[throwawaaays]

I'm in a similar situation, but it's like 1/3 of what she'll make. And I have literally no idea what to do now. I have a good feeling for how to manage it. But not a good feeling about what it means for my life.

In the SF area, it's not enough to live with a family. Where my wife and I are from, it's enough to early-retire with average incomes (4% of 2M$ ~= 80k$/y, 40k$/y median income). But do I want to do this? Or do I keep working my job?

My job is alright, and I make pretty good money. I've been progressing along so far and doing well. But would I rather not have to attend meetings I don't feel like? Yes. But would I rather ride a bike everyday that I want? Yes. Would I rather play games for hours? Yes. Would I rather learn to machine stuff with a CNC? Yes. Would I rather learn new maths, sciences, engineering fields? Yes. Would I rather go sailing around the world? Yes.

Or at least for a while. But then I'd probably get tired of it. And then I can't do too crazy stuff because we have young kids that need to grow up. And then I couldn't afford the sustained expenses, and then want to go back to work. But then I'd have a gap in my resume and worry about having lost touch with my network and career.

We're already debt free and save a large amount of our income every pay-check. We're not interested in buying a house or living in a fancier place. Not interested in a fancier car. We don't want to flash like we're wealthy. We want to be able to hangout with our friends without making them uncomfortable.

So what do I even do with this money? I've never been taught how to be "wealthy". Before all this became reality, I thought I knew what I'd do, I had so many ideas. Now that it's there... crickets.

[marcinzm]

I'd say you can now find a job that best aligns with what makes you happy. The money a job pays you is no longer the most important aspect but merely a secondary one. Want to work 20 hours a week, you probably can. Want to help the world, you probably can at a non-profit. Want to learn a new technical skill set, you probably can at a job where you take a lower level. And so on and so on. You can now trade off salary from a company for whatever you want.

[arbol]

I took two years off after a big windfall. It's fine to stay out of work permanently but those two years taught me that you need to to have a group of people to work with and bounce ideas off. Trying to sit and do things on your own is way less productive and not good mentally.

[McScroogy]

My biggest worry at the moment would be keeping the money somehow. Dollars may be devaluated - everything may be devaluated in fact.

If you want to pass some money on to your children (and invest in their education), already the amount doesn't look that much anymore.