Ding-Dong, Prize Patrol!
Congratulations, you just won the lottery! Even though they tell me that a million bucks really isn’t that much money, it’s way more than I’ve ever had, and seems like way more than I’d ever need, given my current budget.
Anyhoo, we’ve all played the What If game, whether up all night in the dorms, in the car with your mom, or pillow-talking with your lovah. So this week’s FFT is: What if? What if a million dollars landed in your lap? Where would you spend it? How would your life change?
Since we’ll be beaching it rather than sitting at computers, we thought we’d all contribute our answers in advance. Soooo:
s.o.a.l.g.: I’d save a chunk for (the hypothetical) grad school, I’d get a dog (pups are expensive to care for!), and Yankees season tickets. Beyond that, I’d give some to help out my grandma, and cut a check to the NYC hospital that helped me out when I was a sick baby. Okay, and I’d buy a lot more books.
But mostly I’d save it. I wouldn’t change cities, or even apartments, and I wouldn’t buy a convertible. I’d probably view it as a way to access things that make me happy (baseball, canines, education) instead of finding excuses to spend it on things that don’t really seem to make a difference in my life. At least, I’d hope so.
SarahMC: First I’d pay off my credit debt, which is the albatross that will not die. I’d buy a house with lots of land so I could rescue a whole bunch of dogs. I’d give some to my parents so they could live more comfortably and go on a nice vacation. Then I’d donate to animal rescues and keep the rest in savings. These exercises always make me sad because it starts to feel like this is really going to happen, and it’s not!
PhDork: Sorry to bum you out, SMC.
I like your philosophy, s.o.a.l.g.–access things that make you happy, rather than go hog-wild on stuff just ’cause you can.
So, lessee. I would put about half in savings/retirement, first off, because that is how my poor ass rolls. Then I’d pay off my Mom’s house and car (which really isn’t that much) so she wouldn’t have those worries now that she’s looking at retirement. Next, I’d endow a modest scholarship at my undergrad institution, pay-it-forward style. Other donations: to BARC, a no-kill shelter in Brooklyn I think does wonderful work (or maybe just write SarahMC a check for her dog rescue?) and of course, Planned Parenthood, since I used their services for years as a student and then as an uninsured adult. Then, since a little fun is in order, a long-planned trip for me (and the Dude, if he wants to go) to Costa Rica, to care for sloths. And maybe the rest is a down payment on a great apartment here in Brooklyn?
(Just to be clear, for this thought experiment, the $1M is free and clear, tax-wise. I mean, if we’re daydreaming, right?)
s.o.a.l.g.: Well, if it was tax free then I might also plan a jaunt to New Zealand…And I would also put some to my father’s care as he starts deteriorating.
BeckySharper: I’d write a few very large checks to my favorite charities, especially City Meals on Wheels and Partners In Health. I’d adopt two of SarahMC’s rescue dogs, since the money would mean I could afford vet’s bills and paid walkers (and two means they’d be less likely to get lonely during the day).
I’d seriously consider buying a bigger apartment, ideally in the same building as I live in now, since I love my neighbors and we have a pretty tight community. I might even renovate it.
And I’d travel—I could buy a lot of international business-class tickets with that money and hit the places I’ve been wanting to visit but haven’t had the time and money yet: Shanghai, Capetown, Rio and Salvador, New Zealand…
PilgrimSoul: With $1 million I could buy myself an investor green card. I mean, really.
PhDork: Wow, that’s a thing? Never doubt that money is power…
It’s depressing how often I think about this. Straight into the bank or investments it all goes. Then it throws off what? 40k yearly at low rates? Unfortunately 4 can’t live off of that, so nothing really changes, other than my kids’ college educations are resolved. Then, if no health problems arise in a given year, the Lions Club will get a big piece, and various relatives living elsewhere too.
Jeebus is that so literal and mundane. I guess 1m is just too low nowadays.
We’d pay the student loans, pay the rest of our tuition, and renovate the condo. If there’s any left
we’d travel. Europe, Asia, Africa…we’d love to really see the world.
I would buy the convertible either…I just want out of debt and to have enough money to not worry about the future. If there’s extra, that’s just gravy.
I would pay off my debt, which would be a drop in the bucket. I would put half into some account to sit and collect interest. The other half would go toward 2 large down payments: a house for me and a house for my mother. I think a lot of stuff would stay about the same. I’m sure I would still work, but a little less than I am now so I could start school again. It would be amazing.
