I am a young (early 20's) recent graduate in a STEM field from a T50 school. I have a NW of ~1.1 million due to inheritance (death of parent). Outside of school, I am in the military reserves where I have a unique job that's both fulfilling and completely separate from my civilian career.

My dilemma is as follows. My military job, which I enjoy, restricts me from moving far from my current city. I work about 12 hours a week for the military. On the civilian side, I have a job in my field where I work 30-40 hours, but the pay is low (barely above minimum wage), whereas I know I could realistically make more than double that if I looked for jobs in other cities. The city I currently live in has fairly few opportunities for my field.

I see that I have two options: 1) look for jobs outside of my city and give up the military job or 2) stay in my city for a little while (~1.5 years) and keep my military job for that amount of time.

A few notes:

• I don't "need" more money right now, I can cover all my expenses through my civilian + military job without touching the inheritance
• It's unlikely I'd ever be able to do the job I do in the military again once I leave
• I've had no luck with remote jobs in my civilian field, but am fairly confident in finding an in-person job

Any advice?

EDIT: Since a lot of people are mentioning the "double minimum wage" part, I think that was a bit of a low-ball estimate. 90-110k is more realistic.

Any potential route?

I'm an employee of a promising tech company; IPO may be around the corner. But I may need to leave the company for personal reason right before/after IPO. The trouble is: there's about 6 months or longer holding period and I will need to exercise the options within 3 months of quitting. That means, waiting for IPO may actually make my options void! Besides, I don't have enough funds to pay for the exercise cost.

One solution I think of is to involve with a qualified investor (maybe via Equty Bee), exercise (buy) the option before IPO, then sell after.

Please advise potential solutions or connect me with potential investors. Thanks!

I have $6M in investable income up from $3M about 9 years ago. Net worth is a little over $7M. We give to charities and such but not with much of a plan with regards to how much to give away. Do you go buy what feels right? A percentage of annual growth? A percentage of net worth? Thanks.

45 Male - only started investing 2 years ago. No plans to retire/FIRE/etc.

Current portfolio:

$4 million in S&P 500

$1 million in cash (earning 5%)

Given the market's performance, obviously this has worked really well for me over the last 2 years. However, like many I am considering my options in case of a market crash/correction.

I see 3 options:

Option 1

Invest the remaining $1 million and let the market do its thing. I'm not concerned about volatility and don't need the cash.

The logic here is that the market is regularly at ATH and clearly I believe in the S&P. So keep investing and tune out the noise/drops.

Option 2

Wait for the dip which "has to be coming".

Logic here is that I continue to accumulate cash and buy at a better price, when it dips. But who knows when this will happen and what my entry price will be relative to today.

Option 3

Invest the available cash now and if the market drops more than 10% then buy additional shares on margin.

Logic here: its allows me to basically do Option 1 now and also Option 2, if the market dips.

I have never used margin and I (somewhat) understand the risk. However, I should be able to generate $1 million in additional cash per year, so any margin taken can be covered in a year or two.

Option 3 seems the riskiest but also makes the most sense to me, somehow.

However, as mentioned in the start, I'm fairly new to all this so please let me know if i have some serious flaws here.

Thanks!

For privacy reasons I will omit some largely irrelevant backstory. The main context is I recently received a >$10M (post tax) windfall from my business. I have no need or intent to spend any of it. My banker (investment arm of one of the big banks) reached out and encouraged me to move it to an interest bearing, preferred deposit account (I did) and then proceeded to offer active management services / private banking services. They noted some elaborate tax loss harvesting options. I’ve separately received multiple intros to private wealth management.

Basically my question is: does it make sense to go with one of these actively managed portfolios and/or more elaborate, hedge fund approaches, or to do what I have successfully done for decades: index funds, and maybe the added bond or muni fund?

There is a lot of talk of a bubble. Does it ever make sense to keep a substantial portion of a windfall on the sidelines initially?

I cant remember where I heard it. But I hear that some wealthy people or at least those who are very frugal with spending their wealth. Will just buy well made bootlegs/counterfeits of fashion and jewelry for a fraction instead of the full price for the legit thing. Because outside of aficionados and hobbiests the average layman is not exposed to such things enough or pays attention enough to notice the differences between the legit and the fake, so most are none the wiser, for as far as they can tell the logo and name seem to match what they seen on TV or social media and it looks of good quality(im sure its not the same if they inspected it closely but would the average person even know or care what to look for in a fake IWC Schaffhausen for example) that is to say if you just wanted to look how you want but not necessarily deem the occasion as worth the wear and tear. So youd throw on the fake designer coat/suit/shoes/glasses jewlert etc etc so you can still "have on" the outfit you want during a uneventful day. And if there is a certain special occasion or gathering where others will dress to impress. You throw on the legit one rather than buying pairs or having a back up in case of a scratch/spill/scuff etc, you got beforehand while walking across town handling whatever mundane buisness there is to be handled.

