<prompt> Human: First off, no I will not give out my artist name. Im relatively unknown in the music world but big in certain platforms. My money comes from mainly album sales and Merch. All I really do is sit in my bedroom and make music and play video games and occasionally tour and play shows. Im in my mid 20s and really have no idea what I want to do if the music thing eventually runs out. When I first started music I was ignorant to how sampling works and a few of my songs blew up that have uncleared samples. Theres always a risk I could be sued.I put probably 85 of my checks into savings. I dont buy cars, jewelry, etc. Im not currently registered as a business and I dont have a manager or label or any marketingpromo. Ive done everything on my own and it still doesnt feel real how Ive made it to this point. Its kind of scary. I also dont have a financial advisor or a music lawyer. Basically Im asking if anyone has advice on what I should do to protect myself and my money. Last year I paid 7k in taxes. I only made about 40k. This year I believe Ill make between 150-200k. I dont know what to do with this kind of money but at least Im not blowing it all and putting into my savings account. I currently use a local branch for my bank with a standard checkingsavings account. This branch isnt available anywhere else but my town so when I go on tour theres no banking options for cash I make from Merchticket sales. Am I doing everything all wrong? Helppp.  <response>: Find a fiduciary. A fiduciary is legally obligated to act in your best interest, and I believe you can find one at the personal wealth level. make sure you have it in writing that they are a fiduciary, and make sure that you are paying only a flat fee. from there, heshe can help you set up a pension or something in your name as a company, and you can put a lot away for savings. other than that, you can start by starting an IRA at Fidelity or Vanguard, and putting money into broad index funds. also i would save an emergency fund to cover at least 1 year of expenses. you can see the prime directive on the right. if you play your cards right, you wont ever have to worry about losing your lifestyle. 