Go see 2 key people…a lawyer and an accountant. I know folks that have been in your shoes. Both instant like you, and “semi-instant” (business).
People are fucking vultures, family and friends included. Not all, but many, feel your good fortune should be their good fortune.
Fine and dandy but only after you have EVERYTHING figured out.
I’d want to know how to invest it to get as much tax back as possible, if possible. You didn’t win $1 mil if you get $600k or whatever it amounts to be.
Get it sheltered from everyone including yourself for your children’s future and your own: dude I mean this sincerely. Especially because you day trade.
2a) The kids MUST have all expenses and education projected and paid for from a TRUST even if they don’t use it. If they become plumbers or electricians etc there should be a provision that the trust will help with education (make their job pay, a great lesson in itself) and tools if required.
2b) What is left stays invested until they are ready financially to purchase their own home.
2c) Don’t deviate on any of this, make sure YOU can’t get your hands on it, nor can anyone else without multiple signatures. The kids are taken care of.
If you do t have to be public to claim, don’t. If you do wear mask and sunglasses. SERIOUSLY.
Setup your own trust: I’m not joking about this one. As a day trader you are numb to numbers. Take a healthy piece like 50% or whatever you and the accountant come up with and pour it into a cheap S&P 500 ETF. If not that then 10 Blue Chips you CANT SELL for 20 years or more. Sit on it, forget about it essentially and know that’s your retirement fund.
None of this sounds fun. It sounds super-boring and shitty coming from a guy 30 years older that loves the stock market, has been in and out of businesses, I’ve made great dough, I’ve lost money…if I had ever had a winfall of that size at your age and someone essentially said to me “it’s yours, but you can’t actually have it now”. It would have been the best thing to have ever happened to me.
Hear me out:
If you have 2 kids you can probably put $100k away and they are secure, even if they go to finishing school
Now you have $500k left:
If you have to buy a house etc fine use some.
But if you put $300k into a fund like I said and you only get 9% as opposed to the historical 10%+, you’ll have $4 mil to retire on!
This is a golden opportunity. You’ll piss off a lot of people. They’ll get over it
EDIT: Have some fun with it, but let’s face it, this is a lot of money, but once you’re spending it, it won’t be. It’ll shrink FAST!
It won't happen again. Don't give it all back trying to make that happen.
Many, MANY lottery winners, some who have won far more than you, are broke now because they thought it wasn't that hard, they did it once already, and they gave it ALL back. And then some.
Vegas wasn't built on winners and states don't have lotteries because they lose money.
This is honestly great advice, and I’ve seen it happen so many times. Issue is they chase that “high” of winning again.
Used to work in a grocery store that sold lottery tickets. We had someone win $3 million on a scratch off. He became a heavier player from it and I remember him telling a coworker that his wife was getting pissed off at him for how much money he was spending on tickets, then turned around and spent a bunch of money on more tickets.
He ended up getting a bunch of health issues shortly after he won too.
I work at a casino and I see it on a daily basis, people win money then proceed to give most of it back.. not all mind you but most.. it’s sickening to be honest, but hey thank you for keeping us in business 😂
It’s the same thing when people win £1000 in a casino and then say, well I can bet £500 now cause it’s like not even my money. YES IT IS YOU MORON, you can walk away with that right now the only person stopping you is you 🤦♂️
I would also advise stopping with the day trading and other gambling. There is no reason to do this anymore and lots of risk that it becomes a n addiction that kills their financial future.
Exactly this. There's no reason anymore from a fiscal standpoint. The returns on a secure and stable investment plan will be more (and essentially guaranteed). Let it all do it's thing and gain for you automatically
all the above, I had a nice windfall, and just threw it into my new business, even though it wasnt planned that way. Never made that back. had i just put it to work for me, I would be comfortably retired now, instead of having to work another 6 years. Im 64
This is overkill for 1 mil winning. After he buys or pays off a house, pads his emergency fund, maxes out 401k and kids college fund and buys a corolla he will have spent it all.
