I have a suspicion that this is not true... or at least is just for the purpose of bragging. But the replies at least could be interesting. Here's mine: At 21

I have a suspicion that this is not true... or at least is just for the purpose of bragging. But the replies at least could be interesting. Here's mine: At 21 I came into a pretty useful 6 figure sum, essentially through good luck and timing. At that age you're used to living on a shoe string (especially if a student like I was) and so that can seem an extraordinary amount of money. I'd say it's a pretty scary age to become affluent, you may have grown up in the last couple of years since leaving school but it hardly counts as worldly. I spent about £30,000 within a couple of months before I stopped and thought about it properly. So the first piece of advice is: avoid too much temptation! That can be hard and I still have trouble controlling impulse purchases (Amazon Prime is the worst invention ever :P my book buying budget is still about £300/month, and I've actually worked to get that down). As to what to do with the money; while plenty of HNers will be able to give you advice (hopefully from experience!) the other posters are right - you need to talk to a financial advisor. My take? Put it somewhere safe and take the interest - then just ignore it. If you want to take the $5M and do something with it (i.e. start a firm, pursue your dream) then do that. Otherwise I advise ignoring it and just carrying on with your career how you want - albeit slightly more comfortable/financially secure. In 5 years when you want a nice house the money is there and ready. etc etc. Certainly having money is going to change you; but I'd suggest it needn't change your life path too much. Don't let it derail what you want to do :) allow it to facilitate those things! This is pretty much what I have done and it sees to have worked. YMMV.