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- Maxed out insurance (home, car) - Set aside a large amount for taxes, invested it in US Treasury Bond (get an estimate of your taxes from an accountant) - G

- Maxed out insurance (home, car) - Set aside a large amount for taxes, invested it in US Treasury Bond (get an estimate of your taxes from an accountant) - Got an accountant - Read up on QSBS (this can save you a lot of money if you got stock when the company was small enough) - Got a last will and testament drafted and signed. Also asked our probate lawyer about stupid things people do with money, so as to avoid those mistakes. - Got a financial planner. Also asked about stupid things people do. (At your scale, probably ok to just do standard ETFs and bonds. Note that don't buy in all at once, diversify not just the investments but also by time, so you're not buying all into the stock market at once. This also gives you time to think and reflect about how you want to use your money and what legacy you want, while also getting some returns on investments) - Set up a donor advised fund (you can donate stock directly to one and get a big tax break) - Made a donation and got something cool named after two of my long time mentors - Read book Silver Spoon Kids on how to talk to one's children about money (our financial advisor gave this to us) - Read a lot about wealth and power in the United States, in particular sociologist and psychologist William Domhoff's "Who Rules America?" https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/wealth.html https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/wealth.html (I stumbled on this by accident, but found it a fascinating read) Time is on your side here, so don't rush into anything. I was really lucky to have a brother who already had high net worth, so he was able to give a lot of guidance and discussion of tradeoffs.

foobiekr 7y ago
Umbrella Policy if you live in California.
roenxi 7y ago
> Maxed out insurance (home, car) This isn't a problem I'm ever likely to deal with, but what was the thinking behind this one? I'd have thought >$1 mil in net worth is the time to cancel any insurance you have (maybe not health) on the basis that you can self insure now.
- shortandsweet 7y ago
  The point of insurance is to protect your wealth in an accident. You actually buy more insurance as your wealth increases, at least I do.
  - jsjw7sbw 7y ago
    In my opinion the point of insurance is protect your assets you can't afford to lose. Most people cant afford to risk losing their house so they have insurance. However, if you are wealthy enough and can afford losing it then it's statistically cheaper to not insure it since you are not giving a cut to the insurer.
    - koheripbal 7y ago
      People with wealth are targeted by scammers who file fraudulent claims against them. These fall under the liability portion of your insurance. It's not about the house or car, it's about that $10MM in your bank people want to go after by claiming that you tripped them and they broke their back.
- Thriptic 7y ago
  Definitely not. You want to insure against catastrophes as they can wipe out all your assets. This includes regular insurance (home, auto, health) and personal liability insurance AKA umbrella up to the value of your assets. If you hurt someone, the victim could seek large damages if they realize you are wealthy. Liability insurance can protect you against that.
  - roenxi 7y ago
    But you can afford to replace your assets if a catastrophe strikes. Insurance won't help you if you die in a car accident, so you are taking out a negative-net-expected-value deal that protects you against a very slim selection of catastrophes. In my experience, probably protecting from risks that are less likely than dropping dead at random one day. And taking the risk that the insurance company won't pay out for some reason. And creating more paperwork and recurring expenses to keep track of. $5 mil is a lot but it isn't enough to take eyes off expenses.
ikeboy 7y ago
The part about not buying into the market all at once as wrong and has been known to be wrong for decades. Several studies to that effect are linked from the Wikipedia page on dollar cost averaging.
- eb0la 7y ago
  I disagree with you: You're talking about what happens under a rational behavior. If you get a lot of money suddenly, that's not the case. If you invest it all at once in the market, and get by chance high returns quickly, you could start gambing (investing) very quickly.
  - basch 7y ago
    that sounds like its own problem to address, not a reason to avoid investing your money.
- 1123581321 7y ago
  You misread. The advice was to invest over time to get used to the idea, so by the time it’s all invested, they are comfortable with and calm about that size of investment.
  - ikeboy 7y ago
    No. That was the secondary reason given in the next sentence, not the main reason.
    - 1123581321 7y ago
      You’ve misread. “Note that don't buy in all at once, diversify not just the investments but also by time, so you're not buying all into the stock market at once.” This is the recommendation. This also gives you time to think and reflect about how you want to use your money and what legacy you want,” This is the main reason, comfort/acclimation. “while also getting some returns on investments” This is saying you’ll get better returns than cash, so the price of structuring your investment for comfort will be somewhat mitigated. It’s not advising DCA or suggesting outperformance of or parity with investing everything up front.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
hartator 7y ago
So weird I disagree with everything listed there. Just invest in the SP500 and don’t spent money on BS.
- asdf333 7y ago
  that is what everyone is basically saying...
compsciphd 7y ago
what's the point in diversifying in time if one believes one cant time the market. the only point i see is "piece of mind" in case the market tanks you wont feel so bad. If one believes a) one can't time the market b) the market (as a whole) trends up over time doesn't this means that on average the best time to invest money is as soon as you can (of course there are other reasons to take you time, but I don't see how "diversifying by time" is a good reason as it would seem to imply market timing)
- simonebrunozzi 7y ago
  > "piece of mind" Small typo, I guess you meant "peace of mind".
  - compsciphd 7y ago
    yes, need to stop trying to write after midnight
- _nalply 7y ago
  It is because if you can't time the market you don't know whether you are in a slump or in a rally. If you stretch your investment in time you partially avoid a possible crash after a rally when you got in just before the crash.
  - Huggernaut 7y ago
    On the order of 25+ years I don't see why this would make much of a difference. See Bob, the world's worst market timer: https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2014/02/worlds-worst-market-timer/ https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2014/02/worlds-worst-market...
  - eb0la 7y ago
    I really enjoy your point :-) but I see things differently. I think stretching your investment means you learn about how markets and investment really works because you will make a lot of mistakes during a period of time. Rushing into market means you will make less mistakes, but bigger ones.
ThrowHitJackpot 7y ago
Thank you! This is quite good detail. I especially appreciate that you told me what you did - versus what I should do :-) Insurance is maxed out. Agree that putting tax money in super safe savings method is good. Got an accountant, not sure it's the right one but not a bad one. Working on trust and all associated works. Interviewing various RIAs. Not sure about DAF - I get it but may wait to donate money. Great book recommendations! The only question I have for you and others is - what about diversifying? Details on my 'wealth increase' is that company illiquid stock turned into liquid stock; so did you focus on diversifying or patience?