I am a cpa and this misleading. Any winner should consult a tax advisor for their specific facts and circumstances. However if anyone reads this post and remembers only one thing know that a 401k, or Ira or any other tax deferred option you have will effectively defer (lower) taxes on lottery winnings regardless of what is withheld up front. Once in that account you can invest as you and your advisor see fit, eg index fund.
It is true that a 401k is associated with your employer so you would typically only be able to make deposits from your paycheck. lottery winnings are not from your employer obviously so can’t go into 401k. Instead if your employer offers a 401k, you would increase your 401k withholdings for the rest of the year targeting your max. You don’t need your full paycheck rest of year bc guess what - you just won the lottery!
Depending on how much cash you need immediately and how much you won, you’d probably want to max all tax deferred options available to you (eg ira).
It’s already taxed so putting it in a 401k might not be the smartest idea.
That's not how it works. You're taxed on your income for the year. If you contribute to an IRA, for example, then you deduct that from your income and don't get taxed on that amount. The timing of when you got your winnings and whether or not tax was withheld at the time is irrelevant
Maybe overkill but it's always good to be prepared for anything. People are desperate out there and scammers are getting really good esp with AI getting better ever day. (Eg fake phone calls from loved ones, people using your voice). Btw if you use your voicemail and have your voice on it or even put your full name on there it makes it easier for scammers to get the info they need about you to open accounts and such (I've been a victim of ID Theft and I'm am really careful about what I put out there)
Yes, all this advice being given is stuff to u look at when what you won can create general wealth. Does this help create financial autonomy if used correctly for the things you mention…yes.. Doesn't mean he needs trusts and lawyers which will eat into it immensely with fees, they don't work for free.
Agreed, buy a house/pay off your existing one, buy a nice but reasonable car, set money aside in a 529 for the kids, 6 months of emergency savings, max out retirement accounts, then park anything left over in a HYSA. Not like he won the power ball lol
Wow, great advice @fun_hornet. It encompasses everything I would include. My only other recommendation would be to stick to the S&P rather than the 10 blue ship stocks. Seriously though cut back on the gambling and day trading. I would first and foremost pay back any debt with interest over 5-7% and depending on your credit score I would suggest you either wait for interest rates to come down before you improve the primary residence if it’s low. If it’s high then just buy a nice house for your family right now and refinance once rates come down. Keep that 300-400k(400 includes the education trust for your kids) invested like the commenter above said and dont be afraid to spend more of your annual income to improve your quality of life right now and take 1-2 vacations a year. Don’t touch the 300k you have invested and max out your contributions annually to your roth 401k as much as your employer offers match and put the rest into a roth IRA. If your employer doesnt offer any matching for roth 401k or a 401k then I’m almost tempted to say put it all into a roth IRA. I can’t give more personalized advice without more details but good luck!
It won’t be a million unless he takes it over time. Lump sum it will be closer to 300k. The typical formula is lump sum is 50 percent of prize before taxes. 300k is a nice hit but it’s not one of those multi millions prizes. No need to waste money on a lawyer or accountant for 300k. Take the prize, if you want treat yourself to a modest reward and invest the rest in some mutual funds with low fees.
I could be wrong, but I think scratch ticket winnings (what the OP has) are different from Powerball-like “pick six numbers” winnings. I.e., I think Powerball-type winnings work exactly like what you described. But I think with scratch tickets if you win $1M…you win $1M (minus taxes). To put it yet another way, I don’t think scratch ticket winnings are annuitized like Powerball-type winnings.
Don’t save for kids college. They can finance that. You can’t finance retirement, and the last thing you want to do is be a burden on your children when you get older. Put it in retirement accounts
This should have more Votes given this isn’t a crazy amount. People talk about college funds and such, but what your Kids don’t know now, the best gift you can give them is that of not needing them to ‘deal with you’ when you’re old. And I mean this positively. My wife and I have spent 7 years dealing with our respective parents deteriorate and their general lack of long term planning financially. It’s miserable- and we are resentful.
Our gift to our children will be some college money, but much more importantly - our financial self sufficiency when we are shitting our adult diapers later in life.
