Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

351–360 of 531 posts

Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?

#351

Post by beamatronic »

arbol wrote: post #154
owaty wrote: post #128

Earlier 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.

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.

Try to imagine a third choice which is both caring about it and not spending it. And raising your children to do the same.

Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?

#352

Post by rsync »

tekkk wrote: post #208
benburleson wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

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…

"... 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.

Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?

#354

Post by readhn »

novaRom wrote: post #327
readhn wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> You can’t time the market, What about these 4 guys just before 2008? • Economist A. Gary Shilling warned his newsletter subscribers about a housing bust and wholesale deleveraging of household debt that would hobble the economy for years. • Money manager James Stack also told his clients the housing bubble had burst and that a new bear market was coming—while stocks were hitting all-time highs. • Raghuram Rajan, t…

I did. So what? I have acquired some Google, Amazon, Apple and Nvidia in August 2007 - guess how much times it's higher now?

all i know is when people start to get cocky and complacent mr. market usually does not take too long to serve a lesson.

nothing. goes. up. forever.

Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?

#355

Post by mooreds »

If it were me, I'd talk to my CPA about long term tax management. Then I'd probably talk to a second CPA about the same issue. Then I'd follow their advice to make sure that I minimized taxes going forward. I'd also err towards capital preservation.

I'd probably take the wife and kids out to a really nice dinner and write some anonymous donations to worth causes (on the order of $10k or something--you can get money orders if you don't want charities getting your address).

Then, I'd take a few weeks and do nothing, just hang out with the kids and the wife, read, code, whatever. Let your mind marinate.

Then I'd write out some goals for the rest of my life. They don't need to be firm, but could be 'I want to learn about X to see if I really want to do it' goals. I might engage with a career coach and see if that could provide some guidance about next steps--they have tests that can help give some direction.

tl;dr

* preserve your capital from risk and taxes

* take some time off

* but not too much time

* find something you can pursue

Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?

#357

Post by ryanmercer »

sfblah wrote: post #336
ryanmercer wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Amazing how many people think $8M Um. Come check out https://www.reddit.com/r/leanfire/ but make sure you are sitting down and don't have a heart condition.

My view is those people are banking on stock market performance that is influenced by a massive bubble still underway. I think in 3-5 years a bunch of them will regret this decision, as their net worths will have been cut in half or worse. I’m curious what you think about that.

>I think in 3-5 years a bunch of them will regret this decision, as their net worths will have been cut in half or worse. I’m curious what you think about that.

I think you're a panic seller. 3-5 years is nothing.

Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?

#358

Post by lawnchair_larry »

alsothrownaway wrote: post #71

As someone who has been in your shoes to a lesser degree, here are some things I learned: It is best to not upgrade your lifestyle at all, but instead to use your position to bring broken people out of the pit. Here is why: - 1. It is better to end the suffering of someone else than to make your own already-awesome life slightly better. - 2. If you lose everything like I did, you will have actually lost nothing and o…

Except attempts at "ending the suffering of someone else" will more often than not break them even more, and leave you both broke. Free money messes with people in ways that you might not expect.

Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?

#359

Post by ams6110 »

codingdave wrote: post #313
masklinn wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The cocktail napkin stories are one-off anecdotes that all law school students go through in their first semester to learn about what actually makes a contract. They are great example to show how a formal document with signatures is not the critical piece of a contract. They do not mean that you should never scrawl notes on a napkin because napkins have some special legal power. And any quote that implies such should…

Agree. And some people will just sleep better knowing a professional is helping with their investments, and that's worth something.

One hint is to talk to a couple of local estate planning attorneys and see who they recommend for financial planning/wealth management. They will have seen who does a good job and who doesn't. It probably isn't the guy working at the local Charles Schwab or Edward Jones office in a strip mall.

Re: Ask HN: What to do after $8M (all cash, post tax) exit?

#360

Post by pc86 »

Even in the most expensive areas in the world, this is a life-changing amount of money. Assuming that as you said this money is post-tax and you're not going to pull large pieces of it out to pay off debts, you're looking at conservatively being able to pull off $300k+ a year, every year, without touching the principal (assumes a 4% annual withdrawal).

I can only speak to what I would do as a 32 year old without kids. I'd follow the top comment and basically pause for a year. No big purchases, no extravagant vacations, keep working if you enjoy your job. Without touching it that amount of money is only going to get even bigger. And I'd find an estate attorney and fee-for-service financial adviser that I trust.

After that, chances are I'd retire. This is nearly 1% level money (in terms of income you can pull off it's like 90% of the way there). But it really depends what your goals are. This is truly enough where your kids would not have to work. You could work for a non-profit if there are causes you care deeply about. You could donate half of it and keep your job and still be in the $300k/yr+ club.

You could also risk it all and start a business or start investing in others' businesses. The world is your oyster at this point, man.

Post reply on HN