Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?

#141

Post by FBISurveillance » Sat, Dec 18, 2021, 6:40 PM UTC

FBISurveillance wrote: post #127

Do not inflate your lifestyle. As someone who won IPO lottery twice netting 8 figures after tax, that would be the advice. Learn investment basics, invest your lump sum into VOO, VTI, and the likes, and enjoy luxury of knowing you don't have to work when you retire. You might also want to watch videos of Graham Stephan on youtube - all things considered, he's very clear about how frugal lifestyle benefits you long-te…

Oh, and good luck experimenting with side projects and new startups - you'll find it so much easier to make more money when you have money.

Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?

#142

Post by phamilton » Sat, Dec 18, 2021, 6:40 PM UTC

asimpletune wrote: post #124

diego wrote: post #20

This is normal. You will get used to it, and you will likely bounce to your personality before the windfall. You have solved one problem in life that most people never solve, and that puts you in a very small group. However, the rest of the problems are still there. The need to work for money can no longer distract you from them. You still need human connection and purpose. You still will age, have to worry about you…

I don’t mean to distract from the main thread, but could or anyone else elaborate on their experiences with roboinvestors?

Yeah. Dump your money into betterment or wealthfront or even just a vanguard target date fund.

Fees are pretty low. Some will say it's unnecessary and you can avoid those fees if you do X on your own, where X is some form of buying index funds directly. I my experience the anxiety and uncertainty of doing so makes people delay and the loss of returns from not investing at all greatly outweighs the difference in fees (at least in the short term).

TL;DR; If you aren't investing at all, robo advisors are great. If you already have a diversified strategy then that's great too. They add value mostly by lowering the knowledge barrier to entry.

Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?

#143

Post by rwesty » Sat, Dec 18, 2021, 6:40 PM UTC

whiddershins wrote: post #121

spankalee wrote: post #32

One immediate and incremental thing you can do is start seeing a therapist. It's not just for the depressed, I think everyone can benefit from therapy, but you really might find help in your situation. I'd also get a personal trainer and gym membership if you don't already have one. Basically, you can afford to pay for some external motivation, and you don't need to be motivated to make money, so you can get motivate…

A lot of therapists have a two year degree.

What’s the point?

Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?

#144

Post by nullc » Sat, Dec 18, 2021, 6:42 PM UTC

anonu wrote: post #123

It's a nice sum of money. But it's certainly not enough to live doing nothing for the rest of your life. Again YMMV but if you want to have a family, kids, and I suspect you live in a Western country where the cost of living is not that low, you're going to run out unless you put your money to work for you. So this either means investing in yourself ... Start a company or business. Or investing in others: making safe…

> It's a nice sum of money. But it's certainly not enough to live doing nothing for the rest of your life.

???

7.5m EUR is 8.4m USD. The average number of working years for men is 38 per google (which is also 65-27 the number of years until the poster is 65). 8.4m over 38 years is 221k/yr. The median household income in San Francisco (to pick an expensive city as an example) is 113k/yr.

So even assuming the the funds were not invested in anything outperforming inflation this should be more than enough to "live doing nothing", and potentially even without investment at all (depending on your beliefs in future inflation). Of course, it won't be enough if OP burns most of it starting some crazy business.

To maintain SF-median-present-value income until age 80 their investments would need to yield greater than inflation minus 1.24%.

Under the commonly used 4% rule of thumb, OP could invest in market indexes and spend $337k/yr in present value for the rest of their life.

Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?

#145

Post by malux85 » Sat, Dec 18, 2021, 6:42 PM UTC

mbesto wrote: post #100

First - tell no one you made that much money. You'd be amazed who comes out of the wood work to "be your friend" at that age. Second - check out https://old.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/ - some great like minded resources for how to manage that much net worth. EDIT: Regarding first point. Good guide here: https://old.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/windfall

This one is really important.

Tell no one, or only a very very small number of people, but strong preference to no one.

Look at maslows hierarchy of needs, now that your psychological and safety needs are dealt with, it’s time to move up the pyramid

Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?

#146

Post by AtNightWeCode » Sat, Dec 18, 2021, 6:42 PM UTC

By the sounds of it, you do not live in a context where money matters or gives a lot of benefits. You have to ask yourself if you want the education and the doors it opens. Also, talk to a professional about mental health before throwing anything way. Your anxiety might be caused by a depression or something else.

Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?

#147

Post by kingkawn » Sat, Dec 18, 2021, 6:42 PM UTC

Seem simple enough. Give the money to the poor and return yourself to the striving that gave you purpose.

Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?

#148

Post by joshsyn » Sat, Dec 18, 2021, 6:42 PM UTC

Which ICO was that out of curiousity?

Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?

#149

Post by sbfeibish » Sat, Dec 18, 2021, 6:42 PM UTC

Have fun, see the world. There will be a moment when you think it's not the be all end all --> get back to work.

Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?

#150

Post by johnisgood » Sat, Dec 18, 2021, 6:43 PM UTC

If I had enough money to not worry about it, I would still have my health to prioritize which I do regardless of my financial situation. It would be much easier with money though. I would still work on projects I find meaningful. I would probably invest in projects that I find useful, and so forth. I would help people.

I just got my MRI results back, and if I am unlucky I could get paralyzed from the neck down. I dunno how to deal with this. No amount of money could help me if it truly is the case, but if I had enough money I would get a second opinion, and a third, just to be sure. But I barely have enough money to get by, and this coupled with my future... seems really tragic. I will need lots of money to live a normal life with my condition, especially if it gets worse. I still need money to buy healthier food and whatnot, but yeah... I am really lost, too.