I think the general consensus here seems to be that with that much money you can do a lot of things, your options are nearly infinite. Like you said you will have a year to think about it, learn about it, and think what to do with it. I would suggest spending that year learning as much as you can, read books, lots and lots of books, read these forums, ask questions, etc... This way when you get back you will be ready to hop in.
Now I don't know how your company works, or how your "compensation" works but with that said if you get any of it before hand then you want to make sure that you are doing something with it during that year you are away. With that kind of cash you could easily afford to buy into a REIT, or some other profit generating real estate investment, however with that said there is some risk there, you may loose that money. Or like Type Rider said, park it in a CD, that is a guaranteed investment (up to $100k, assuming that the bank is FDIC insured). Then again maybe you don't get it until you get back in which case this entire paragraph was a waste of time :P
Either way figure out what you want to do in real estate, learn who, what, where, when, and how, then when you get back go do it!!
:groovy: