Coming into a significant amount of money can change your financial picture overnight. Whether the result of an inheritance, business sale, liquidity event, or sudden windfall, this moment often brings equal parts opportunity and uncertainty.
At OnePoint BFG, we believe wealth is not just about accumulation. It is about perspective. Your OnePoint is the lens that brings clarity to complex decisions, aligns money with purpose, and turns financial resources into long-term confidence.
This guide outlines how high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals can approach a major financial event thoughtfully and intentionally.
The most important early decision is often to slow down. Sudden wealth can create pressure to act quickly, but meaningful planning begins with reflection rather than reaction.
Financial experts consistently recommend taking time to understand the full scope of your new situation before making major commitments or lifestyle changes.¹
During this initial period:
At OnePoint BFG, we often remind clients that clarity precedes confidence. This pause allows your OnePoint to come into focus before decisions are made.
Significant wealth introduces complexity across tax, legal, investment, and personal dimensions. No single professional can address all of these effectively in isolation.
Most high-net-worth families benefit from a coordinated team that may include:
When these professionals work in alignment, decisions reinforce one another rather than compete. Coordination is often the difference between fragmented advice and a clear, confident strategy.⁴
Money without direction can create complexity instead of freedom. Before deploying capital, it is essential to define what this wealth is meant to support.
At OnePoint BFG, we frame this conversation around your OnePoint. The perspective that shapes how decisions are evaluated and prioritized.
Key questions often include:
When goals and values are clear, financial strategies become tools rather than sources of stress.⁵
Major wealth events frequently carry significant tax and legal implications. Addressing these early can materially influence long-term outcomes.
Important areas to review include:
Proactive planning can reduce taxes, protect family members, and ensure that wealth is transferred according to your intentions rather than default rules.⁶
For HNW and UHNW individuals, investing is less about chasing returns and more about balance, resilience, and alignment with purpose.
Key considerations often include:
At OnePoint BFG, investment decisions are evaluated through the lens of your OnePoint to ensure they support broader goals rather than exist in isolation.⁹
Legacy planning is not only about transferring assets. It is about transferring clarity, values, and intent across generations.
Effective legacy strategies may involve:
When done well, legacy planning helps wealth support family relationships rather than complicate them.
Significant financial change can bring emotional and psychological adjustments, including stress, shifting relationships, and changes in identity. Acknowledging this human side is an important part of sustainable planning.
Creating boundaries, maintaining perspective, and working with trusted advisors can help ensure decisions are made with intention rather than pressure.¹¹
Coming into significant money is a defining moment. It presents an opportunity to create clarity, confidence, and connection when approached thoughtfully.
By pausing early, assembling the right team, defining your OnePoint, and aligning decisions with purpose, HNW and UHNW individuals can transform a complex event into a long-term foundation for financial confidence and legacy.
At OnePoint BFG, we believe the right perspective changes everything.
Sources
Investment advisory and financial planning services offered through Bleakley Financial Group, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser, doing business as OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners (herein referred to as “OnePoint BFG”). For more information regarding OnePoint BFG including important disclosures, please visit https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/.
The third-party information contained herein is provided for informational and discussion purposes only. OnePoint BFG does not represent this third-party information as its own. While OnePoint BFG has gathered this information from sources deemed to be reliable, OnePoint BFG has not reviewed or verified any information input by your financial professional or that of the third-party source, nor can OnePoint BFG guarantee the completeness or accuracy of this data.
OnePoint BFG does not offer legal or tax advice. This document is not a substitute for the advice of a qualified attorney or tax professional. You should not take any action based solely on the information provided on this report without seeking legal counsel from a licensed attorney or tax professional in your jurisdiction. No attorney-client relationship is formed by your use of this document.
This communication has been provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment, legal or tax advice or as a recommendation. This material provides general information only. OnePoint BFG does not offer legal or tax advice. Please contact legal counsel or your tax advisor to recommend the application of this general information to any particular situation or prepare an instrument chosen to implement the design discussed herein. Circular 230 notice: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, this notice is to inform you that any tax advice included in this communication, including any attachments, is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalty or promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction or matter.
OP 26-0016