@rodriguez:
Perhaps one of the reasons it sounds so mundane is that the million dollars, while a lot of money, is kind of an arbitrary number independent of a person’s liabilities. Just bump it up to 2 or 3 mil and see what happens.
As for me, with $1 million, I’m pretty much in the same boat for the order of priorities: debt, house, savings, charity. If it were a really huge amount of money, I would probably need about two weeks just to figure out what the hell to do.
I’m another practical-minded Harpy:
A big chunk of it would go into investments for retirement, and another for a down-payment on a flat.
Then I’d save a bit of it as a ‘cushion’ so that I don’t have to count my pennies ever again.
And if there were anything left I suppose I’d use that for a holiday – maybe to South America or East Asia?
1. Stash away enough to retire sooner rather than later.
2. Buy my mom a new house
3. Pay off my mortgage and the rest of this ball and chain debt I can’t seem to shake!
4. College for my youngest son
5. Live a little, of course! Gotta fund all my “things to do before I die” list somehow!
So, I’m mostly estranged from my father’s toxic family – I talk to a couple of cousins, and that’s it. My grandparents on that side are in rapidly failing health, need a lot of help and care, and aren’t getting it from their flaky, selfish kids. I’ve got one cousin who’s doing all the work and taking all the stress (and the crap from the grandparents). I want absolutely nothing to do with that and have no intention of getting near these people. But if I had a million dollars, I would give a hundred thousand or so to that cousin.
Other than that, the same as everyone. Pay off the house and husband’s student loans, pay for the kids’ colleges, fly first class, and invest and save.
I would pay off my student loans, then I would put the remaining $950,000 in some kind of interest bearing account and move to Mexico.
1. Pay off grad school loans.
2. Open a retirement account.
3. Take some time off and travel to as many places as I could afford to go.
4. Purchase an abode of some kind.
5. Donate the rest. When I do these exercises I always have a hard time picking which organizations I’d want to give to. There are so many I’d like to support but I can’t decide if it’s more effective to give a huge sum to a select few or spread the wealth more liberally.
Hope you’re having a lovely beach weekend, Harpies!
Pay off all my loans from undergrad. Not have to take out any more loans for senior year, that would be nice. I’d pay back my parents for chunk of college too- they took out a second mortgage to help pay for my education which is one of those HOLY SHIT I can never pay you back for this kind of things.
And then I’d probably just be happy to know that I could be comfortable post-college. Invest it, use the interest as extra cash so that I don’t have to live in a shithole post college, that sort of thing. I could get a job in the non-profit world without worrying about whether that salary is enough to actually live off of!
Oh, and I’d spend all of next June abroad. Period. All of June, traveling all over Europe to all those places I’ve never been and want to go to. That’s something I want to do anyway but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to save enough money between then and now…
oh no – this is a scary exercise. Anyone who has been to Graceland knows it’s a bad idea to give poor folks lots of money fast, haha.
But mostly it would just appease worry and give me access to things I like.
1. I’d pay off my student loans since I’d no longer be able to avoid that through poverty.
2. Much would go to “the future” – either more school or to opening a business.
3. I’d build the modest woodland home I crave in mountains outside of Portland, OR(and adopt several of the aforementioned shelter animals).
4. I’d buy any car I wanted …which wouldn’t be a lavish expense but something I’ve never been able to do, I have modest but specific tastes. Oh and it would be purple.
5. TRAVEL – it’s been my goal in life and I’ve never gotten to do much of it(at least outside of the US) at all because of $.
6. I’d build/buy a real house for my parents.
7. I’d set up at least one, possibly multiple scholarships with random and possibly ridiculous criteria.
8. Plenty of donations to various arts and advocacy foundations.
1. pay off law school loans!
After that…I’d probably write my parents a big old check.
Bank the rest.
First, like SarahMC, I’d be paying off the albatross of credit debt. Then, the secondary albatross of student loan debt.
With the $930,000 left I would…
1. Move. Not to a glitzy apartment, but I’ve been living in crappy apartments since I got out of graduate school, and I’d use enough to live somewhere that was better.
2. Replace my living room furniture, inherited from my older brother, and also a constant in my life since graduate school.
3. Travel. First stop, Asia.
4. A bulk of the rest would go to retirement and savings, and I’d just continue on the way I do now, but with the ability to actually buy things when I want them.
