Featured Image Credit: Javier Ghersi/Getty Images
A finance expert has given some vital advice to a woman who discovered she had a whopping $18 million in a single stock after forgetting about it for 20 years.
The woman called into The Ramsey Show podcast seeking advice on what to do with the money after she discovered it.
Talking to the hosts, she recalled how she had paid around $14 for shares in a company she previously worked for and had forgotten about the investment until recently.
Giving his own opinion, Dave Ramsey said: “It’s very scary and unwise to leave all of your money in one thing regardless of what the story is of how we got there.”
Advert
He continued: “The concept of diversification gives you safety, not having all your eggs in one basket.”
However the finance expert warned that she will ‘take some tax hit’ so it’s best to seek financial advice on how best to manage the asset.
Ramsey went on to say: “Common sense says we need to get some of this off the table, the faster the better, but being wise about tax rates as you do it.”
Many viewers were shocked by the clip and took to the YouTube comment section to share their own reactions, with one user writing: “Dave’s right, she should receive tax advice on this, withdraw a big chunk of that money, and then diversify it.”
Another said: “Diversification is key!!! I can’t imagine putting all the eggs in one basket. I believe that diversifying your investments is the safest way to handle it. One way to lessen the effects of a market crisis is to distribute investments over a variety of asset classes, such as international equities, bonds, and real estate. It's also critical to look for expert advice.”
A third joked: “And here I was excited about finding $10 in the washing machine.”
And a fourth person added: “My father in law did something similar. He had been getting stock from his company over the years and not even looking at it. When he turned ~57 he realized he had over $6million. He got a financial advisor to help him sell and diversify it, and he retired 6 months later.”
And while the woman didn’t reveal which tech company it was that she had received the stock from as an employee, people online had their own guesses with one saying, ‘sounds like a NVIDIA employee’ and another adding, ‘clearly NVIDIA. Congrats to you guys’.
