# Guide the multi-millionaire **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 2, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183 "2011-08-02T15:42:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/41 "2011-08-03T16:09:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Would waiting a couple of months to claim it help with reducing the publicity? You could wait? Really? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/42 "2011-08-03T16:25:56Z")
BTW, when setting up a blind trust, the kind of lawyer you’re looking for is a PROBATE lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/43 "2011-08-03T16:33:01Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > You could wait? Really? Need time to get passports and shots in order. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/44 "2011-08-03T16:34:58Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > 1. Lawyer-up. > > 2. Hire a very good accountant. > > 3. Let said Attorney and Accountant deal with everything while getting paid handsomely. > > 4. Have Accountant set-up The Czarcasm Foundation to protect your money, and so you can give some of it away to various causes. Hire a good independant auditor. And a seperate _tax_ lawyer (There’s a difference - you need both). Make sure _you_ sign all the checks - do NOT deligate this. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/45 "2011-08-03T16:41:29Z")
Damn guys, you’re intruding reality on my fantasy. I’ll tell ya what, I’ll worry about when I win that $100 million. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/46 "2011-08-03T16:46:21Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > Hire a good independant auditor. And a seperate _tax_ lawyer (There’s a difference - you need both). > > Make sure _you_ sign all the checks - do NOT deligate this. Not only will I be the only one signing the checks, I’ll be using a special biometric DNA ink to help eliminate counterfeit signatures. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/47 "2011-08-03T16:50:27Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Buy a stamp that says FUCK YOU, and use it on every envelope you get from a stranger before sending it back to them. You know, custom stamps aren’t that expensive; we could do this NOW. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/48 "2011-08-03T16:50:38Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Not only will I be the only one signing the checks, I’ll be using a special biometric DNA ink to help eliminate counterfeit signatures. So you’ll be signing in blood, then? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/49 "2011-08-03T16:56:25Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > So you’ll be signing in blood, then? 😛 If you wish to assume blood is the fluid I’ll be using, who am I to disillusion you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/50 "2011-08-03T16:56:51Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Want the absolute best care? Skip health insurance and tell your doctor that money’s no problem. > > Pay your own way, and you don’t have to worry about paperwork, just a bill. The little card you’ll want to throw at them is [this one.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion_Card) While this may get you good care, I am not sure its the best advice. If you have ever had a long stay in a hospital, the difference between what the hospital bills and what insurance actually pays can be staggering. I would want someone knowledgeable to be able to negotiate for me, and outside of insurance, I don’t know how I would go about this. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/51 "2011-08-03T16:57:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If you wish to assume blood is the fluid I’ll be using, who am I to disillusion you? 😉 Win. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/52 "2011-08-03T18:01:10Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I have decided that even when I win $100 million, I’m still going to buy the best health insurance available, just because I don’t want to deal with forms and bills. You know, if you get sick or break your ankle and have to go to the hospital, you don’t want to stand there at the desk and say, “No, I don’t have insurance, but I’m rich! Really!” I’m going to have a little card to throw at them and somebody else to worry about the paperwork. I’d still want insurance for catastrophes, but for regular healthcare, I’d sign up with a concierge or executive healthcare practice. Some doctors develop such practices because they don’t want to deal with insurance companies. So all of their care is on a cash basis. (Not cash literally, but they want the patient to pay directly for all of their care.) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/53 "2011-08-03T18:15:17Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’d still want insurance for catastrophes… Why? What health care catastrophe can you think of that could conceivably _begin_ to threaten your $160 million nest egg? Even a heart-lung transplant (plus 30 years’ worth of immunosuppressive drugs) [costs less than $2M.](http://www.ehow.com/about_4673807_much-does-lung-transplant-cost.html) (and would be tax-deductible.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/54 "2011-08-03T18:26:21Z")
Well for one thing, when I’ve got that $160 million fortune, I’m going to be spending a good part of the year traveling around the world. So I want to have a contract with a good air ambulance company that will arrange to fly me out on a private jet with medical personnel aboard. While I could pay for this out of pocket, the companies that specialize in this already have the staff and experience to expedite such things. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/55 "2011-08-03T18:52:54Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Why? What health care catastrophe can you think of that could conceivably _begin_ to threaten your $160 million nest egg? > > Even a heart-lung transplant (plus 30 years’ worth of immunosuppressive drugs) [costs less than $2M.](http://www.ehow.com/about_4673807_much-does-lung-transplant-cost.html) (and would be tax-deductible.) Maybe he plans on having a few thousand kids? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/56 "2011-08-03T18:55:49Z")
First of all, I’d wait a long while before collecting. I would hire a good lawyer to help me obtain the money with as little publicity as possible. And visit a tax consultant. I would give the amounts I would want immediately spread around, to my friends and family, anonymously, perhaps even including myself to throw them off the scent, through the lawyer, of course. I would stash the money in the best banking situation I could find. I would never own anything again, (with the exception of my current home which I would pay off, and pay to have maintained. It’s modest but I love it, and where it’s located). Beyond that I would rent whatever I wanted for as long as I wanted without the headache of ownership. Expensive jets and cars have to be insured, licensed, stored, checked on. No thank you. I would travel, because that’s what I’ve always done. And I would spend some of my hammock time, learning what I need to know to manage my own finances/investments by myself. But why would I bother to invest? I’m set. In scholarships perhaps. Maybe educational trusts for some young people I know. Pay off some student debts, etc. All done anonymously, of course. (My lawyer will be kept busy sending letters explaining about anonymous benefactors, and dodging calls from people who ‘need’ to know who it is!) That’s about it. I’d give money to whoever I wished, whenever I wished. Answer to no one about what I’m doing/did with it. I’d continue to travel on a shoestring, as that’s what I like most. But from time to time, I’d go somewhere expensive or spring for an expensive dinner, or fly where I could have taken a train, like that. If people became suspicious, after a time, I would say I’d inherited from a distant relative I’d never even met, then invested it wisely. Never, ever revealing the truth or letting on how much. I’d still have the same car, and furniture, etc. I just wouldn’t sweat it, over repairs or whatever. I am very comfortable living at the economic strata I currently inhabit and would be uncomfortable, in the extreme to shift from it. That’s what I’d do! ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/57 "2011-08-03T19:02:12Z")
Escrow account. Why would you need ANYTHING that incurred tax implications after your initial tax bill? Really, 56 MILLION TAX PAID DOLLARS. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/58 "2011-08-03T19:28:28Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > Escrow account. Why would you need ANYTHING that incurred tax implications after your initial tax bill? > > Really, 56 MILLION TAX PAID DOLLARS. I don’t understand this post. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/59 "2011-08-03T19:29:31Z")
Neither do I. How does an escrow account somehow let you avoid taxes while presumably still being able to spend some of the money? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183/60 "2011-08-03T19:42:27Z")
I may be wrong, but an escrow account wouldn’t earn interest. It’s just a bucket that holds the money. You pay taxes on it once when you get it, then, because it’s not generating any additional income, no more taxes on it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-the-multi-millionaire/591183.md?page=4)