<prompt> Human: I joined a software company when it was very, very young and got a fair amount of stock. A decade later, the company is doing awesome and the stock is currently worth about 1 million this is based on the most recent transactions a few weeks ago where large amounts of stock were sold. The company is still private but there are a lot of people wishing to buy the stock. I could sell it now but Ill likely wait until IPO as the company is doing well and will likely continue to grow.My question: What are my options if I sell my stock and have a million in cash? I am 31 and married with no kids.I personally envision working 10 hours a week, having a house in the country, gardening and flying a plane. However, I am really good with computers but not the inner workings of finance so I am open to know what those good with finance would say.I told someone I thought about just buying a house out right, retiring and taking odd jobs to provide little boosts of cash here and there. He responded that loans are cheap and I should still get a loan for a house and invest the cash. I hadnt thought of that. What are your thoughts?  <response>: 1 million will definitely help you towards some financial independence, but dont spend the money before you have it.1. Youre going to pay taxes on your gain. But youll still keep a good share. Make damn sure you hire a good accountant. In fact, when youre ready to sell, consult an accountant beforehand and then retain him or her to do your taxes that year.2. Depending on interest rates and what you do with the rest of the money, it may or may not make sense to buy a house outright. For example, if you can earn 5 average investing over the life of the mortgage, but only pay 3 and get some tax deductions from that, making the effective interest rate a bit lower, then the _financially best_ thing to do is to still have the mortgage. Of course, there are non-financial reasons to pay it off first.3. Regardless of owning a house or not, you will have expenses. Your goal, if you want to be able to work only a few hours a week, is to make your _passive income_ come meet or hopefully exceed your expenses. Food, insurance, gas, hobbies, property tax, utilities, yacht club dues, high speed internet, gifts for the wife, and so on. By the way, theres a term for the set of people who work more or less because they want to, not because they have to, due to having invested wisely prior to the usual retirement age. Check out rfinancialindependence and read blogs like Mr. Money Mustache to see what folks do in that situation.4. Find a trustworthy financial planner when you have the money. Get one who wont have a conflict of interest. That means a _fee based financial planner_ not one who earns commissions. When you have that cash, its worth a thousand or two to get some expert advice. If you have a professional you trust now - accountant, lawyer, etc - ask him or her for a recommendation. 5. Read about finance. Soon. Learn what a mutual fund is. Learn what index funds are. Learn about the difference between stocks and bonds. Learn about the taxes on dividends and how that works. And also read about why so many people get rich and then go broke so it doesnt happen to you.Congratulations. If youre smart about it, youll have the ultimate fuck you fund before too long. Use it wisely. 