make yourself a million bucks
partly skill, mostly luck
now you can afford a down payment
on a small house
Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?
341–350 of 531 posts
Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?
#342I would buy a high yield stock like wells fargo. With 8 mil after taxes, you could buy enough wfc to payout 220K a year in dividends before a paltry 15% tax. You’d likely receive increases every year and as you did, your stock would appreciate. You might not like the idea of wells fargo or financials, so find some other lesser yielding stock(s). Never sell them and try to reinvest dividends at 50% with your minimal e…
This is why I love investing. So, I’m getting downvoted, but I understand where it’s coming from. Either Wells hate, non diversification, or financials / financial crisis. Or all 3.
But, for me anyway, investing is about being rational. Do you really think you’re in a better position working at a nonprofitable startup (like a lot of us are), or owning 8 million worth of a company that nets 20 billion a year?
Im not trying to be snarky. Im being dead serious. People read things that go against the crowd and they follow the herd. Being contrarian doesnt make one right—being right makes one right.
Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?
#343Earlier quoted context omitted.
I work in venture and my wife is a consultant.
Damn. How do I get into venture? I'm ecking out a living as a chief architect.
Since we are talking about money, I might as well ask - what's your take home as an architect. Seems to peak out at around $180,000 in flyovers. Any other architect, feel free to contribute.
Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?
#344Learn how to be a great lead. Or a great coder. Or a great painter. You can take the time to explore all parts of life and figure out your passion.
Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?
#345Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
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 sp…
Your holidays can become progressively longer and more extravagant. The cost of this can add up quickly. Maybe you previously just went to Florida for a week for vacation. Now you decide to take the family to Italy for 3 weeks in the summer and to New Zealand in the winter....
There can also be an urge to buy that vacation home in Tahoe or Jackson that you always dreamed of. Maybe you used to rent a house in Tahoe for a weekend every winter before windfall. Now you buy a place and have a mortgage for a cabin that you use a handful of times a year.
Before you know it, you can have a lot more expenses creep up.
Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?
#346Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you elaborate on why you think he should not listen to a personal wealth manager (assuming that's the same as a financial advisor)?
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vo34/whats_the... > You will be encouraged to hire an investment manager. Considerable pressure will be applied. Don't. > Investment managers charge fees, usually a percentage of assets. Consider this: If they charge 1% (which is low, I doubt you could find this deal, actually) they have to beat the market by 1% every year just to break even with a general market index fu…
>>...they have to beat the market by 1% every year just to break even...
It's even worse than that.
1% ON TOP of inflation, which is reported as 1.9% but many financial experts say the actual figure is closer to 4% once goods such as energy and food are factored in.
So the hypothetical investor must make ~5% just to break even. Anything less is a loss of spending power. Add 4% to realized losses and the figures can be especially gloomy.
Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?
#347It may feel like infinite money, but can be burned through at terrifying speed. This happens to a lot of people who suddenly get money. My advice is do nothing with it, and start reading books about finance, investing, and money management. Then start gradually investing it as you learn the ropes. Hire a good CPA to help you with taxes. Buy liability insurance, because you're now a target for jackpot lawsuits. Don't…
> 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.
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 ?
Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?
#348I don't have guidance for you, my friend.
But I do have a question and maybe it would help you.
Had you ever thought about what came after work, before you had the windfall? Like, what you might do if you could retire?
I have worked full time since school, without many breaks. When I've had a few breaks in between / unemployment, the first few times were scary and depressing. The third time it happened, I saw it as an opportunity to take a rest, sit back and think a little, and then find a new pursuit, maybe even my own business and started planning for how to do that.
If you are like me and didn't have a lot of gaps in your working life, it might be shocking to be able to have a break. What I found was that if I put myself into the right mentality... to let myself have a break without guilt (6 months or so - like a sabbatical), to let myself think, and then to slowly build up action to the next thing, it worked out.
That said, normalcy seems to help people. Maybe keeping your routine without the worry about having to pay the bills could be refreshing, if you can frame it the right way.
I wish you all the best. I'd like to dream someday I might be you, but then again, the struggle has always been to find happiness where you are now, money or not. I think maybe that never changes.
Best!
Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?
#349Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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.
Thinking you have more money than you'll ever need is the first step to losing it all.
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.
Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?
#350I don't have any advice for you, but I had to comment on your use of the word "nice" to describe your wife.
I thought it was funny! "I've got these two kids, but my wife, oh boy she's a good 'un!"
It was just sweet, is all.
Anyway, to be marginally helpful (I hope), I would also recommend that you keep in mind that a lot of the advice you're getting/going to get is meant to protect you from bad things that have happened to other people. It's all probably good advice, but just because those bad things happened to other people, doesn't mean you're going to get caught up in those traps as well.
In other words, use your own judgement about this stuff, don't just default to following the advice of others. Maybe some of your friends can handle knowing about your new wealth, maybe you can afford a new car without letting all the money slip away in the first year.
You know you better than we do, remember that.
Also, pick up chess! It's great! I love it because while there is some money in it, there isn't enough to lock away the good knowledge, so it has a low bar to entry. Something to occupy your time while you do all the other good advice on here, maybe.