How to Avoid Blowing Your Newfound Wealth

LinkedIn's enormously successful initial public offering last week cast a light on a growing caste in the U.S.: newly minted tech billionaires.

These entrepreneurs differ from tech's rich of yore in at least one crucial way, according to The Wall Street Journal: They're worried their money will vanish if they don't take steps to preserve it.

So what can you do if you suffer from what the Journal calls "sudden wealth syndrome?" The paper polled advisers, who offered the following tips:

• Limit your spending to cash. You may be even richer on paper, but that "wealth" can evaporate in a nanosecond.
• Sell large hunks of your stock and hedge with options. The key is to limit risk.
• Be generous. The lifetime gift-tax exemption is $10 million. Take advantage of it.
• Don't do anything -- at first. Park your money in cash for a while before hiring a wealth manager. Learning the ways of the wealthy takes time. Don't rush.