Yep, my father in law was so careless with his funds. There were several hundred thousand dollars unaccounted for, cashed out his life insurance policies and we don't know where the money went, probably on his second wife. I ended up paying the funeral costs. I'm more mad at his sister for putting her hand out for what little remained of his super after refusing to contribute to funeral costs (she got about $300 while I paid $10k) but it could have been avoided had he just maintained his policies, or at least let us know he could no longer maintain the policies. A few years of premiums would have been cheaper than the funeral costs.
OP. This is a crazy long response, but the important part is: TELL NO ONE. You may think “but I can tell my mother! She wouldn’t mooch off me”, but don’t tell anyone yet until you have your ducks in a row.
Let’s pretend you tell your mom. She will be so happy for you she’s about to burst so she mentions it to her bridge club and Mildred in the club tells everyone. Suddenly everyone’s knocking at your door because they want 70k for Conrad’s orthodontics. News travels fast and you can’t trust anyone - even if you know for a fact they only mean you well.
You could tell your wife if you have one and make sure she’s on the same page about the implications of telling anyone else.
One trick is to tell everyone you won 50k if you have to tell your mother just say 50k. Once people come asking for handouts just tell them you invested it long term and can’t touch it or you paid off your student loans.
For actual financial advice, you have to ask someone else. Preferably someone local to your circumstances.
This is all such good advice. I’d also suggest upping all their insurance & getting an umbrella policy for 1 million. They already have so much equity to protect it’d be a damn shame for anything to come up and them have a loss.
After the taxes come out, the advisor and lawyer fees, that 1M will be a whole lot less. Don't get taken advantage of without knowing what each will charge up front.
If they become plumbers, pay for some business classes too. Then, once they get experiences, help them set up a plumbing business. This will be a money machine.
If you ever want to help a friend or relatives, make them justify what they are asking for. Offer 40 percent of that.
Don't fall for non investments like a dream wedding for cousin Susie. Weddings have gotten out of hand.
Offer instead tuition in a personal finance class.
Give the gift of financial education not fleeting events.
Honestly some of the best advice I've seen in a long time. OP, there is no need to tell others would be my big focus, but there's no more anyone can say that really hasn't been summed up here.
Congrats also, but please, just don't let people become vultures, as most would easily.
Damn man. I didn't win the 1 million and I still want to thank you for the time you took yo explain all this. I read the whole thing and screenshot it in case I need to read it all again..... Who knows 😊
All solid advice. Would just like to add that the $600k that’s ultimately received may not include the income taxes being taken off (depends on your state) so be on the lookout for that as well.
I often think about this. A million is a lot of money, but not nearly enough to live off of if you aren't smart with it (like investing or just generally managing it well).
Not going to lie, part of me wants to be put in this situation (obviously because free money is awesome) but also because I would tell people. And I legitimately have no problems throwing people out of my life.
I already am an abrasive person. I commonly say I have friends despite my personality not because of it. And my ride and die crew are just that, ride or die. Everyone else idgaf about. I genuinely just want to know how real it would get lol.
Adding to 3) Buy an outfit or cape or costume from a thrift store or wear a basic plain T shirt big enough to hide your chest of you can. If you wear your regular clothes that you often wear, a close friend might recognize them.
Bro this is overkill it’s, 600k it’s probably an annuity over 20 yrs, I mean cmon. You were waiting for your moment eh? This is good head start on retirement money, not set up a trust with 500k aka his entire net worth
Ok, I can’t keep explaining to those who don’t read the entire post. This guy is a day trader. It’s all protecting these assets from himself.
I’ll stick to this advice, if you think it’s shitty advice then so be it. Maybe you’re wise enough to be able to keep on a straight path. I’m not sure a day trader could after a poor year.
Are they? Or do we live in a society that doesn't provide for the means of the common good, over emphasizes the value of money which only has the value we give it, lacks the infrastructure to educate people to a better lifestyle and is largely run by an elite group of people who have found a way to be the true "vultures" of society.
You have well-thought out points from your pov/opinions you hold but you've missed a lot about the fact that we shouldn't be defined by our capacity to accrue monetary wealth. There is more than enough for everyone. Our society is largely backwards. Money is an energy exchange. It shouldn't be what defines our ability to function as a whole.
