Coming into money

[Anonymous]

One idea ~ whatever 10% of your net worth is, consider that your fun money. Otherwise, keep your lifestyle the same, mostly. You can breathe easier re: college/retirement savings, ramp up those contributions if you should.

The 10% is so every decision does not need to be maximized. Maybe you didn't happen to get the best deal on airfare to visit family, or the best deal possible on that new car. You hoped to but didn't. Don't sweat it. You'll have less stress. When you come-into money, some things that were stressful before, don't need to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of financial advisors are not particularly savvy about investing & also charge a % of your assets that they manage. Be very careful about getting sucked into that racket.

That's what I'm concerned about. I had some investments that over time the "management fees" overtook the interest I was making so I was losing money every month and I wasn't paying attention because I just assumed it would increase in value over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like we are going to be coming into some money. I expect we'll need an attorney, accountant, and financial advisor. The only debt we have is our mortgage which is almost paid off. I'd like to make some investments, home improvements, minimize taxes, and spend some of the money on something fun. I am horrible with money and don't want to be like those celebrities or lottery winners who end up with nothing because they got bad advice. What is the best way to proceed? How do you find people you can trust?

I would ask friends/colleagues?

None of my friends have this kind of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve always turned to my father who is smart and a long term investor. I have received free advice from some of his advisors which has been helpful. Over time I’ve gotten pretty good at it just by investing in a mix of index funds.

Unfortunately for me, my father is the reason I'm horrible with money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband runs all of our money but we keep some at Wells Fargo. If you keep enough money with them, you have access to their high net worth advisors. Most banks offer these services.

We have investments with Fidelity, Vanguard, and Hartford. I'll see what they can offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like we are going to be coming into some money. I expect we'll need an attorney, accountant, and financial advisor. The only debt we have is our mortgage which is almost paid off. I'd like to make some investments, home improvements, minimize taxes, and spend some of the money on something fun. I am horrible with money and don't want to be like those celebrities or lottery winners who end up with nothing because they got bad advice. What is the best way to proceed? How do you find people you can trust?

I would ask friends/colleagues?

None of my friends have this kind of money.

Yeah, tell all your friends and colleagues that you’re about to inherit 1,000,000+ dollars and ask their advice on how to deal with it. That’s a marvelous idea.

[Anonymous]

I love it that the first order is hire 3 people and start spending the money on them.
It's not that complicated really. Little bit of homework and you are good to go. My child is about to come into some money and I hate it that first thing we have to do it spend it on a bond.

[Anonymous]

Make one or two splurges like a trip and a car or a new kitchen then put he rest of the money in Charles Schwab. Schwab will give you a cash bonus for putting the money there and they can help you invest it or just slowly put it into index funds like VOO and VTI. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of financial advisors are not particularly savvy about investing & also charge a % of your assets that they manage. Be very careful about getting sucked into that racket.

This is completely legitimate and how financial advisors make money. If you want help from a professional, be prepared to pay for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is exactly what I need. What kind of advisor should I look for?

Anonymous wrote:I put myself on an allowance that is a fraction of what I earn in interest. The fraction was decided by my financial advisor.

Beats me - my dad's oldest/best friend from jr high is a CPA at Smith Barney, so I just reached out to him and asked if he could help me. I was pretty sure I remembered my dad saying he generally only deals with high net worth accounts and handled my mom and dad's stuff as a personal favor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like we are going to be coming into some money. I expect we'll need an attorney, accountant, and financial advisor. The only debt we have is our mortgage which is almost paid off. I'd like to make some investments, home improvements, minimize taxes, and spend some of the money on something fun. I am horrible with money and don't want to be like those celebrities or lottery winners who end up with nothing because they got bad advice. What is the best way to proceed? How do you find people you can trust?

I would ask friends/colleagues?

None of my friends have this kind of money.

Yeah, tell all your friends and colleagues that you’re about to inherit 1,000,000+ dollars and ask their advice on how to deal with it. That’s a marvelous idea.

You don't have to share any details. I use a financial advisor that was recommended by a colleague. The conversation went like this:
Me: He Larlo, do you have a financial advisor that you can recommend?
Larlo: Yes, we have been using Mr. M.
Me: Do you mind sending me his contact info.
Larlo: Sure.

End of the conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It looks like we are going to be coming into some money. I expect we'll need an attorney, accountant, and financial advisor. The only debt we have is our mortgage which is almost paid off. I'd like to make some investments, home improvements, minimize taxes, and spend some of the money on something fun. I am horrible with money and don't want to be like those celebrities or lottery winners who end up with nothing because they got bad advice. What is the best way to proceed? How do you find people you can trust?

Attorney: Is this a probate situation? Do you really need an attorney? Is this a contested situation? If there is an estate attorney already in place and if there are no issues with the will/probate, you probably don't need one.
Accountant: Unclear for what?
Financial advisor:
- You owe the taxes that you owe. There is really no magic to it. Especially not after the fact.
- Take $1m and consider it discretionary spending (this assumes we are talking high 7 figures):
-- Pay down your mortgage
-- Renovate your house
-- Travel
-- Do something else fun
-- Put what's left of the $1m in a high yield savings account and use it for discretionary spending in the following years
- Take the rest of your inheritance and do one of the following 3:
(1) Hire a financial planner. If you have no leads, just get one from one of the large banks.
(2) Increase your current investments proportionally. If you have your investments equally split into 3 mutual funds and you have an additional $3m to invest, split the $3m into the same mutual funds equally. This assumes that some thought was put into your current investment strategy.
(3) Invest everything into VTSAX and don't think about it until you need the money

[Anonymous]

1. You do not need to hire anyone.

2. Just pay off whatever debt and then put the money in a total market index (like the VTSAX mentioned above).

3. Sleep well.

4. Profit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of financial advisors are not particularly savvy about investing & also charge a % of your assets that they manage. Be very careful about getting sucked into that racket.

This is completely legitimate and how financial advisors make money. If you want help from a professional, be prepared to pay for it.

It's how financial advisors profit off people's fear and ignorance. Paying a percentage of assets is just a bad idea for most people.

[Anonymous]

I would not waste money on professional help for 7 figures unless there are unusual circumstances. Read boggleheads. Pay high interest debts off, invest like other said in some broad funds (no individual stocks!), have a little fun (~5%), don’t do any drastic spending for the first year otherwise.