In windfall cases, people tend to change their lives - which ultimately is for the worse. Several people have said the right thing: do nothing. Keep working,

In windfall cases, people tend to change their lives - which ultimately is for the worse. Several people have said the right thing: do nothing. Keep working, but now spend time thinking about you and yours - rather than your career and the struggle. Invest the money temporarily in fixed-income returning vehicles; we're talking about TBills/Bonds/GICs (depends on your country). Remember, if you're post-tax, sitting on $8M, then an extremely conservative 2% means you're looking at $160K for the year you're learning and thinking. Yes, this isn't a good return, or even long-term. But you're ensuring that your money starts to work for you, while you work on it - all without having any pressure whatsoever. You absolutely should not make long-term decisions when you're in a short-term state.