OP, I’m in similar shoes like you but I’m 34, already have a PhD debt free and a good corporate job in one of those international development banks. I won’t inherit the 4 million until my parents die but I know it’s there and growing (I’m the only child). There is another million or two my spouse and I accumulated in RE and retirement that we can use anytime and growing as well.

I know it’s not ton of money per dcum standard, but it does give me the freedom to be less ‘ambitious’ at work - that I dare to pick what I want to do and ignore the bullshit. My job is meaningful in nature but there are still loooots of bureaucratic nonsense that I see as a waste of time. I read a lot, and we travel a lot. I’m now pregnant with my second child. Maybe we will have another? I don’t know. My point is, a loving family and meaning life is the best gift money give you!

I would really think about what would give your life meaning. For some reason you think it is money (attracted to biglaw and insurance). This money you inherited is an opportunity to work on something that means something to you. Don't squander it. You are young enough to go to any type of grad school. Figure out what is important to you and go to that field. Environment? Public health? Poverty? Civil rights?

There's nothing "gross" about earning a living in the private sector. I'm not going to make a high risk passion project into a career when it's safer to just let the principal grow while I live on my salary.

As much as I feel more insulated from financial stress, I still want to acquire skills through serious work. I'm not a lazy person and my question only related to law school.

people have different desires.

I find investments/real estate/ etc far more interesting than what other people consider "passion" jobs or saving the world or whatever. I just don't like working for other people. With OP's money, I'd do precisely what I do now, just with a far greater degree of autonomy and agency.

the world needs many different types of people, and capitalism needs people to manage the capital.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're very practical and smart and also cynical, and I think your cynicism could interfere with your ability to discover your work passions or derive the joy that comes from a true partnership with someone. I know you didn't ask for that kind of advice, but as someone much older, I hope you'll invest in your personal life, too. It's great to rise through the ranks and experience financial success and be ambitious, but it's pretty lonely to do it alone.

agree w/ above. I think OP should use the freedom/capital he has to work his way up in the real estate world. do 10 years at other shops, find what you're most interested in (acusisitions/development/foreclosures/whatever) and then take $10mm and start your own thing. if you're good, you can leverage other people's money and build generational wealth. if you're bad, as long as you don't tottally leverage yourself up w/ recourse financing, you'll end up in an okay place still.

practical, smart, cynical, moneyed = real estate / investments / etc.

What a waste. You're 25 years old. Totally set for life. You can do anything.

And the best ideas you tools have are real estate acquisitions, biglaw, or "some kind of business" career. How absolutely boring and gross.

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're very practical and smart and also cynical, and I think your cynicism could interfere with your ability to discover your work passions or derive the joy that comes from a true partnership with someone. I know you didn't ask for that kind of advice, but as someone much older, I hope you'll invest in your personal life, too. It's great to rise through the ranks and experience financial success and be ambitious, but it's pretty lonely to do it alone.

You sound like my mom! I didn't grow up among happily married couples. Not averse to commitment, but wary of the marriage institution.

Ha! That was me. I am a mom, and it's the advice I give my own kids (who are in their late teens).

Anonymous wrote:You're very practical and smart and also cynical, and I think your cynicism could interfere with your ability to discover your work passions or derive the joy that comes from a true partnership with someone. I know you didn't ask for that kind of advice, but as someone much older, I hope you'll invest in your personal life, too. It's great to rise through the ranks and experience financial success and be ambitious, but it's pretty lonely to do it alone.

agree w/ above. I think OP should use the freedom/capital he has to work his way up in the real estate world. do 10 years at other shops, find what you're most interested in (acusisitions/development/foreclosures/whatever) and then take $10mm and start your own thing. if you're good, you can leverage other people's money and build generational wealth. if you're bad, as long as you don't tottally leverage yourself up w/ recourse financing, you'll end up in an okay place still.

practical, smart, cynical, moneyed = real estate / investments / etc.

Anonymous wrote:You're very practical and smart and also cynical, and I think your cynicism could interfere with your ability to discover your work passions or derive the joy that comes from a true partnership with someone. I know you didn't ask for that kind of advice, but as someone much older, I hope you'll invest in your personal life, too. It's great to rise through the ranks and experience financial success and be ambitious, but it's pretty lonely to do it alone.

You sound like my mom! I didn't grow up among happily married couples. Not averse to commitment, but wary of the marriage institution.

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go to law school. pls dont give law schools a cent for tuition out of this money. And don’t miss out on 3 good earning years at this point.

Just work hard and rise up in some other field.

I would have done that if I were you.

~ Top biglaw after going to top law school, F*ing exhausted

Agree. Do whatever you want, you’re set.