The woman who started Partners in Health was my college graduation speaker. She was pretty awesome.
I’d pay off my loans for me and partner. I’d hire a personal trainer for my dog and get his weird, my-vet-never-heard-of-anything-like-it health problems resolved. I’d donate some money to the It Happened to Alexa Foundation. I’d make sure my parents’ and sister’s debts were paid off. I’d give my money a shitload of money to start her own dance company.
I’d probably not change my life much. I’d do things like buy organic food, and not stress about money. I’d probably buy a roomba, and a dishwasher, and a high efficiency washing machine. If I got a house, I’d install solar panels on the roof.
Partner and I started playing the lottery last winter. I honestly enjoy playing the lottery so much, it’s weird. I feel like if I don’t ever win, it won’t matter much, because the endless pleasure I take from the day dreams is worth it. I have a pretty vivid imagination, and I feel like I can live an entire life (of a rich person) in my imagination.
Put half in savings and then start my own business (I have a notebook full of business ideas). Hopefully, at least one of the businesses would be comfortably successful and the rest of everything would be easier to manage – heinous student loans, car payments (I would buy a hybrid), house payments (nothing huge, I hate to clean), and a nice vacation every once in a while. At some point, I would invest in my parents small farm (they train horses), give my dad a business to manage, and take care of my nieces and nephews college educations. I would spread the wealth around to family and friends through business (an thus job creation). I would also buy his mom a house for her and our baby sister AND build her a business to run as well. I would do my best to ensure that all boats tethered near mine rose as well.
I would pay off my undergrad loans and oh the luxury of being able to pay for grad school out of pocket. Unless I find a nice fellowship somewhere.
I would bank some of it for retirement, move myself and the man of my crappy one bedroom apartment. Probably just into a crappy two bedroom but neither of us need much space. I long to live somewhere that has a dishwasher, microwave and a washer/dryer of my own.
I would travel, and take my family with me as well as help out Planned Parenthood (since they have been so kind to me) and The Southern Poverty Law Center because I believe in the work that they do.
Did I win?
QUIT THIS EFFING JOB. I know I couldn’t live off a mil forever, but it would buy me some time to figure out WTF to do with myself. And like Blue Bears, those law school loans would be paid off immediately.
I really like my place, but like Ms. Sharper, I might upgrade to a two-bedroom with a balcony that faces the river. And I’d probably hire a semi-regular housekeeper.
I love the idea of endowing a small scholarship. I think I’d do it for kids from my high school, which was poor and inner-city when I went there, and now is beyond destitute. I’d definitely enjoy reviewing scholarship applications and picking a worthy recipient.
And like everyone else, I’d travel, save some, and give some to charities I favor.
Ah, hell, who am I kidding? I’d probably also buy myself an obscenely expensive handbag and a pair (or four) of ridiculous shoes.
Pay off the credit card debt and the Home equity line of credit – I have a 80/20 mortgage (then change banks to a less douchey outlet). Invest the rest wisely and keep working for a few more years until my social security payment is a tad better – or at least close to what it should be. Then sell the current home and invest in a small home close to a beach and my family and set up a good pottery studio where I will create masterpieces until I kick it.
Crap. Now I’ve caught SarahMC’s blues.
Good god, I’m selfish. Of course I’d continue to rescue cats/dogs and donate to NPR, the Red Cross, Meal on Wheels and Reading Services (they read to the blind over dedicated radio signals – I’d also volunteer there more).
buy the house, shove some in savings, some new clothes so I wont still be rocking things form middle school… and I’d start my under achievers scholarship only applicable for students with at least a semester of academic probation under their belt.
I would buy an eco-friendly house, plus a house or apartment for my mother in-law. I would pay all our debt, start saving for retirement, pay my mom’s debt, get a tiny car with good millage, give my sister money for grad school, get ID microchips for my 3 kittehs (and probably a huge kitty jungle house), put a bunch of it on Kiva, and give to Medicins sans Frontiers and some of my other fave charities. And give some of money to Bonobo conservation.
I would probably be able to afford non live-in housekeeping and/or nannies and thus consider reproducing- since it would no longer screw with my and the dude’s career goals to do so.
Ha, it’s kind of pathetic how we all have the exact same desires — pay off debt, create nest egg/retirement for self and family, travel, charity. I mean, what else is there really?
ok well, if I had 4 million, and it was throwing off 200k per year, I would be a permanent student. First I might study either of electrical engineering or art history. Maybe both.