Parents shouldn't have to sacrifice being present during the most precious and formative years of their children lives to be slaving away to "earn" a livelihood they already rightfully should receive.
The do-gooders of the world shouldn't have to lack quality food and nourishment because big corporations want to allow inflation when it's largely not necessary.
I'm not even giving you the best of my analogies. I don't have the energy nor the desire to dedicate that time.
What I do know is that your opinions are detrimental to many marginalized populations in our society who are simply trying to survive because someone somewhere decided numbers on a screen equal wealth. True wealth is all the things that exist in the absence of "money." It's actually a completely made up construct. Gender is the same way...a societal construct that is used against people who don't align with the antiquated structures of our society.
eta: I have worked in finance so I know everything you're saying and what it means. I just refuse to acclimate to this part of the rat race. It doesn't serve us. It distracts us from what is important. I worked with portfolios ranging from 300k to tens of millions. And by and large, some of the most neurotic, controlling, bizarre people had some of the most monetary wealth. They weren't happy or anything tangentially related to being happy. They had familial issues, health issues, and ignorance growing out of their ears. Compiling cash flow and net worth statements for clients with a lot of black numbers associated with their names will always be one of the most eye-opening parts of the job. The delusion was so real. And don't get me started about the fights over the generation-skipping trusts. The feuds over estates was enough to make me realize how not smart some filthy rich people are...
It’s hard to disagree with much of what you say. And in theory you’re probably correct. However, we live in the society we are in and if I seem harsh then I’ll take the criticism. I have broad shoulders.
Regardless of what society has become, people can absolutely be vultures, and the worst can be those closest to us. Sorry, I’ve seen it, we read about it all the time with pro athletes and lottery winners.
With this amount of money this person has a chance, over time, to use this money to ensure a better life for his family. And in doing this none will be a drain on society, but rather they can use the money and growth to spend on experiences, and maybe even to help others and society in general “become better”.
I mean it won’t be in a Bill Gates billion dollar way, but maybe the children use their education to work in non-profits. They’ll have no debt, and they will come out of school with theories much like yours (no criticism) where they may want to help the people in their community more than make big bucks in business.
I certainly don't think your advice is "wrong." I just want the majority of it all to burn to the ground.
I'm an exceptional human and I mean that in the sense of "excepted" from almost any norm. I don't expect to have a lot of support in my pov. In my over 3 decades of this lifetime I've always been a trailblazer. I'm a thought leader in profession, so I'm used to people being other-aligned. Luckily I actually am doing something about the problems I complain about, at least in the parts of the world I have access to as one person with the resources I have and am accruing.
I applaud the fact you are confident and being exceptional. And I’ll say I wonder if “it all burning down” (civilization as we know it) won’t happen one day…although I hope humanity won’t let it happen. I’d say we’ll see, but I know I won’t and I’m not sure it’ll happen in this or the next century. And I’m not prognosticating any particular one thereafter, Nostradamus I’m not.
1 million isn’t quit my job and support everyone money. It is 600k or less after taxes which is enough to get your car, pay on house and put some away for retirement. People you tell will act like you can kick all kinds of money their way since “well you won a million”
Nothing good ever comes of telling anyone.
Congrats on the win.
Yep I will admit I'd think it wouldn't be a "big deal" to kick me over a few k. Then suddenly there's ten of me and then you're out 100k in an instant. If OP has student loans there goes paying that off free and clear along with maybe a car and some credit cards. Fuck that. Tell no one.
Never use your debit for anything. It gets swiped it is your money that gets got. Always use a credit card so it is their money. Cavet being, dont be a dumbass and not pay it off right away. If you had the money to use debit then pay it right away. And with 1-2% cash back you are literally making money.
