Made $4.5 million in the stock market at 22

If I had 4.5 at 22 I sure as fuck wouldn't be here.

Not to say I would retire because that would be boring as fuck. But I'd just start taking moonshots

Would live off dividends and explore other careers that interest, whether it be finance or not. You have the luxury of not having to take a job you don't want purely to pay your bills. 

I’ve been in this position during the crypto run but was a few years older than you. What I did is irrelevant vs my advice (and ultimately what I wish that I did)

If you’re at a point where you’re posting on a forum, it’s probably time to sell.

I would

a) sell, and put it in dividend stocks/etfs

b) dividends should be enough to cover your rent and simple life expenses

c) keep your job, or find a new one you really like and keep living normally, using your income to invest more and obviously enjoy life a bit more

Hope you play this well. Congrats to you

Your money buys you freedom and options, nothing more. Decide who you want to be, then make a plan and follow it. Most people don’t get that privilege.

I agree with the others on how you should put your money. Live off the dividends, after a year they get taxed different and 4.5M, with a good yield you can make easily over 100k. 

I would, however, think a lot about where you are in life. I have a lot of money stored away, and I decided to leave trading and FO finance for good recently. I'll be joining a fintech soon and helping them with managing customers to help average people manage money. I know I'm not exactly saving the world, but I figure I'm helping every day people over the .1%, and my skillset isn't exactly applicable elsewhere. 

I know people who had similar levels of fuck you money, and they went to get PhDs, join startups, new funds, etc. Basically places where they could have independence and impact. You won't get that for at least a decade in the giant bloated financial firms everyone on this website preaches joining. 

Skip finance. Travel. Find your passion. 

"my success" off longing NVDA and SNDK from wallstreetbets reddit posts. There's 40,000 you's in alternative universes begging for crack and gesturing to their mouth when cars drive by on the freeway. stay humble.

Isn’t there some middle ground you’d like? You can pursue opportunities that might not make economic sense to the average person, but will be full of self-actualizing experiences.

Time to go to Vegas and turn it into $45m! I've got the ultimate foolproof baccarat strategy I'll share for just $420.69. 

Only you know whether 4.5mm is enough.  You're 22.  It doesn't take much for that money to evaporate and for you to end up staring down a long remaining life on a small fixed income.

Also, while congratulations are due for making an incredible investment, I'd caution you to treat that as a lottery-type event and not a representation on your investing acumen.  The danger is always that having called one bubble, you try to do it again, and lose a big portion of your wealth.

how exactly did it go to $4.5m? How much did you invest of your own money?

First of all don’t lose that money.

In a market like this it’s easy to make that kind of money but it’s easier to lose it.

Second, despite the fact there are quite many in a similar position, I don’t think anyone can really give advice because they’re all going through it now. Best that could be done is maybe to share what’s going on in their heads and hearts. I think what’s probably gonna be helpful is spending most of the time doing something meditative to discover what’s next.

I just accepted as a fact that everyone who figured out how to keep that money will end up doing something different - retire early, upstart their investing career, do something completely different, or whatever it is. 

I think the most important thing is to find a calling to be bound to for life. It surely makes things easier and provides strong incentives to keep that money and to multiply it. To find a calling, one has to live life to the fullest - experience all the joy and especially the pain. 

Whatever is that you do, maybe pick something that'll simply have the highest density of joy and pain. Maybe that's living a quiet life maybe that's grinding at S&T desk despite being independently wealthy it all depends. I say do it all but I'm not you so I can't say for sure.