This is better for r/New York, fatfire or chubbyfire. You have one child for now - is the plan to have more and do this with more? What does your NW look like (ie. Are you on schedule or behind schedule in terms of NW vs income)

High level, yes people do this with your income, but not everyone (idk, maybe this is one of those where people are likely 50/50 split at this income level). But if education is important to you / family, then go for it. Part of high income is spending on the things you want to. It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it, what kind of impact it could have on your other spending, retirement planning, etc.

I would think about what your goal is. A lot of “old school” families think higher degrees create greater wealth and job protection. Not always. Want to go into finance? Masters won’t do you much.

You seem to have the resources to figure out what you want to do, whether it be making money long term or following a passion

The guys at EJ are guessing just as much as you. Grow your portfolio 7% - 10% a year, assume your expenses increase 3% a year

I’m not sure what you mean not knowing where it will get you? Run some math in excel. Also do you have left over money to invest in a taxable brokerage?

Got it. I would just separate those facets from the need to have EJ

I don’t know how complicated your portfolio is, but my guess is you can do enough research to get close enough. You don’t have to optimize perfectly. I don’t think EJ will optimize perfectly. I assume with little research, you’ll beat them, post fees.

In terms of spending down, yes the conventional wisdom is 3-4%. This basically keeps your principal value the same. But you can also go crazy and why not try to optimize by dying with zero. What would have been the point of your dad dying with 6m vs 1m? I’m not saying that’s right for you, that could have just been the decision he made

I’m not sure what the problem is with how your father passed. He had a bunch of money and spent it. Maybe that was his plan. Knowing how much you can withdraw (3-4%) is kind of easy for someone who knows the basics of investing. You haven’t provided any details that day he didn’t retire because nobody told him he had enough money

I’m not sure what you’re hoping to get out of EJ other than a false sense of security.

In terms of your wife’s family being happy with EJ - based on what? For someone handing off wealth management, they have no basis of comparison. Are they comparing their returns to the market? It’s like evaluating a doctor - for the most part, outside of bedside manner, how can you evaluate if someone’s doing a good job? A doctor who had a patient die from cancer may be doing a better job than one whose patient lived