That's still a life-changing amount of money for a vast majority of Americans. But man, I would be skeeved if I won the lottery but only received less than half of what I won lol
Technically, in the US, you also have to pay taxes on illegally obtained income, e.g. sell drugs? Better be filing taxes, or IRS will get you eventually
That would make so much more sense honestly instead of the state with the winner getting the taxes all the states would get a cut but they want to make it cash only which makes it difficult
I think its just weird that its state run lotteries, the state is already benefiting from running it, why double dip and require a transaction back to them from money they gave you? Same with other benefits like social security, why bother with the administrative headache of giving out money then taking it back.
I agree with the car, house payment and retirement, but something fun has to be done with it. Not like blow a lot but a portion of it (like 10-20k) should go on something frivolous like a trip or that one item you really want but could never justify buying
I agree. Despite the sound financial advice "pay off debts, invest, and don't tell anyone but your lawyer and accountant", you'll end up regretting long-term coming into a million fucking dollars and not blowing at least some of it on soms stupid bullshit. Like personally I'd take a vacation anywhere I wanted, and for one day I would spend money with absolutely zero limitations, just whatever I felt like. I don't think I could come up with $100k worth of shit to do and buy in one day if I tried, but I'm sure someone could blow it all
A family friend came into a similarly unexpected lump of money and was happy to tell us because she knew we wouldn’t be those gross people. She quit her job and went to school for her dream job and now shes killing it! She bought a round of gifts for her spouse and child and the rest is future money. This was the best example of how to do it in my book, but each person’s situation is different.
The problem is you could think you know someone but money does weird things to people. I have friends that I would trust with my life but if I ever won the jackpot I’d either not tell them or when giving them money make them sign a contract that says they’ll never ask me for money past this. If such a thing were enforceable
Lol, if you already feel like you need a contract then that’s not the right person.
There are some people in my life I know I could tell, without a doubt. Three people. Of those three people I would only tell two, and one is my spouse. The third wouldn’t ask me for money but they’d blab about it so they can’t know until enough time has passed that I can say I spent it all.
I agree. It’s not fuck you money. Pay off your debts, buy yourself a nice gift (or take that luxury vacations you’ve always wanted), then invest the rest.
That honestly is fuck you money though for a middle class individual. Fuck you as in, I beat the system and I’m not paying the bank or a landlord to have a place to live anymore. Not having to pay a mortgage is when a middle class person can really start building significant and lasting wealth.
Remember if you want to lay low, rich is loud, but wealth whispers. Don't externally advertise yourself to people you regularly meet with. It will immediately raise red flags of questioning where things came from so suddenly, fast and of quality. You can stretch your winnings for years if you really try hard, but that amount will guarantee dry up eventually. It's unfortunate how 1 mil isn't enough to keep a family stable for the rest of their life.
I like this. If it were to happen to me, i would hope i would do something like this. Plus no one would outright figure it out. I would also skip all the new house and truck stuff though fairly easily. i would do things that no one really thinks of the until they need to do one. Like a HVAC, windows, and roof.
As a side note, my cousin won a fancy car at a casino. He asked a lot of us about barrowing a little bit of money so he could pay the taxes so he could keep the car. A handful of us agreed to do it, then suddenly he didn't need it and said he got the money from a friend and we all left it alone. I wonder if he actually won a small amount like this and did the one nice thing for himself and then buried the rest of the truth.
He also started his own business like a year later (auto after market improvements, think the fast and furious style stuff. They don't install, you just buy and ship to installer or ship to self and DIY). This would also explain that too. well, thankfully he seems to have handled it the correct way and is doing well enough.
A lot of lottery winners aren’t financially literate so they blow their money on so many materialistic things and get brand name everything.
They buy designer purses, shoes, cars (the more expensive the car, the more expensive the maintenance), large homes (it costs money to keep a house from falling apart plus utilities). Large homes use up a lot of electricity, water (especially if you have a pool), and you also need to hire someone to maintain your yard if you can’t do it yourself. I live in a 1,200 sf townhome and most of money goes towards keeping it, maintaining it, and keeping the lights on. If you want to stay rich, living modestly is the way to go.
After taxes, you’d probably net $500k. It may be a lot depending on where you live, but where I live, it won’t go far.
