This isn't a problem I'm ever likely to deal with, but what was the thinking behind this one? I'd have thought >$1 mil in net worth is the time to cancel any insurance you have (maybe not health) on the basis that you can self insure now.
And taking the risk that the insurance company won't pay out for some reason. And creating more paperwork and recurring expenses to keep track of. $5 mil is a lot but it isn't enough to take eyes off expenses.
If you have a house and it burns down in a fire, you will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars or more replacing it.
If you get rid of health insurance, there is enormous potential downside risk.
If someone is on your property and injures themselves or you accidentally harm someone, they can sue you for millions.
Insuring against all of this and more is almost certainly under 1000 per year. That is a trivial expense for someone with that much money. Even shit ROI on a portfolio is yielding at least a hundred thousand per year in growth assuming this person no longer works. The more money you have, the more insurance you want because you have far more to lose.
Um, no.
Average auto insurance premium is $1,470/yr. [0]
Average homeowners insurance is $1,130/yr. [1]
Average health insurance (in 2018, probably more now), was $440/mo., Or $5,280/yr. [2] (And average health insurance will leave a lot of exposure to costs, so you still have a lot of downside risk at that price.)
The idea that you could almost certainly insure against all of that for under $1,000/yr is...wildly inaccurate.
[0] https://www.thezebra.com/auto-insurance/average-auto-insuran...
[1] https://www.creditdonkey.com/average-cost-homeowners-insuran...
[2] https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/resources/affordable-care-a...
That was a bit of stretch, no? I agree with the other points.
A $5mm umbrella policy with one of the best insurance companies in the US is like $500/year. I just went out and got a quote on it last week. The best part is if that were to happen, the person suing will have to go up against the insurance company’s lawyers, who are most likely very good.
Even if the probability of that happening was in the low single digits, would you really want to run the risk over $500/yr?
No, healthcare costs plus lost wages and other damages for injuries can get into the millions quite easily, and slip and fall injuries are a real legal liability of property owners.
If you end up in a bad situation, getting liquid enough to pay out a big judgement will kill you with taxes.
No, you can't, unless your income is large compared to your assets and not dependent on them.
It's not about the house or car, it's about that $10MM in your bank people want to go after by claiming that you tripped them and they broke their back.
Several studies to that effect are linked from the Wikipedia page on dollar cost averaging.
“Note that don't buy in all at once, diversify not just the investments but also by time, so you're not buying all into the stock market at once.”
This is the recommendation.
This also gives you time to think and reflect about how you want to use your money and what legacy you want,”
This is the main reason, comfort/acclimation.
“while also getting some returns on investments”
This is saying you’ll get better returns than cash, so the price of structuring your investment for comfort will be somewhat mitigated. It’s not advising DCA or suggesting outperformance of or parity with investing everything up front.
If it was the main reason it wouldn't be "also".
If you get a lot of money suddenly, that's not the case. If you invest it all at once in the market, and get by chance high returns quickly, you could start gambing (investing) very quickly.
If one believes
a) one can't time the market b) the market (as a whole) trends up over time
doesn't this means that on average the best time to invest money is as soon as you can (of course there are other reasons to take you time, but I don't see how "diversifying by time" is a good reason as it would seem to imply market timing)
Rushing into market means you will make less mistakes, but bigger ones.
Small typo, I guess you meant "peace of mind".
Insurance is maxed out. Agree that putting tax money in super safe savings method is good.
Got an accountant, not sure it's the right one but not a bad one.
Working on trust and all associated works.
Interviewing various RIAs. Not sure about DAF - I get it but may wait to donate money.
Great book recommendations!
The only question I have for you and others is - what about diversifying? Details on my 'wealth increase' is that company illiquid stock turned into liquid stock; so did you focus on diversifying or patience?
- Set aside a large amount for taxes, invested it in US Treasury Bond (get an estimate of your taxes from an accountant)
- Got an accountant
- Read up on QSBS (this can save you a lot of money if you got stock when the company was small enough)
- Got a last will and testament drafted and signed. Also asked our probate lawyer about stupid things people do with money, so as to avoid those mistakes.
- Got a financial planner. Also asked about stupid things people do. (At your scale, probably ok to just do standard ETFs and bonds. Note that don't buy in all at once, diversify not just the investments but also by time, so you're not buying all into the stock market at once. This also gives you time to think and reflect about how you want to use your money and what legacy you want, while also getting some returns on investments)
- Set up a donor advised fund (you can donate stock directly to one and get a big tax break)
- Made a donation and got something cool named after two of my long time mentors
- Read book Silver Spoon Kids on how to talk to one's children about money (our financial advisor gave this to us)
- Read a lot about wealth and power in the United States, in particular sociologist and psychologist William Domhoff's "Who Rules America?" https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/wealth.html (I stumbled on this by accident, but found it a fascinating read)
Time is on your side here, so don't rush into anything. I was really lucky to have a brother who already had high net worth, so he was able to give a lot of guidance and discussion of tradeoffs.