Advice wanted- Sitting on a lot of cash from sale of business

That response is valuable. Got burned by a bad one in the past and somewhat distrustful of them, but thinking I may need to interview a few.

BTW i just sold my business for similar sum, but i need that money to last the rest of my life, that will greatly direct where i put it

You say you are in Hammond. Christian, at Burns, is a fiduciary and vv good at handling building wealth, etc. For an acct. with over $1 million, they charge 1%. It costs you nothing to talk with im, present your goals and assets that you are working with, and you will learn things as well.

PS: I don't make anything from sending people their way.

My reply would be 100% ASTS $70 calls expiring Jan 2028, but that's not financially responsible, lol.

As far as the $1M, this would be my scenario and how I'm kind of setup to an extent.

$300K VOO
$200K VGT
$100K SCHD with dividends reinvesting
$100K ASTS
$50K KO
$50K MO
$50K NBIS or AMD or NVDA
$50K VDC (consumer staples)
$50K VHT (healthcare)
$50K VDE (energy)

Top heavy in VOO and VGT with exposure in different sectors for market downturns. Can play with KO/MO/SCHD if you want to use DRIP or cash for dividend payout. ASTS and NBIS are your speculative/lotto plays.

Just a small piece of advice. Open a Roth IRA for both you and your wife, and put in the max contribution in both each year. If you are able to open an Health Savings Account (HSA) do that and contribute the max to it every year going forward. Invest within these accounts however you want (like in your #1 paraagraph).

These accounts will be very valuable to you when you retire and will give you flexibility in pulling money out during retirement and stay within certain tax brackets after age 59-1/2 or as early as the year you turn 55 if you meet the rule of 55. You may even decide to not pull from these accounts until later in your 60s, but having them gives you flexibility.

When you do eventually retire if you achieve as close as you can to 50% in taxable IRAs/401Ks vs. 50% in Roth IRAs, you will have the most flexibility while achieving the lowest risk of guessing wrong if taxes will be more or will be less during your retirement years.

If you are able to open an HSA account, it can even be used to pay Medicare premiums tax free in addition to all medical expenses tax free.

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Lump sum (market seems expensive), or DCA?

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Long term studies show lump sum does better.

Human nature, most of us are more comfortable with DCA.

Btw, I should be seeking your advice. You’ve done great!!

Roth is a great idea but OP may make too much in this year. Future years, he and his wife can only contribute if they each have earned income.

If OP is considering having someone else manage the money, consider Facet. Flat fee of 6k a year, not 1%. Also includes trust and wills services if you don’t have that set up.

By all means, look at managing this yourself if you can but if you don’t want to, you’ll want an advisor.

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OP, you don't need a financial advisor. Pick a fund like VTSAX and chill.

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YOLO’ing the entirety of your investable assets into the S&P is reckless. The S&P has gradually become an index that is more like the Nasdaq than the traditional, more diversified version of the S&P most of us used to know.

The Nasdaq was down 50% in the 2000s.

Lump sum right back into the market. Dont fool yourself, converting to cash and sitting on sideline is market timing not true DCA.
I would stick to index funds for vast majority of portfolio and if taking any higher risk/reward do it in tax advantaged where you dont worry about tax consequences of trades.
I dont like dividend plays but if you must, avoid holding in taxable where they will suffer tax drag. No need to generate extra taxable dividend income you dont need.
If you are already competent self managing, 1% for an advisor is more than I'd want to spend. I'd try to find a fee only advisor to QC your plan occasionally and perhaps focus on tax optimized allocation, conversion and withdrawal strategies. You probably get more benefit from good tax professional in short term.
Diversification into other asset classes is probably good idea.
As for building out commercial real estate and active trading, be sure to weigh the value of your time. Even if you enjoy it now, it might be an unnecessary mental burden in a market downturn. Your time is likely better spent in your field of expertise.