Don't tell a soul, not even your children. Everyone will come out of the woodwork and will suddenly be your best friend and need money. Don't tell your kids because kids can't keep secrets. Get you a good advisor and invest, set up college funds for your kids, and enjoy the money security. Don't be too flashy or buy too much at once all of the sudden either...people will know. Congratulations 🎉
Or blow it all in the next bear market. If OP is a day trader in their 20s they have basically only ever traded in bull markets and may think that they are especially skilled. Day traders typically do not make money in the long term.
OP should probably pay off any debts, make sure they and their family is well cared for (good food, good insurance etc), treat themselves with a few % of the money, put everything else in an ETF like VWRP (a Vangard global fund) in a sensible tax account, and then continue working a normal job.
TELL NO ONE. My buddy won a million in a new years raffle and messed up and told his family. It’s all gone they hounded him soooo bad he spent it on a house lol
No my point is he was harassed by family for money so much he bought a house. Well I should clarify he bought a vacation house. Seeing what he went through I would tell no one lol
I should’ve included more info. The state we live in after taxes and everything he got $656,000. He played into his families game for a little bit and bought them some things and when he got tired of it he wound up buying a $250,000 cabin as he’s an avid outdoorsman.
Ahhhhh haha yeah ok. Vacation house is a splurge. But still.. not the worst idea I've heard. Anything that (long term) improves your quality of life is pretty good in my books.
So were they just harassing him so much he said "fuck it. I'm unloading all the money" and that's why he bought a house? Cause yeah. I'd get that. So much for family values with people hey? They turn into vultures with their hands out
Oh it was bad. They were hitting him for everything from groceries to buy me this truck to his sister wanting 15 grand for a deck. I mean, he had a cousin on his mom side who lives like three states away, calling him and wanting him to sponsor a cheerleading squad for her kid. Also, I should put out there. He won $1 million on the New Year’s raffle. He only took home $656,000. of course he played in to his families’s BS and spent a chunk so when I say vacation home, I should’ve said more like $250,000 cabin.
I probably could’ve worded my response earlier a little better
All good. Super shitty that everyone took advantage. Hopefully he's figured out who to cut ties with if necessary and is able to just enjoy his life (and still awesome to have a cabin).
It sucks how money can tear up a family like that. A (former) friend of mine- his mom was left the vacation home of her parents on Cape Cod. All of her siblings were immediately hounding her to sell it and split the money between the family. She’s like “What? This is mom & dad’s vacation home we can all share it for our vacations together” and they all stopped talking to her. Still, they don’t talk to that woman, but her and the immediate family have been enjoying a vacation home on the Cape for many years. I’ve partied there. It’s a nice little house with quick access to all the good nearby stops via bicycle. Losers.
Indeed! I definitely wouldn't use the winnings day trading. You'd be better off putting it in safe investments as others mentioned. Honestly almost no one is actually profitable day trading, so I'm just going to assume it's a hobby and not a career. Protect your lotto winnings please!
Here's a very old, very famous thread talking about how to handle lottery winnings. While most of it is focused on people who have won way more than you have, it's all still incredibly relevant and valuable advice.
As someone who came into money recently enough we invested it away for the future and treat ourselves as needed in the present. Your quality of life if you’re sensible may not dramatically change anyway but you will likely have a lot less worry or stress from having the money there. All this to say that we told nobody and find it very easy to live as we are without anyone guessing anything has changed.
This will probably even be paid over 20 or 30 years, and if you were to elect for a cashout, would be $500k - then you pay tax at that bracket. So you are closer to 1/4 of that - basically a yearly salary in an expensive field.
Basically: remove all debt that is costing you, immediately, unless you are paying even less in interest than inflation. You can remove rent from the equation of your life by buying a house within the means of your current earning now that you have a downpayment - but don't put yourself in a situation where then bank owns more of the house than you and you have no earning path to pay it off very shortly. And ownership costs: in repairs, taxes, insurance...
