You could put it in multiple banks so you are protected by FDIC in each one. No one has ever lost FDIC insured money. If things get bad enough that the FDIC seriously does go down, clearly, it is the end of the US economy anyway, and you have bigger things to worry about than just your money, like erecting barricades to ward of the hordes of zombies.
Anyway, I would probably do some investment with my money along your lines (not redoing my college education or anything like that though). Even though it is more money than I could foresee uses for, it would just feel wasteful to keep it in a savings account.
Also, here's a pro-tip: most financial managers know that they can earn an impressive yield by just betting the market, and that's generally what they do, besides taking a little off the top. You may as well skip the middle man and just bet the market. Is there a secret to the market out there? Well, Warren Buffet seems pretty good at it - but clearly, he is not an easy person to model. Otherwise, he wouldn't be rich. Mostly, it is just randomness that trends upwards, and there is very little real skill involved. There is no worse way to approach the market than to do so as a gambler approaches dice. Of course, since in this case things tend to trend upward, you will probably make money in the long run, but it is probably not because those dice were hot.
