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> My advice is do nothing with it, and start reading books about finance, investing, and money management. I see where you are coming from, but if you step bac

by owaty 8y ago

> My advice is do nothing with it, and start reading books about finance, investing, and money management. I see where you are coming from, but if you step back for a second, this just sounds bizarre. OP now has more money than they need or ever have had, and instead of relaxing and finally caring about something other than money, you suggest they actually start caring more about money.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
>you suggest they actually start caring more about money. This is how the rich stay rich. You can't just spend (I mean, you can if you're really disciplined and treat it like a retirement income). When you've got a lot of money you need to park your money somewhere it appreciates and then skim off some of the appreciated amount when you want to use it.
benburleson 8y ago
Yeah, try to ignore the fact that it's money; imagine it's some other asset the person wants to keep, like 100 ponies. You would definitely suggest reading up on how to successfully keep ponies, right?
- tekkk 8y ago
  They are not closely similar. Ponies will die if you dont know how to handle them, money while being gobbled away by inflation will more or less hold its value. It's a smart thing to do learn money-management at any point of your life, even more with a sudden windfall like this. The OP seems like a straightforward guy who isnt really interested in money hence this post. So it's up to him what kind of impact he'd like to have to the world around him. If you really get down to it there's no wrong or right way to proceed. To maintain that wealth he should definitely learn how to manage it. To spend that money on things he deems important he probably doesnt need to learn much money-management. Wisest thing in my mind, and what others have suggested, is to wait and ponder what he really wants to do in life. Maybe read some money-management books, sure. To see if it's any interest to him.
  - rsync 8y ago
    "... money while being gobbled away by inflation will more or less hold its value." This is a false statement. In fact, it is false ipso facto.
    - tekkk 8y ago
      It's quite silly to say something is false without providing a logical reasoning. And what is false about that statement, that it will absolutely not hold its value? Sure, but it wasn't my main point.
  - C1sc0cat 8y ago
    Not always plenty of rich Boxers, Sports stars have lost vast amounts of money and ended up destitute.
- jamesb93 8y ago
  Ponies are not a fungible currency that underpins almost all of our day-to-day lives.
- Majestic121 8y ago
  If he's into ponies, yes, but most people don't care and would rather do something else. In this case, selling the ponies and do something they like with the money. Or selling some ponies, and pay someone to take care of the rest and make them reproduce/sell them, so that you can live with the pony-benefits. It might not be optimal pony-wise, but it definitely makes more sense life-wise.
- maxerickson 8y ago
  That's for the part where they need a hobby.
WalterBright 8y ago
Thinking you have more money than you'll ever need is the first step to losing it all.
- beamatronic 8y ago
  Exactly. If it were me, managing that money would become my full time job! Might even consider raising the kids to run the “family business”, they could become financial professionals as a career.
arbol 8y ago
This is nuts. They should just take time to pursue things that actually interest them and continue living as they were. The only way you'd spend all this money is if you started doing crazy things like buying speed boats and other such nonsense.
- SllX 8y ago
  A fool and his money are soon parted, and whilst OP does not sound like a fool, he came to this forum for help so he would not act foolish. To wit, this is probably the wrong forum if people are going to respond as you did, Sir, so he is probably better off over on Bogleheads.
  - C1sc0cat 8y ago
    I suspect the ratio of older HN people who have had experience of windfalls is higher than on boggleheads. Though my personal game plan was take one of they founders of nominet worth well over 100m at one point) out for lunch in the best restaurant in Brighton and ask hime what he would have done differently :-) Or do a cheeky letter to one of the Rosthchild's I met at fast Tuesday years ago
- leetcrew 8y ago
  with a wise investment strategy, the guy can spend about $300k per year without losing money in the long term. that's a lot of money, but it's not so much that you can't easily overspend if you're not careful and/or start "seeing green". if his kids end up going to top schools for college, that'll be ~$150k per year right there.
  - arbol 8y ago
    Even if OP spends 1M on college fees ( I forgot how expensive it is in the US ), I would imagine that they'll still be very comfortable for a long time. Plus, you need to factor in their future earnings. When people speak of retirement, they really mean just doing something else they're interested in. The likelihood of these activities generating income, at some stage, is substantial. Also why would anyone need to spend 300k in a year? If you own your house, there's not much to spend other than utilities, food and a couple of holidays... Or am I missing something?
pjc50 8y ago
It's more like homeownership. It doesn't need to become your life, but you do need to be aware of the risks and start thinking about maintenance.
beamatronic 8y ago
I diagree with you, in a sense this is now a huge responsibility, especially if you see this windfall as the start of a family legacy, something to be rolled forward for all time. I would read about legacies. How did the Bushes, Kennedy’s, etc do it ?
nkohari 8y ago
Unfortunately, that's what happens when you get a windfall. It happened to my wife and I when we sold our company. It's a fantastic "problem" to have, but it takes some time to get comfortable. This is especially true in OP's case, when they could feasibly retire immediately.