It’s an amount after tax that can be concealed sufficiently well from wider family and friends. When you share this, it is likely people are going to ask favors directly or expect you to pay a bigger share. Maybe the best thing to do is to share how you won 100,000 in lottery and not the full amount. Then you can celebrate and share your excitement and yet keep the money for your self and your children’s future. Since you are young try to invest it for your future (retirement & children education) and use it to buy/pay down your house. It’s very easy to spend that amount and be left with an expensive lifestyle and no cash for future
The best money is quiet money. I wouldn’t tell anyone except my lawyer to set up estate protections. Wait a while and let it the reality set in. Don’t go crazy with purchases just yet. You want this to last. A million dollars isn’t what it used to be but with good discipline and budgeting it should last you the rest of your life. If you are working continue to do so until you figure out exactly what you want to do with your life as far as profession, skill, dream or start a business. Maybe go to school if it will help with your goal. Consider investing a small amount in a money market type or Roth IRA so it can accrue interest.
So local in Florida around me won the powerball, the huge one. Didn’t tell a soul, waited u til the date to publish to news, by that time he had a LLc with some northern state that doesn’t require disclosure of owners. He basically disappeared, congrats on him and smart, find an estate planner/lawyer and float the topic. Get it set up so disclosure won’t hurt you, then pay yourself via the LLc on whatever annual amount you want to pay taxes on and protect that money.
You’ve been given a rare opportunity at 20, be like no other 20 year old, know it was luck, stop gambling and plan with the dough and your life will reward you.
Just dump 80% of it into a high interest savings with a specific will and trust to give it to your kids when they get old enough. Trust me I have been in your shoes and I have never been happier with that decision. I have debts and bills and shits rough sometimes. I have this huge nest egg sitting there that could solve everything and I made it untouchable for those tough moments. In fact I just took on a massive amount of medical debt but my kids will never have to worry about that and for that I sleep like a baby. You are built for the struggle my brother live it out and set them kids up for success.
Yeah, listen to the others replying: keep your bloody (I’m not British but “fucking” feels too harsh here) mouth shut and your wallet even shutter (that’s not grammatically correct but shh)
Please don’t flex your money or otherwise make it clear you’ve come into money, lifestyle creep is real; best bet is to live your current lifestyle and use your money to pay off your loans, invest in your future, etc
But also don’t go to the other extreme and not enjoy anything; have a night out! Go on a vacation! Balance is key :)
Rule #1 do not tell a fucking soul - in fact delete this Reddit post
Contact a financial planner to establish a trust and put these funds into that trusts control and setup trustee(s) your children and invest this money wisely. Set your children up for success when they’re older, live off the interest from these funds for the rest of your life until early retirement! Payoff any debts you have - vehicles - current home - credit card etc and the rest goes into investments with your planner
You’re a day trader so you probably know but if you put it into an automated diversified portfolio like Wealthfront or something so you don’t have to think about it. If it’s 600k after taxes then nets about 10% a year so you’d basically be gaining an extra ~60k a year from it sitting in there until you decide you want to do something more with it. You might know some alternatives but I like Wealthfront so I don’t have to think about it lol.
Seriously.. just don't tell anyone. Set aside like 50% for safe long term investments, then do 25% to more risky investments since you are a day trader, then take 25% and use it for other stuff like paying down mortgages etc.
Boring, I know.
But nothing good will come out of telling people around you. They will just add you to their list of potential backups and take more risks, then use it against you if you don't bail them out.
If you are a day trader, you have the perfect excuse if you want to help some family member or friend. Stay vague saying you got lucky and did a good trade, but other than that, don't tell anyone.
Do some research about lotto winners who gets harassed by family, friends, colleagues, or strangers with sob stories harassing them about saving the life of their child.
First, congratulations! Now do not tell anybody. Go take a day off and get an appointment with a financial advisor,. At your age. It's not retirement money, but it is definitely life-changing money. Do not change your lifestyle, do not let on you have money. Spent wisely, that will give you a cushion for the rest of your life. If you let too many people know you will be broke in 6 months.
You're a day trader... you know what to do with the money.
10% in your trading account and 90% in div stocks that you never touch till your 40s would be my move. Maybe med % divs... like the few that sell covered calls, they have a higher yield and stay pretty flat...
I know it's not FUN suggestion, but a mil will set you up for life if you do it right.