In my city, a million would buy me a NEW 3 bdrm, 2 bath house with a double garage, large yard, and maybe a view. Might be enough left for furniture, but I doubt it.
Instead, I’d spend half of it on an older house that needed renos, no garage, and no views, give my parents and dozen or so siblings a cut, and give the rest to charity: Red Cross, local food bank, Kiva, The Land Conservancy in particular, various health ones as well. Also the federal NDP and Fair Vote Canada.
Not really enough to save with houses so expensive here unless I didn’t give any away, which I would be really uncomfortable with.
What I would do if I had $5 million or more is different – my dream is to build a live/work low income/no income social housing building, with nice accessible, GREEN apartments above, and library, 24 hour daycare, restaurant, community hall and kitchen, gardens, stores, playground, courtyard, community services ETC below. Businesses would have a mandate to hire folks living in the building for entry level jobs (or other jobs where people had the right qualifications, of course) to help folks gain work experience and build resumes. The idea would be to build a community that supports each other but also welcomes others from the neighbourhood and elsewhere via the library, daycare, grocery store, restaurant, stores, seniors activities, etc.
And yeah, I’d need more than $5 million to do it probably, but with that much seed money you could leverage the municipal, provincial, and federal governments to pony up a share towards a new “social housing pilot project”. They love public/private partnerships, after all. And maybe, through rent collection from tenants and businesses make enough money to pay the maintenance and expenses.
J.D. – I don’t know that it’s pathetic. One could look on it as evidence of the universality of the human experience…or, more likely, that the folks following this blog all have pretty similar lifestyles and values. It’s not really a solid gold toilet and a Hummer full of hot bitches kind of crowd, lol.
Oh and I thought of another thing – several folks mentioned helping out animal shelters. I’d open a private sanctuary for exotic animals – specifically big cats. The statistics on how many tigers and lions are in need of rescue care after being mistreated or abandoned by circuses, shady wild life parks, and dumb asses who want exotic pets are heartbreaking. But, as I am not a specialist in handling said animals that would probably eat the million up pretty quickly…I’d be fine if that were the only thing I’d be able to do with the money as it would really combine several of my previous list items.
I’m at a different time in my life than most of you are-mid-50′s, grown kids. So I’d use some of it to do some serious work on our aging house (it’s about 100 years old) and hire a housekeeping service to come in every other week. I’d go buy myself some nice new clothes-I feel guilty spending money on clothing even though we can afford for me to do it now and again, but man, I’m tired of TJ Maxx.
Once those indulgences were satisfied, I’d buy health care insurance for my self-employed brother, set up small (maybe $250k) trust funds for our two kids, and put some away for retirement. Then I’d give the rest to our local public schools, which did a very fine job for our kids, our local independent women’s clinic, which is remarkable, our local food bank, the ACLU and a couple of Jewish-related organizations, one here and one in Israel.
Did anyone else think of the Bare Naked Ladies when you were writing your post?
@JD and AmBam – that there is some shared values is the main reason why I keep coming back to the nest. Besides, who really needs a solid gold crapper?
40k of interest/year would keep me and the SO in our comfortable spartan lifestyle for a long time.
But it wouldn’t make me happy, so I would:
* set up a trust fund for my two nephews (I worry about them, but do not ever want them to be without),
* give my mum a big check for her to do whatever with (she afterall raised a lot of kids, and should be having more fun in her twilight),
* I would pay off my HECS (university) loan (which by the sounds of it is miniscule compared to those in Canada and the US, and isn’t interest bearing and paid back through the tax system)
* I would be a student for life – and would mean that I could do further study and fund it myself, so someone else can receive an APA (a type of scholarship) etc
* travel a lot – I would love to spend time with my brother in the UK, and of course meet the harpies in the northern hemisphere [drinks are on me!]
* set up scholarships, especially ones for Indigenous education, sporting (but not the national representative kind), and a whole bunch more I haven’t even thought of
* donate to Fred Hollows, Family Planning, community gardens, and a fund that researches snakes and spiders [I've been fascinated with them since I was a kid]
* having the dollars would allow me to spend more time with loved ones, and be able to find ways to appreciate them [and not necessarily with material goods]
* bank some of course!
