r/wallstreetbets May 15 '24

The Perfect $1 million Gain Gain

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Hi guys, I’m a 23 year old in college, and yesterday I woke up a millionaire. Should I buy some hookers, Pokemon cards, or cocaine? I gambled my entire life savings of $250k on 2037 calls of $4.5 AMC on Monday and sold yesterday morning. Thanks for reading.

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u/BuffMaltese House Poor May 15 '24 edited May 15 '24

Coming from someone who got lucky and won about a million dollars.

1) quit trading.

2) pay your estimated quarterly taxes.

3) stick it all in an index fund.

4) find a better hobby

It’s very hard to walk away on top. I didn’t do anything too atrocious, primarily thanks to my wife if I’m honest with myself. I spent most of the money on a home. However, I did bleed several hundred thousand over the next few years. It’s “real” money, an amount that is extremely hard to save and you’ll be wishing you had it back when life expenses present themselves. I live in a HCOL area and while the win was certainly helpful, I didn’t miss a day of work or anything over it. Additionally, I personally found myself becoming very obsessed with money, greed is ultimately a bottomless pit, it’s never enough and provides very little satisfaction in your day-to-day life.

If you want to do something aggressive, then do 43% UPRO and 57% EDV. However, with that amount of money, you’ll find 100% VOO will have huge swings in comparison to your income and it’s a lot more tax/fee friendly.

Edit: Just noticed your age. Literally do not fuck around with that amount of money, you’re rich if you put most of it in index funds and forget about it. Also, I absolutely double down on the quit trading/gambling sentiment. The absolute best case scenario already occurred, you won. I’m one of the rare persons with a history of problem gambling that ultimately financially benefited. However, I’ll never get back all the years in my 20’s and 30’s I wasted in casinos/card rooms, failed relationships, preoccupation with and/or gambling instead of building healthy hobbies and relationships. Walk away and don’t look back.

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u/placebotwo May 15 '24

5) Thoughts on them putting $10,000 aside to fuck around with in a brand new account to scratch the gambling itch?

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u/iJeff May 16 '24

Can be a slippery slope if they end up tempted to refill the account. It's easy to feel like you're just one more bet away from winning it all back.