by owaty 8y ago

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

>you suggest they actually start caring more about money. This is how the rich stay rich. You can't just spend (I mean, you can if you're really disciplined and treat it like a retirement income). When you've got a lot of money you need to park your money somewhere it appreciates and then skim off some of the appreciated amount when you want to use it.

benburleson 8y ago

Yeah, try to ignore the fact that it's money; imagine it's some other asset the person wants to keep, like 100 ponies. You would definitely suggest reading up on how to successfully keep ponies, right?

tekkk 8y ago
They are not closely similar. Ponies will die if you dont know how to handle them, money while being gobbled away by inflation will more or less hold its value. It's a smart thing to do learn money-management at any point of your life, even more with a sudden windfall like this. The OP seems like a straightforward guy who isnt really interested in money hence this post. So it's up to him what kind of impact he'd like to have to the world around him. If you really get down to it there's no wrong or right way to proceed. To maintain that wealth he should definitely learn how to manage it. To spend that money on things he deems important he probably doesnt need to learn much money-management. Wisest thing in my mind, and what others have suggested, is to wait and ponder what he really wants to do in life. Maybe read some money-management books, sure. To see if it's any interest to him.
- rsync 8y ago
  "... money while being gobbled away by inflation will more or less hold its value." This is a false statement. In fact, it is false ipso facto.
  - tekkk 8y ago
    It's quite silly to say something is false without providing a logical reasoning. And what is false about that statement, that it will absolutely not hold its value? Sure, but it wasn't my main point.
- C1sc0cat 8y ago
  Not always plenty of rich Boxers, Sports stars have lost vast amounts of money and ended up destitute.
jamesb93 8y ago
Ponies are not a fungible currency that underpins almost all of our day-to-day lives.
Majestic121 8y ago
If he's into ponies, yes, but most people don't care and would rather do something else. In this case, selling the ponies and do something they like with the money. Or selling some ponies, and pay someone to take care of the rest and make them reproduce/sell them, so that you can live with the pony-benefits. It might not be optimal pony-wise, but it definitely makes more sense life-wise.
maxerickson 8y ago
That's for the part where they need a hobby.

WalterBright 8y ago

Thinking you have more money than you'll ever need is the first step to losing it all.

beamatronic 8y ago
Exactly. If it were me, managing that money would become my full time job! Might even consider raising the kids to run the “family business”, they could become financial professionals as a career.

arbol 8y ago

This is nuts. They should just take time to pursue things that actually interest them and continue living as they were. The only way you'd spend all this money is if you started doing crazy things like buying speed boats and other such nonsense.

SllX 8y ago
A fool and his money are soon parted, and whilst OP does not sound like a fool, he came to this forum for help so he would not act foolish. To wit, this is probably the wrong forum if people are going to respond as you did, Sir, so he is probably better off over on Bogleheads.
- C1sc0cat 8y ago
  I suspect the ratio of older HN people who have had experience of windfalls is higher than on boggleheads. Though my personal game plan was take one of they founders of nominet worth well over 100m at one point) out for lunch in the best restaurant in Brighton and ask hime what he would have done differently :-) Or do a cheeky letter to one of the Rosthchild's I met at fast Tuesday years ago
leetcrew 8y ago
with a wise investment strategy, the guy can spend about $300k per year without losing money in the long term. that's a lot of money, but it's not so much that you can't easily overspend if you're not careful and/or start "seeing green". if his kids end up going to top schools for college, that'll be ~$150k per year right there.
- arbol 8y ago
  Even if OP spends 1M on college fees ( I forgot how expensive it is in the US ), I would imagine that they'll still be very comfortable for a long time. Plus, you need to factor in their future earnings. When people speak of retirement, they really mean just doing something else they're interested in. The likelihood of these activities generating income, at some stage, is substantial. Also why would anyone need to spend 300k in a year? If you own your house, there's not much to spend other than utilities, food and a couple of holidays... Or am I missing something?

pjc50 8y ago

It's more like homeownership. It doesn't need to become your life, but you do need to be aware of the risks and start thinking about maintenance.

beamatronic 8y ago

I diagree with you, in a sense this is now a huge responsibility, especially if you see this windfall as the start of a family legacy, something to be rolled forward for all time. I would read about legacies. How did the Bushes, Kennedy’s, etc do it ?

nkohari 8y ago

Unfortunately, that's what happens when you get a windfall. It happened to my wife and I when we sold our company. It's a fantastic "problem" to have, but it takes some time to get comfortable. This is especially true in OP's case, when they could feasibly retire immediately.