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I have money, now what!

Do something nice for yourself right away and get it out of your system. Take a weeks' vacation somewhere you've always wanted to go. This'll help make sure that you don't get that 'urge' a week later and go blow half of it on a Bugatti Veyron. After that, like everyone has said, budget like crazy. Talk to a financial planner and live off of the interest. You can double 5M in a decade if you do it safe and smart.

You have a unique opportunity to learn and travel for your entire life. Don't throw it away, man. If a wife, kids, and 9-5 job is the American dream, then your situation is truly the human being dream. If you want to work - do what you LOVE, not what you know makes money. Go be a school teacher and rake in $30k for your entire life if that's your dream, because you're now able to afford it.

I'm sorry if unfortunate circumstances are what brought this on, but by all means, congratulations. Not everyone gets this opportunity, especially at a young age.
 
The most important thing is: try not to live above your standards. This is a one time income, and once spent it will never come back. Especially if you say this is your retirement money.

Buy a house, or pay off your mortgage. Don't buy a million-dollar house just because you can afford it now. Pay off your other debts, like a car or motorcycle loan. Enjoy yourself a little: go on vacation with your wife or girlfriend. Buy that thing you've always wanted, but don't do anything crazy.

Put a large chunk of that cash into a savings account (or multiple savings accounts) and use the other part of the cash to pursue things you've always wanted. For example, I would use the money to get my pilots licence and maybe open a little book shop or something. Get an education, explore your hobbies etc. I could find a million things to do if I didn't have to work anymore without spending a lot of money.

Also, think about maybe keeping your job for 2 or 3 days a week. The extra income may be enough to cover the rest of your monthly bills, like electricity so you don't have to eat into your savings all the time.
 
Sorry you got hurt. Hopefully the injury won't prevent you from traveling and enjoying the experiences that kind of money can enable.

Although the money could be blown quickly, once you see a CFP and put it to work, at 22 you've got decades for it to compound. Along with what's been said, I would say keep working for a year or so until you get your plan together. Long term, you can now take a rewarding job or volunteer without concern for supporting yourself.

Another aspect of which we're all envious is that every employment situation just became Right-to-Work. Heck, if we take the fantasy a step further, you're in a position to go back and fire a boss or two.

Kings to you.
 
senseless said:
That's an interesting documentary. I wondered how you could earn that much money and still run out.
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Well, you give a metric butt-ton of money to someone who has never had or been around money, and whose sole talent is swinging a stick at a ball or throwing a ball through a hoop, they will tend to go crazy with what they've been given.

Hand me $10 million and it would be a very different story (and I've never been rich).
 
iMacBooked said:
You could give a part of the money to the hospital/doctors/other people who are helping/have helped you with your injury. :)
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Except that they're likely being paid handsomely by his insurance company or if there was no insurance, I assume the money rewarded is also part of what is considered reimbursement for medical bills.

Not to sound crass or selfish, but if I am hurt and the doctors are simply doing their job to keep my ass alive, then why would I hand over anything else to them? They bill insurance or me (or both) and they certainly deserve to get paid, but above that, nothing. I'd rather give the money to an organization that is focused on helping a cause. Again, the doctors and nurses absolutely should be paid whatever they billed. Many know that what they bill isn't exactly cheap in the first place.


OP: I hope you're at least going to get yourself a financial advisor when you do get your money.
 
Muscle Master said:
So I just learned that I'm going to be a millionaire due to an unfortunate accident (wish I can take it back) I had not to long ago that almost cost me my leg. I'll probably have to work for another year and then I can retire early

I'm still in awe cause... what the hell am I gonna do now. The amount I am to receive is between 2-6 million and I can't be more specific than that

I would like to maybe open a dealership, or a performance shop or something.. get into stocks maybe

things is.. it's a lot of money but then again it's not a lot of money, if I'm careless I could blow this money in 10 years. And I don't want to be the type that sits on my butt all day and do nothing
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Assuming this is true, and you're interested in "stocks" and saving for the future, you should read The Little Red Book of Common Sense Investing

Idk about you, but something I'd enjoy doing greatly is just buying random people things at stores, or buying their meals, or giving a homeless person a turkey or something. I can't imagine how good it would feel to save somebody from foreclosure or something.

