For example (and I use this only as an example; I'm not an investment advisor but have done well using my own approach over the years):
$10,000 in a short-term savings account or money market fund.
$10,000 in a U.S. government bond fund.
$10,000 in a tax-exempt municipal bond fund.
$10,000 in a foreign bond fund.
$10,000 in an S&P 500 index fund.
$10,000 in a moderately aggressive U.S. stock fund.
$10,000 in a very aggressive U.S. stock fund.
$10,000 in a foreign stock fund.
$10,000 in a gold or other precious metals fund.
$10,000 in a real estate investment trust.
If you can afford to invest an additional $1,000 per month, add $100 every month to each of these. Some will do well, others will not, but over time this should give you some growth while at the same time providing some protection by spreading your money out among many different types of investments. At the end of every year, you should sit down and see how each investment performed and move money from one to the other to re-balance your investments if you think it's necessary.
I also need to know their debts and life insurance policies. There is no need to invest in 5% equity dividends and 3% corp/muni bonds if they have $20k credit card debt at 10%, 2 car loans at 4% worth 20k, and less than 50 % equity in their home.
. My professional advice is to spend the first $500-1000 on lunch with a CPA/ atty team. Pay off all debts costing over 6%, and NEVER give or take investment advice off the Internet. There is a reason we are registered with MSRB/SEC/FINRA. If this freeper actually took specific advice and lost any amount, he'd probably very easily find an atty to sue for loss.