Assume the person inheriting the money is a typical CB member with all of the above options.

This is a no brainer for me. As my CCs carry the highest interest rate burden, I'll take the immediate investment return of 13% AFTER TAXES (my current balance weighted average APR) any day.

In certain circumstances, though, I MIGHT look at how much cash flow would be freed up by paying off a car loan and accounting for the interest rate expense of letting the CC balances stand.

I'd put all 10k on one spin of the roulette table in Vegas

Honestly this is a tough one to call, because "average" is pretty hard to judge. Personally, I voted for the car loan because it's often a fairly hefty monthly expense, and it frees up more money in the budget to be used on the other things. But given a real-life situation, the actual details might change that choice. For instance, in my personal life, my car is paid for already, so I would do other things ... probably make my student loans go bye-bye.

"assuming" "typical" is the problem with this poll. IT DEPENDS is the only reasonable answer.

My Roth IRA is maxed; my 457 is maxed; my Emergency Fund is topped off; I have had my eye on a commodities fund that requires a $10K minimum investment. That is where I would put that windfall.

Michael