-30's. Annual physicals say I'm 100% healthy and fit, so hopefully I'll be collecting this money for a while and if I do pass-away my family would get 3x more a month, so maybe dying is the best way to maximize the results, but I'm not purposely pursuing that option...LOL.

3) Other than my $1400 mortgage, I have no other debt (no credit-card, no car payment, no student loans, nada, zero, zip).

4) I already invest a good amount in my 401k.

5) Please don't say donate to charity!

6) If Social Security is around by the time I retire I will still be able to collect and it will not affect my Social Security checks.

7) The monthly income does not have any restrictions. Meaning, I can work, start a business, etc.

8) Married with children.

Answer 1

In my opinion, you can't save too much for retirement. An extra $3120/yr invested at 8% for 30 years would give you $353K more at retirement.

If your "good amount in my 401k" is a hint that you don't want us to go in that direction, then how about saving for the child's college education? 15 years' savings, again at 8% will return $85K, which feels like a low number even in today's dollars, 15 years of college inflation and it won't be much at all.

Not sure why there's guilt around spending it. If one has no debt, good retirement savings level, and no pressing need to save for something else, enjoying one's money is an earned reward.

Even so, if you want a riskless 'investment' just prepay the mortgage. You'll see an effective return of the mortgage rate, 4%(?) or so, vs the .001% banks are paying. Of course, this creates a monthly windfall once the mortgage is paid off, but it buys you time to make this ultimate decision.

In the end, I'd respond that similar to Who can truly afford luxury cars?, one should produce a budget. I don't mean a set of constraints to limit spending in certain categories, but rather, a look back at where the money went last year and even the year before that. What will emerge are the things that are normal, the utility bills, tax bill, mortgage, etc, as well as the discretionary spending. If all your current saving is on track, the investment may be in experiences, not financial products.