Jun 5, 2026
Money makes the world go ‘round, so what happens if some surprise cash comes your way? According to a study from financial services company Empower, which surveyed 1,011 Americans in early March 2026, 65% of Americans said they’d save or invest any money they’d receive from a financial windfall. Another 52% said they’d pay off debt, and 37% indicated they’d get immediate financial relief by using it to pay their bills.
Okay, so that’s what people say they would do with their winnings. But what should people be doing with the money?
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Let’s pretend that Arya just turned 30 and her aunt gave her a $10,000 birthday present to celebrate the milestone. Arya has to figure out what to do with all that cash, and she’s just not sure about the best approach.
Here’s what financial experts recommend.
Get rid of expensive debts
It may seem like the obvious solution, but dealing with burdensome debt is probably the best thing to do with a $10,000 windfall if you owe money.
“My first recommendation would be to pay off or make a significant dent in high-interest debt, particularly credit card balances. Earning 4% or 5% in a savings account is nice, but eliminating debt with interest rates in the teens or even higher often provides a much greater financial benefit,” Mary Ware, senior wealth advisor and managing partner at Carnegie Private Wealth in Charlotte, North Carolina, told Moneywise.
With the average credit card interest rate at 21% as of February 2026, few investments are going to beat the ROI you get from paying off credit card debt.
“Lingering credit card balances can quickly compound against us,” Clifford C. Cornell, financial advisor at Bone Fide Wealth, LLC, told Moneywise. “A windfall of this nature could be exactly what someone needs to level the playing field.”
If Arya had any debt besides a mortgage and student loans, she should seriously consider using that $10K in unexpected cash to pay it off ASAP. Fortunately, she’s debt-free in this example, so doesn’t have to use her windfall this way.
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Save for emergencies
Since Arya isn’t in debt, bulking up her emergency fund would generally be the next best place for her $10,000 to go. “I’d encourage people to ensure they have at least three to nine months’ worth of living expenses set aside as their cash reserve,” Cornell told Moneywise.
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While it’s an older study, published back in October 2015, Pew Research found 60% of households had experienced a financial emergency over the previous year. Being prepared for these unexpected expenses prevents debt and provides peace of mind.
“Many people’s financial lives were devastated by the pandemic,” Robert R. Johnson, a professor of finance at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business, told Moneywise. “To those who were unaffected, the pandemic should serve as a lesson to get their financial house in order. There may be another catastrophic event in the future.”
Arya actually already has an emergency fund, though, so she’s in good shape in this regard.
Invest the money
Since Arya’s already got her emergency fund in place, experts say her next step is to invest with her newfound $10K, either for retirement or for other goals.
“If you are behind on retirement savings, I would consider putting money away for retirement,” Domenick D’Andrea, founder of DanDarah Wealth Management, told Moneywise.
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“Brokerage accounts, Roth IRAs, HSA, 401(k)s are all great places to look,” says Cornell. The right account depends on whether you want to save for retirement, healthcare, or a short-term need.
Since Arya does want to invest some of the money, some possible assets she could buy include:
- ETFs tracking the S&P 500, which are often a good option since they have low fees, and the S&P 500 has pretty consistently produced 10% average annual returns over the long term.
- Energy stocks, which have historically served as a hedge against inflation and geopolitical instability. Russ Koesterich, portfolio manager, BlackRock Global Allocation Fund, told Bloomberg: “While traditional hedges have not worked, energy stocks have held up much better. Since the start of the war, energy stocks have risen nominally, providing much-needed portfolio diversification.”
- Magnificent Seven stocks, which is the name given to seven major tech companies: Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Meta (Facebook), Nvidia, and Tesla. Marta Norton, chief investment officer for the Americas at Morningstar Wealth, recommended the Mag 7 stocks to get on the AI bandwagon. “When some of these Mag 7 stocks are cheap, add to them, and when they are expensive, pull your exposure down,” she told Bloomberg.
Arya can explore these investment options to see which are a good fit with her other assets.
Read More: Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it
Spend it on something fun
Finally, once Arya has all of the essentials covered, the $10,000 windfall could be used for something she may simply enjoy.
“If you have covered all of these answers, then maybe go on a nice vacation,” D’Andrea told Moneywise. While it may seem surprising for a financial expert to spend money on something frivolous, there’s nothing wrong with using a windfall to enjoy life a bit. That’s especially true if you are in good financial shape and tend to be pretty responsible with your money.
In fact, financial experts interviewed by Bloomberg suggested that if you want to blow the money, you could spring for a personal trainer or “buy a Mercedes-Benz CLK Cabriolet from the early 2000s.”
Arya may enjoy a cute little car to drive around in, or a personal trainer to get healthy, and since she’s free of high-interest debt, ready for emergencies, and planning to invest some of the cash, there’s nothing wrong with her using the money to treat herself to a splurge.
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Christy Bieber has 15 years of experience as a personal finance and legal writer. She has written for many publications including Forbes, Kilplinger, CNN, WSJ, Credit Karma, Insurify and more.