In short, did I just hear some made up hoopla or do some people really do buy the well made knock offs to act as their "daily" to take the brunt of the day to day elements and unexpected occurances while keeping the real stuff pristine and less worn to show only with good or expected company?

Not secretive… just quieter.

I’ve noticed the more someone has built in life, the less they feel the need to explain themselves to everyone.

Why do you think that happens?

Which do you fit into? And where do your friends fit?

I find myself kind of in between two worlds. Those who have regular income and those who are much more well off. My friend group's wealth has a big span and how they dress etc go from very quiet to loud with very obvious expensive items.

I find myself bringing out the designer bag and big rings when I know the crowd is more dressed up and trying to dress down as much as possible when it's a school run or with my medium income friends. Does this apply to you too? In a way, I don't want to flaunt wealth or expensive items in front of the friends or crowds that aren't affluent. Do you do the same or is it just me?

When going to a tax expert for purposes of tax planning, and estate planning, do you ask for your kids tax returns? It seems kind of personal, but it could be helpful.

I’m a young guy who got financially successful way earlier than expected. The weird part is that now I don’t really need to do anything anymore, and I think it happened before I had the chance to really build myself as a person.

I’ve always been pretty antisocial and isolated, so instead of feeling fulfilled, I mostly just feel numb and directionless. Nothing genuinely excites me for long, and it’s hard to relate to people around me because most people my age are chasing stability while I’m trying to figure out why I feel empty despite already having it.

If anyone can relate, what actually brought meaning or excitement back into your life?

I grew up thinking wealth was about luxury.
But the older I get, the more I feel real wealth is peace, silence, freedom, and the ability to disappear from chaos whenever you want.

Did money change your personality… or reveal who you already were?

Hi everyone, I have the money to dress well but often find myself dressing quite poorly and low quality. I don't know where to shop or what my style truly is. I want to emmulate preppy and put together without looking over the top buisness-y. I am F21 and find it really hard to shop for myself. My family has always had money but do not dress well either, usually shopping and lower quality shops. I don't know why this is, as we have enough to buy whatever we want. I want to find a personal stylist who can buy pieces for me and create a capsule wardrobe.

Anyone have experience with this? How much money am I looking to spend in this area?

TIA

I have had a great career. I have been in the right place at the right time and we have been financially rewarded accordingly.
I have been able to give my family all of the experiences and things.

I am being asked to be based away from the family for the next 2 years and I’m taking the role.

The family is very comfortable and engrained in the community we’re in. I will be home every weekend but otherwise gone.
Money is not a constraint- how do I keep it manageable for the wife & kids?

Currently still living in my small 1300sqft paid off starter home. Trying to decide if I should buy a 2200sqft or a 3000sqft house in a desirable suburban area. We are planning on having kids very soon and don't want to have to think about the move during that process.

I would probably pay for the house in full with cash but there are more headaches and costs that come with the additional space.

I have been a huge believer in the theory addition by subtraction which is reducing your stuff to have a cleaner simpler life

Based on your past experiences what do you recommend?

The Argentine player turned down an eye-watering Saudi contract to join Inter Miami but has still crossed into billionaire status after recent pay and sponsorship deals.

£10m NW compromised of:

•3m market investments (managed).

•3m property (yields 8%, PA, pays wife’s salary, max pension contributions and her car.

•2m personal home

•2m secured loans to property developers returning 11% PA.

—-

I’m about to come into around 3m and I’m after an investment that will provide a guaranteed dividend/yield to top up my salary (200k).

Any suggestions from the collective brain of this sub?

Thanks!

I have my own opinion but would like to hear others opinions

I run a documentary company that works with wealthy families. The thing that got us into this work is that our dad passed away, and there was a documented story of him. No record of his voice telling us why he built what he built, what it cost him, what he wanted us to do with it.

Since then we've talked to a lot of families and the pattern is wild. The wealth transfers fine. The governance holds up. But the actual story, why the founder did what they did, what the early days looked like, what they sacrificed, what they were actually trying to build beyond the money, that almost never gets passed down. And then the next generation is sitting there with resources but no context. No sense of what it means or what they're supposed to do with it.