foobiekr 7y ago

Umbrella Policy if you live in California.

roenxi 7y ago

> Maxed out insurance (home, car) This isn't a problem I'm ever likely to deal with, but what was the thinking behind this one? I'd have thought >$1 mil in net worth is the time to cancel any insurance you have (maybe not health) on the basis that you can self insure now.

shortandsweet 7y ago
The point of insurance is to protect your wealth in an accident. You actually buy more insurance as your wealth increases, at least I do.
- jsjw7sbw 7y ago
  In my opinion the point of insurance is protect your assets you can't afford to lose. Most people cant afford to risk losing their house so they have insurance. However, if you are wealthy enough and can afford losing it then it's statistically cheaper to not insure it since you are not giving a cut to the insurer.
  - koheripbal 7y ago
    People with wealth are targeted by scammers who file fraudulent claims against them. These fall under the liability portion of your insurance. It's not about the house or car, it's about that $10MM in your bank people want to go after by claiming that you tripped them and they broke their back.
Thriptic 7y ago
Definitely not. You want to insure against catastrophes as they can wipe out all your assets. This includes regular insurance (home, auto, health) and personal liability insurance AKA umbrella up to the value of your assets. If you hurt someone, the victim could seek large damages if they realize you are wealthy. Liability insurance can protect you against that.
- roenxi 7y ago
  But you can afford to replace your assets if a catastrophe strikes. Insurance won't help you if you die in a car accident, so you are taking out a negative-net-expected-value deal that protects you against a very slim selection of catastrophes. In my experience, probably protecting from risks that are less likely than dropping dead at random one day. And taking the risk that the insurance company won't pay out for some reason. And creating more paperwork and recurring expenses to keep track of. $5 mil is a lot but it isn't enough to take eyes off expenses.

ikeboy 7y ago

The part about not buying into the market all at once as wrong and has been known to be wrong for decades. Several studies to that effect are linked from the Wikipedia page on dollar cost averaging.

eb0la 7y ago
I disagree with you: You're talking about what happens under a rational behavior. If you get a lot of money suddenly, that's not the case. If you invest it all at once in the market, and get by chance high returns quickly, you could start gambing (investing) very quickly.
- basch 7y ago
  that sounds like its own problem to address, not a reason to avoid investing your money.
1123581321 7y ago
You misread. The advice was to invest over time to get used to the idea, so by the time it’s all invested, they are comfortable with and calm about that size of investment.
- ikeboy 7y ago
  No. That was the secondary reason given in the next sentence, not the main reason.
  - 1123581321 7y ago
    You’ve misread. “Note that don't buy in all at once, diversify not just the investments but also by time, so you're not buying all into the stock market at once.” This is the recommendation. This also gives you time to think and reflect about how you want to use your money and what legacy you want,” This is the main reason, comfort/acclimation. “while also getting some returns on investments” This is saying you’ll get better returns than cash, so the price of structuring your investment for comfort will be somewhat mitigated. It’s not advising DCA or suggesting outperformance of or parity with investing everything up front.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

hartator 7y ago

So weird I disagree with everything listed there. Just invest in the SP500 and don’t spent money on BS.

asdf333 7y ago
that is what everyone is basically saying...

compsciphd 7y ago

what's the point in diversifying in time if one believes one cant time the market. the only point i see is "piece of mind" in case the market tanks you wont feel so bad. If one believes a) one can't time the market b) the market (as a whole) trends up over time doesn't this means that on average the best time to invest money is as soon as you can (of course there are other reasons to take you time, but I don't see how "diversifying by time" is a good reason as it would seem to imply market timing)

simonebrunozzi 7y ago
> "piece of mind" Small typo, I guess you meant "peace of mind".
- compsciphd 7y ago
  yes, need to stop trying to write after midnight
_nalply 7y ago
It is because if you can't time the market you don't know whether you are in a slump or in a rally. If you stretch your investment in time you partially avoid a possible crash after a rally when you got in just before the crash.
- Huggernaut 7y ago
  On the order of 25+ years I don't see why this would make much of a difference. See Bob, the world's worst market timer: https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2014/02/worlds-worst-market-timer/ https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2014/02/worlds-worst-market...
- eb0la 7y ago
  I really enjoy your point :-) but I see things differently. I think stretching your investment means you learn about how markets and investment really works because you will make a lot of mistakes during a period of time. Rushing into market means you will make less mistakes, but bigger ones.

ThrowHitJackpot 7y ago

Thank you! This is quite good detail. I especially appreciate that you told me what you did - versus what I should do :-) Insurance is maxed out. Agree that putting tax money in super safe savings method is good. Got an accountant, not sure it's the right one but not a bad one. Working on trust and all associated works. Interviewing various RIAs. Not sure about DAF - I get it but may wait to donate money. Great book recommendations! The only question I have for you and others is - what about diversifying? Details on my 'wealth increase' is that company illiquid stock turned into liquid stock; so did you focus on diversifying or patience?