I can tell you two very real scenarios that happened in my family (a lot of wealth inherited):
1. Burning through $10m in 30 yrs. is a piece of cake. Bad investments probably ate 50% (“I am wealthy, I know how to manage money”), excessive spending of shit nobody needs ate another 30% and 20% gone for fun things like divorces, private schools for retarded kids, lawyers getting kids out of prison and that kind of “wealthy people shit”.
2. That kind of money can last multiple generations. Do not let physical possession get in place for independence and growth of yourself or your family. Maintain a decent lifestyle, buy nice fancy but long-lasting stuff (eg. Steinway piano, Glashuette watch, etc) and invest in yourself (travel to places fewer people have seen, exercise, buy a nice bicycle and cross the Alps, learn a new language, get a pilot license,...). Keep yourself and your wife busy with some income generating mechanism you generally enjoy mostly. Keep a low profile, live a decent middle class life and when your kids are out of the house and know what “making a living means” increase your spending.
Let me tell you (from personal experience): 90+% of the people burn through this kind of money in 25 yrs easily without actually enjoying themselves, creating only greed, jealousy and hate around them.
I am not sure I would recommend learnjng more about investing, getting prepped up: watch Wulf of WallStreet, WallStreet, the big short, read the books from Taleb (brilliant) and the book “fooling some of the people all of the time”. Academia is full of retards and morons in the field of investing. If anybody starts talking crap like “CAPM”, “beta” or “trend analysis” - run. It’s fairy dust and bullshit wrapped in suits (I worked in investment banking, strategic management conaulting and have a PhD in that shit). Diversification doesn’t help during “correlation breakdowns” (aka everybody withdrawing money) and a bull on the stockmarket may just be actual inflation people don’t realise.
You need to invest money because inflation will take it all away. But more important than your asset allocation is whether you are invested/not invested...
Like always in life, it is the big picture/decision that matter:
- Move to Europe: free university tuition and cheap real estate (saved you 750k for your kids med school) and 1.5m in housing
- Don’t invest if you don’t know what you are doing. Doing nothing is a very good idea sometimes... But keep in mind how inheritance works in Europe - setting up a fund or something and may make sense...
- Talk to a tax advisor: can you move and save taxes? Can you transfer/restructure the money so you don’t have to pay tax now/taxes at all?
- Are you legally prepared for a divorce? (Not saying you should change your spouse - but what if she wants half the money and files for a divorce?)
Ask yourself the following questions potentially:
- Will you be more happy if you buy more stuff? What made you happy in the past?
- How will you feel if you lose 20/30/50% of an investment?
- How will the relationship with your spouse change if you stop working? What emotions may your spouse have? (feeling of entitlement, greed, panic, frustration, hate)
- What will your kids be like if they feel they are rich? How will wealth affect their aspiration, growth and seld image? What role model will you be?
- How will you GROW when you stop challenging yourself?
I would highly recommend not to give your kids any money upfront or promise anything. Let them develop ambition and grow. Give them a safe place if they fail - so they can keep trying. Start building a sustainable fortune for your family - so it lasts for generations. Invest, don’t gamble. Be humble and understand: you may just have been a lucky average guy - what makes you think you make great investment decisions (sorry for coming off like that, but ask yourself)?
“Having a fortune is one thing - being able to manage it and be happy another”. It can be a real curse - take away your happiness and ruin your kids and spouses life (I saw it happen).
Congratulations! I hope you will enjoy longlasting prosperity and joy!
1. Burning through $10m in 30 yrs. is a piece of cake. Bad investments probably ate 50% (“I am wealthy, I know how to manage money”), excessive spending of shit nobody needs ate another 30% and 20% gone for fun things like divorces, private schools for retarded kids, lawyers getting kids out of prison and that kind of “wealthy people shit”. 2. That kind of money can last multiple generations. Do not let physical possession get in place for independence and growth of yourself or your family. Maintain a decent lifestyle, buy nice fancy but long-lasting stuff (eg. Steinway piano, Glashuette watch, etc) and invest in yourself (travel to places fewer people have seen, exercise, buy a nice bicycle and cross the Alps, learn a new language, get a pilot license,...). Keep yourself and your wife busy with some income generating mechanism you generally enjoy mostly. Keep a low profile, live a decent middle class life and when your kids are out of the house and know what “making a living means” increase your spending.
Let me tell you (from personal experience): 90+% of the people burn through this kind of money in 25 yrs easily without actually enjoying themselves, creating only greed, jealousy and hate around them.
I am not sure I would recommend learnjng more about investing, getting prepped up: watch Wulf of WallStreet, WallStreet, the big short, read the books from Taleb (brilliant) and the book “fooling some of the people all of the time”. Academia is full of retards and morons in the field of investing. If anybody starts talking crap like “CAPM”, “beta” or “trend analysis” - run. It’s fairy dust and bullshit wrapped in suits (I worked in investment banking, strategic management conaulting and have a PhD in that shit). Diversification doesn’t help during “correlation breakdowns” (aka everybody withdrawing money) and a bull on the stockmarket may just be actual inflation people don’t realise.
You need to invest money because inflation will take it all away. But more important than your asset allocation is whether you are invested/not invested...
Like always in life, it is the big picture/decision that matter: - Move to Europe: free university tuition and cheap real estate (saved you 750k for your kids med school) and 1.5m in housing - Don’t invest if you don’t know what you are doing. Doing nothing is a very good idea sometimes... But keep in mind how inheritance works in Europe - setting up a fund or something and may make sense... - Talk to a tax advisor: can you move and save taxes? Can you transfer/restructure the money so you don’t have to pay tax now/taxes at all? - Are you legally prepared for a divorce? (Not saying you should change your spouse - but what if she wants half the money and files for a divorce?)
Ask yourself the following questions potentially:
- Will you be more happy if you buy more stuff? What made you happy in the past? - How will you feel if you lose 20/30/50% of an investment? - How will the relationship with your spouse change if you stop working? What emotions may your spouse have? (feeling of entitlement, greed, panic, frustration, hate) - What will your kids be like if they feel they are rich? How will wealth affect their aspiration, growth and seld image? What role model will you be? - How will you GROW when you stop challenging yourself?
I would highly recommend not to give your kids any money upfront or promise anything. Let them develop ambition and grow. Give them a safe place if they fail - so they can keep trying. Start building a sustainable fortune for your family - so it lasts for generations. Invest, don’t gamble. Be humble and understand: you may just have been a lucky average guy - what makes you think you make great investment decisions (sorry for coming off like that, but ask yourself)?
“Having a fortune is one thing - being able to manage it and be happy another”. It can be a real curse - take away your happiness and ruin your kids and spouses life (I saw it happen).
Congratulations! I hope you will enjoy longlasting prosperity and joy!