~ Top Biglaw somehow for my entire career after going to top law school, f*ing exhausted d have been forever but now it’s worse, and after a divorce and some weird career decisions just now at the net worth OP has.

I'm surprised that attorneys would even get married to begin with. Seems like a huge liability. Outside of religious meaning, why would anyone invite the government to define their partnership?

Lol is this for real? OMG def don’t go to law school. EQ too low to really make it in biglaw.

In a world where divorce is so common and costly, I don't think questioning marriage is bizarre. Of course, I don't discuss this stuff in any professional setting.

Divorce isn’t really common among lawyers. And it’s the splitting up of a household and kids that’s expensive (eg no longer having pooled retirement savings and a joint housing budget), not really the dissolution of marriage.

I'm not sure how useful it is to consider divorce rates by profession. Too many idiosyncratic factors among couples. How is asset division not expensive?

Depends on who you marry. You’re not very wealthy, really. So good chance you’d marry someone who does better?

Haha I agree that I'm not yet properly rich! But, I can't imagine that I'd settle down with a spouse until I'm in my mid-30s. By my late 30s, I should be worth $10M and would be entering any partnership with considerable assets.
To your point, outside of trust fund kids, there probably aren't too many girls my age [and younger] with 7 figures to their name. So, I'm not sure how easy it would be to find a financial equal this early in life.

You're very practical and smart and also cynical, and I think your cynicism could interfere with your ability to discover your work passions or derive the joy that comes from a true partnership with someone. I know you didn't ask for that kind of advice, but as someone much older, I hope you'll invest in your personal life, too. It's great to rise through the ranks and experience financial success and be ambitious, but it's pretty lonely to do it alone.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/297632/on-the-shortness-of-life-by-seneca/

Read this first

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go to law school. pls dont give law schools a cent for tuition out of this money. And don’t miss out on 3 good earning years at this point.

Just work hard and rise up in some other field.

I would have done that if I were you.

~ Top biglaw after going to top law school, F*ing exhausted

Agree. Do whatever you want, you’re set.

~ Top Biglaw somehow for my entire career after going to top law school, f*ing exhausted d have been forever but now it’s worse, and after a divorce and some weird career decisions just now at the net worth OP has.

I'm surprised that attorneys would even get married to begin with. Seems like a huge liability. Outside of religious meaning, why would anyone invite the government to define their partnership?

Lol is this for real? OMG def don’t go to law school. EQ too low to really make it in biglaw.

In a world where divorce is so common and costly, I don't think questioning marriage is bizarre. Of course, I don't discuss this stuff in any professional setting.

Divorce isn’t really common among lawyers. And it’s the splitting up of a household and kids that’s expensive (eg no longer having pooled retirement savings and a joint housing budget), not really the dissolution of marriage.

I'm not sure how useful it is to consider divorce rates by profession. Too many idiosyncratic factors among couples. How is asset division not expensive?

Depends on who you marry. You’re not very wealthy, really. So good chance you’d marry someone who does better?

No advice just jealous of your money.

Dear OP,

What you may want to study is how to wisely invest your funds for the long run.

I would recommend this site:
https://www.bogleheads.org/
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page

Also, you can find there some good books to read on the topic.

Good luck and Best wishes.

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go to law school. pls dont give law schools a cent for tuition out of this money. And don’t miss out on 3 good earning years at this point.

Just work hard and rise up in some other field.

I would have done that if I were you.

~ Top biglaw after going to top law school, F*ing exhausted

Agree. Do whatever you want, you’re set.

~ Top Biglaw somehow for my entire career after going to top law school, f*ing exhausted d have been forever but now it’s worse, and after a divorce and some weird career decisions just now at the net worth OP has.

I'm surprised that attorneys would even get married to begin with. Seems like a huge liability. Outside of religious meaning, why would anyone invite the government to define their partnership?

Lol is this for real? OMG def don’t go to law school. EQ too low to really make it in biglaw.

In a world where divorce is so common and costly, I don't think questioning marriage is bizarre. Of course, I don't discuss this stuff in any professional setting.

Divorce isn’t really common among lawyers. And it’s the splitting up of a household and kids that’s expensive (eg no longer having pooled retirement savings and a joint housing budget), not really the dissolution of marriage.

I'm not sure how useful it is to consider divorce rates by profession. Too many idiosyncratic factors among couples. How is asset division not expensive?

It's expensive to lose half your joint assets but only because you had joint assets in the first place. The flip side of the coin is that it's VERY expensive to be single. The best financial outcome is a happy marriage, not being single.

To elaborate, just as an example, DH and I jointly own our house. We have about $600k in equity. If we divorced he would "lose" half the equity, so that's "expensive." But if we were not married, he wouldn't have been able to buy this house at all, and would probably live in a condo that didn't appreciate nearly as well as our SFH did.