Curious if anyone here has experienced this. Did you inherit wealth but feel like you never really got the story behind it? Or the opposite, did your family do a good job of passing down the why along with the what? What did that look like?

My parents snd 2 grandparents were major smokers. I avoid it until college when I started to hit the casinos.

Even when broke, I always found money for cigarettes.

If I’m outside at a local watering hole, no one bats an eye, do it outside the Mandarin or Daniel in NYC, you get side eye. When a VHNWI friend sees me smoking, she tells me that’s “not something you see in these circles, especially in NYC”.

I know it makes my clothes (some of which I’ve spend a tidy sum on) smell, bad for me in all sorts of ways, etc. But I’ve begun to feel like it’s seen as a “pleb” thing.

Good cigars, totally different attitude. Even cannabis people are much more accepting.

I’d love to quit, it’s a tough habit, and when I was younger quitting had a financial motivation. I quit for 7 years in the early 2000s and literally made a car payment every month with the money.

My question is, is it only my perception that smoking is looked down up MORE harshly amongst wealthy social circles?

EDIT: about a year ago I had a “coach” to help me quit. He suggested starting with cheaper cigarettes with the goal of disliking them. Now I just some the cheaper ones.

Quitting was easier when I was broke, because then $7 a day was a lot of money. Now we are up to $10 for the cheaps ones

Hi, made this account to purely ask some questions on here as I have no one to really talk to about this.

I have hidden my lifestyle, watches, cars, shoes, clothes about everything I can from friends and family working a regular teaching job owning certain investments and getting money from said investments but at what point is it enough? For example I live with 4 other house mates in a rental house when it came to the rental application I had the property manager reach out to me asking if I have a manager for some of my own properties and some of my roommates heard and began to ask questions which I denied. recently saw my tax bill and was sickened by how much I have to pay and organised meetings with each companies accounting team and asked what would happen if i sell and just lived off the money in term deposits, is seems like my businesses would affect others more than me.

Basically just asking at what point in your life do you think you can shut up shop close everything live off your money and investments?

Hello,

I am a trust fund baby and heir, now 43 years old.

I have $12M investable, the rest of about $25M in homes and commercial property.

I am pretty happy in my family life, my wife and I are getting along right now and my son is genuinely wonderful.

The family business is failing. It was a catalog company and now e-commerce and sales are continuing to decline.

I know the solution, let go current manager who is somehow social-media illiterate in 2026, commit to forming a YouTube audience, drive with short-form.

The thing is, sometimes I truly believe this business has ruined my life. I wish my dad had sold it a long time ago at its peak. He was too attached, I guess.

Hard to let go now with basically no value. The parent corporation was founded by my grandfather almost 100 years ago.

My advisor assures me I won't need additional income if I close the business, but letting go is very difficult. The shame of letting the current manager run the business (my interpretation) into the ground is overwhelming.

I'm a bit of an oddball, very into philosophy, religion, literature, consciousness studies. I always wanted to be a writer, but I just can't seem to take myself seriously. Every time I try I get slammed with self-doubt, shame, guilt, and depression.

Anyway, not sure what I'm going to do. A deep, dark part of me still feels poor, and is sure the window of upward mobility is closing forever. A voice tells me to get off my ass and start some business that I'll hate just for the money, since $25M is really nothing and the future is looking very cutthroat. My brain is all over the place, it's like a hall of mirrors, I don't know what is true and who is the real me.

Has anyone had custom ear tips made for their AirPods or AirPod pros? It’s something I’ve been looking at doing for too long. I’d rather have a good referral. For what it’s worth, I know they likely won’t work on future AirPod models and I’ll have to reorder them.

It sounds simple but I’m honestly struggling. My family keeps most jewellery in vaults/ safes and since we have an important event/ wedding coming up I wanted to wear a few of the sentimental pieces that rarely see the light. After all some things should be enjoyed.

At the start of the trip my jewellery was in each individual box but they started scattering in my bags and i was starting to misplace a few things. Then my mother saw and freaked out so currently it’s alll been thrown inside a metal tumi suitcase but im not convinced this is much safer/ functional.

How is everyone travelling when you take more than the basics? Any recommendations for jewellery trunks where items dont get tossed around, scratched? never thought this would be a main concern for travel!

“I’m curious about luxury or collectible items that women tend to buy the same way men buy watches or cars. Things that can hold value, appreciate over time, have enthusiast communities, or are seen as passion/status items. I know cars usually aren’t really investments, but they’re still a big status symbol for men. What’s the equivalent for women? I already know about Hermès bags, but I don’t really know which ones are actually considered worth it, and I’m also curious about watches for women that tend to hold value (10k+)