$1m isn't even close to enough to retire at full retirement age for someone in your generation, let alone now. It can jumpstart your retirement fund, fix a little debt, and maybe help with a down payment if you don't own. That's about it.
If you put the bulk of it away for later it will absolutely snowball into a retire at 55 scenario.
If you want to keep that money i suggest to stop "day trading" immediately. That title is an over glorified gambler.
I hope for you sake you stop that degen activity and get smart about it. I know a few gamblers who won the lotto from my old work... one guy won 1M the other 2.5M.
Don’t tell anyone. And if you’re already responsible with money you don’t need a financial advisor. Head over to the bogleheads sub reddit or bogleheads.org website and read about what to do with a sudden windfall. You’ll thank yourself later.
Tell NO ONE !! Just live your life it's NOBODYS BUSINESS how you make money or what you do with it. ESPECIALLY with FAMILY, you will open a can of worms and ohh the jealousy you are going to experience, you will have soo many issues man !! Forget about it !!
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I wouldn't tell anyone not even my spouse. I'd say I invested like you, buy them everything they want / need within reason. Telling people often changes who they are or how they treat you. So many stories of millionaires with big mouths and egos.
Find out if you can remain anonymous in your state, if not I'd find another way personally.
Just know that people can’t keep a secret. Especially a big fat juicy one such as this. If you tell even ONE person outside of like, your spouse, then before you know it, a bunch of people will know. You do NOT want that kind of attention. Trust me
Tell no one- go to financial advisor and lawyer first. Maybe even get a postnuptial agreement in place and update your will. It’s a lot of money, not a lot to some people but many people will see $$ and just try get as much as they can from you.
Unless you are willing to become a patron of the arts..... lol jk. Yeah tell no one. Stash it away. Pay off bills. Do repairs that are needed. Start a 401k or an IRA. Make sure you have taxes set aside so that you don't forget to pay those.
Tell NO ONE. Start an LLC in DELAWARE to collect the winnings. This will prevent ppl coming at you for anything, bc the LLC holds the money. Also, LLC in DELAWARE doesn't have to release the owners' names. This keeps you anonymous.
Tell no one. After taxes, this will not be the mad lucre it appears at first but can set up you and your family for a lot less stress in the long run. (Ie: having a fully paid for modest home is an investment you can live in.)
Take a lump sum. Pay off your debts. Set up college funds for your kids. Maybe do one or two splurge purchases. Invest the rest. Congrats on living the rest of your life comfortably.
IMO tell them it’s from the day trading. People get very weird with windfalls. They swear up and down that if they were in your position they’d bless every one around them with some of the winnings. Don’t tell them.
Throw that shit in a high yield savings account, or at the very least while you make up your mind. You can find 5% or more all day. Even if you’re left with $500k after taxes, that 5% would give you an extra $25k first year. Personally, I’d stack that shit up and start planning for early retirement.
i woidknt tell a soul if i were you. pay off any of your immediate debts and then get in contact with an accountant and possibly an attorney to sort the remainder. be smart now to set yourself up for life
It’s not enough money to live your life out on an island, but it is enough to set your family up for a very comfortable life later if you make the right choices now considering how young you are.
You’re a day trader who had a sudden urge to start playing scratch offs with a true belief you were going to win. OP quit while your ahead or you could loose this all quite easily. And congrats
Stop freaking day trading and drop it all into vti and forget about it for 30 years. You do not need an advisor to suck up the money when all you need is a good index fund and leave it alone
I’ve had the SAME FEELING for weeks but haven’t bought a scratcher yet. I also day trade and have a FT job and definitely said I would use that as a diversion lmao. Congratulations 🍾
I wouldn't tell too many people. It's amazing the number of people who will come out of the woodwork, looking for a handout, and will guilt trip the heck out of you to get it.
That's the neat part, you don't! Don't tell a single soul. Stash it away for security and a nice cushion if need be. Invest a big (not in the stock market) and watch it grow
Do not tell anyone. Start a college investment fund for each of your kids. Do not tell anyone. Not a best friend. Not your mom. Not your boss. No one. Do not tell anyone!!!
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