Sigh. I’ve read too many news articles about how winning the lottery ruins people’s lives– I’ve pre-determined that for all unexpected windfalls, 72.5% goes directly into savings (or debt, if I have any). The remainder gets split 50-50 between practical concerns and pure play money. So… $137,500 for whatever I want.
I think I’d go on a round-the-world cruise, one of the ones that stops at every continent. That would about take all the money, haha! I always focus on experiences over stuff, for spending. Even experiences I hate at the time (like my November road trip on the East Coast–what was I thinking?!) turn into happy memories eventually. Stuff goes the opposite route!
(I picked 72.5% because it’s a number of personal significance; I won’t forget that I piked it, so I’m more likely to stick to it.)
If I had THIRTY million, though, I’d go to SPACE! Screw the algorithm! Space tourism is $20 to $30 million but it would be SO WORTH IT. You know, assuming I had $30 million.
I want “Screw the Algorithm!” on a t-shirt.
The talk of scholarships reminded me that I had an awesome undergrad experience in a fantastic chemistry department, and endowing some scholarships and research grants would be nice.
1) pay off all my debt
2) pay off all my partner’s debt
3) pay off all my sister’s debt
4) set up some sort of account so my cousin wouldn’t have student loan debt
5) visit my friends/family across the country and world
6) quit my job and move to a city i don’t hate
7) do a tiny bit of shopping. just a teeny tiny bit.
i would get all my jacked up joints replaced by the best doctors. Though I’d probably need another million to do that.
I love the idea of endowing a scholarship too. I think I’d endow one for Arts/Humanities students at my college – there is all kinds of funding for scientists in the UK but it’s getting harder and harder for arts students. I know physicists who got offers for funded PhD’s with low 2.i degrees, but an English student (for example) with a high 1st has no guarantee of getting any kind of scholarship…
Like so many others, first I’d pay off my student loan debt, and would help my sister and parents with their debts as well. Then I’d take some time off to do some traveling, focusing on Central and South America, Asia, and parts of Africa. During my travels, I’d scope out possible locations for the environmental education / ecotourism / biological station I’ve been dreaming of building for several years now. I’d use much of the remaining money to purchase the land, remodel and/or build the facilities, and set up endowed grants to draw researchers and educators to the site to conduct conservation-oriented research, while working together with and educating (and learning from) locals.
Oh, if only…
When I was a student and my sister was a young mother we’d enter all the contests we could find and just for fun plan what we’d do with the money. We never won a thing but the process of talking about our dreams made us look at them a bit closer and figure out what part of them we could really do. I found a way to travel on the cheap and she went back to school, finally graduating at 46. But we had the privileges of decent blue collar jobs, relatively stable family and friendships and good health.
1 mill. doesn’t go far in NYC. I would give my parents enough dough to make a huge down payment on a 2-3 bedroom apt. in a really nice building (they RENT!). I would make a large donation for scholarships to my college, which made a big difference in my life. I’d stop sweating the small stuff like childcare, new eyeglasses, car rentals, and building maitenance increases. I’d stop worrying what to do if public school stops working for my child. I’d leave our student loans alone. They are so low interest and regular payment generates great credit scores.
I supposed I might buy a bigger apartment but I like our building and location and, like I said, a million (less all the stuff above), doesn’t go very far in NYC.
I would definitely make major annual contributions to the 529 plans for my child, my niece, and my nephew.
I am sadly practical!
Oh I’m late to this. Anyway first of all I’d pay of my debt, and my husband’s debt. Then I’d give a big chunk to my parents for having bailed me out so many times and having paid my university and school fees. Plus i’d give some to my brother and some to my sister, both of whom need it.
Then I’d use the rest to buy a house because I’ll never ever be able to afford one without winning the lottery.
If I had anything left over I’d take the kids on a crazy shopping spree, go on a good holiday, buy some books, and purchase an entirely frivolous handmade chanel suit, because I’ve always secretly wanted something that silly.
I realize this party has already closed down, but I just arrived, so I’m setting up shop, too. (Unmix THOSE metaphors!)
Eloriane, I LOVE IT! SPACE! I’m so with you.
With $1 million, I would:
1) put 1/4 into a fund for my mother, so she knows she won’t run out of money (which she probably will in a couple of years, thanks to her health needs)
2) put a large chunk into a college fund for my two kids
3) start a business with my husband. Starting a business is in general very expensive, but with that seed capital, we could raise what we needed for the rest.