Help me please! I know nothing of finance.

[Andrew Victor Abrahamson]

First of all, thanks to anyone who responds. This may sound weird but it's not a joke.
I've lived most of my 56 years in the Amazon jungle (Brazil) helping my parents in missionary work. So I don't have or know about the normal things like salaries, retirement, savings, investments etc.

Now my parents are passed away, and I've managed to sell a piece of the land they left as inheritance and I have US$35,000 in brazilian currency. I have a ticket back to the US next month (August). I plan to get a cheap car, a place to stay, then look for work. I have no ideas beyond that.

Would anyone please give me some direction, hints, suggestions? As I said I know nothing really about money. I don't know if I should leave it here in the bank or transfer to a US bank, buy Bitcoin, see an advisor....HELP!?

[JD Martin]

How do you know about the internet if you've been in the jungle for the last 56 years? 

OK, curiosity aside, man are you behind the eight ball here. Do you mean you have $35k Brazilian reals, or $35k in US dollars after the exchange rate which looks to be about 5 1/2 reals for every dollar? If it's the latter you better think about walking and couch surfing and finding a job first. 

First thing you should do is find work. Even before you find a permanent place to stay - find a shelter that you can use their address as your home address if you have to. You need income coming in, pronto. What are you good at? Right now there are labor shortages in everything in the US. 56 is pretty old to start an entry-level job but it's what you got, so you go from there. Unless you think you have some missionary skills that will translate to a career. Make sure whatever job you find, you can walk to, because used car prices right now are obscene and between buying a car and paying to keep it up you'll go through your inheritance pretty quick.

Once the job is out of the way, you need to find as cheap a digs as you can find. A van that you could live out of would be perfect, as it would give you transportation and housing. If you can find a mini rv with a bathroom and shower, even better, then find a camp spot or someone's driveway that you can park it in for electricity access. 

With all your down time you should read "Your Money or Your Life" by Vicky Robin/Joe Dominguez, and "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas Stanley. You should also start listening to the following: BP Money Podcast, Choose FI Podcast, Afford Anything Podcast, Stacking Benjamins Podcast, Side Hustle Podcast. 

I would move all your money to the US. I wouldn't trust leaving anything overseas in a country that's still nominally 3rd world. Don't buy bitcoin or anything else right now. You need an emergency fund so stick it all in an FDIC insured bank.