With the amount of money you're getting, you can live very well for the rest of your life, until you start spending it on dumb stuff like a dealership or other foolish endeavors.

But, that being said,I wouldn't trade a leg for that money, so it sucks that you lost your leg. At the least you could probably get a Ferrari or something customized for a person with one leg.
 
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Pay all the taxes first or hold them in the Cayman Islands where the money is on off shored tax shelters. Maybe go back to college, pay off the rest of your debts and mortgage. Buy a few nice things and enjoy yourself. After that talk to a financial investor/planner, since this money needs to last you for awhile make sure that your goals are for long term investments not short term quick money. You may want to buy a few houses and rent them out as stable money earners. Get some stocks too and look at the ones who have still time to grow. Good luck and enjoy yourself!
 
iPhonemaster5S said:
After that talk to a financial investor/planner, since this money needs to last you for awhile
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Definitely do not do that if it's going to cost you money. Do not pay fees on investments. Do not pay for financial services. It is all a scam. Even 1~2% can reduce your financial gains by 50%.
 
.eric said:
Definitely do not do that if it's going to cost you money. Do not pay fees on investments. Do not pay for financial services. It is all a scam.
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Not always my financial planner helped me make significantly more than what I started out with. They key is to let him/her advise you but not take over from you. Let the decisions come from you but don't be too influenced from them.

ejb190 said:
I second the advice about getting a financial planner and an attorney, but I caution you to get the right financial planner and attorney. They should be teaching you what to do, not doing it for you.

"Just sit back, relax and I'll take care of you," is NOT what I want to hear from a financial planner.

Read this: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1153364
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^^^^ This
 
iPhonemaster5S said:
Not always my financial planner helped me make significantly more than what I started out with. They key is to let him/her advise you but not take over from you. Let the decisions come from you but don't be too influenced from them.
^^^^ This
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Maybe, but more likely you're just going to not make as much over the long term. If you happen to have been investing for a long time you either didn't return the market, or you managed to become a statistical anomaly. Especially if you're paying for financial services.

I can't stress enough how big of a scam these services are. Especially when they're sitting there telling you to invest in certain companies, or sectors.

"I think the tech sector is really going to boom this year!11!" ~ Bad.

But I suspect most people will be resistant. You pay for something, you expect to get a value return out of it. And nobody likes to hear that what they're doing is wrong, because humans are naturally close minded.
 
.eric said:
Maybe, but more likely you're just going to not make as much over the long term. If you happen to have been investing for a long time you either didn't return the market, or you managed to become a statistical anomaly. Especially if you're paying for financial services.

I can't stress enough how big of a scam these services are. Especially when they're sitting there telling you to invest in certain companies, or sectors.

"I think the tech sector is really going to boom this year!11!" ~ Bad.

But I suspect most people will be resistant. You pay for something, you expect to get a value return out of it. And nobody likes to hear that what they're doing is wrong, because humans are naturally close minded.
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Actually, .eric's point isn't far off of mine. There are "investment professionals" out there who see their clients as dollar signs. It's not that they are doing anything illegal, but they may not be honest about their levels of commission or may lead you into an investment that better benefits themselves then you. (i.e. whole life insurance vs. term life)

But like any business, there are some good folks out there who will do right by you.
 
ejb190 said:
Actually, .eric's point isn't far off of mine. There are "investment professionals" out there who see their clients as dollar signs. It's not that they are doing anything illegal, but they may not be honest about their levels of commission or may lead you into an investment that better benefits themselves then you. (i.e. whole life insurance vs. term life)

But like any business, there are some good folks out there who will do right by you.
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Yeah it appears we are saying roughly the same thing, just in different terms.
 
.eric said:
But, that being said,I wouldn't trade a leg for that money, so it sucks that you lost your leg. At the least you could probably get a Ferrari or something customized for a person with one leg.
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He said that it almost cost him his leg. Not that it did. So I believe he still has it.
 
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