What would you do with a million dollars?

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I got to thinking today about what I would do if I won a million dollars because Florida has this millionaire raffle going on. The drawing is on New Years day. I bought a ticket. I figured aaah what the heck? It's only the second ticket I've ever bought in my life, but I've been having fun all day running around telling people I'm going to be a millionaire next year. Heh... uh huh... So anyway, it has been fun to think of what I would do with that much money and I got to wondering if anyone else has ever thought about it? If so, what would you do with a million dollars?

I would pay off my truck. Buy a 4 bedroom 4 bathroom house on about 10 acres somewhere near the mountains. I would start a horse rescue where ever it is I ended up, keeping somewhere around 5-6 horses. I would probably buy a couple of good riding horses just so it wasn't all work and no play. I'd march my happy self right back to the place I used to work that still has my beloved "little bit" (the miniature horse) and offer them $5000 dollars for him, Delta, Lyra, and Boone. Because they all need rescuing from that place. (Of course I wouldn't tell THEM that) With a little work the three horses I bought from my ex-employer would be pretty sound riding horses.

I would do foster care for 2-3 teenagers and start the therapeutic horse program I've been wanting to start teaching the kids how to train the horses and teaching them learn about their own behaviors through the work they do with the horses. If I got any money from the state for the kids it would go directly into an account for them for college. I guess between the horses and the kids I probably wouldn't have time to work so, I would start writing in my free time. I'd probably take a couple of trips before I got all settled down like that. I would go to Colorado because I've just got to feel that rocky mountain high that John Denver sang about. (hehehe) And I would go to Australia. Hmm... I think that about sums it up.

What about you?

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Hide it from my ex. Pay off my mortgages. Buy a vacation home in Santa Barbara. Set up a college fund for my stepson. Open brokerage accounts for my 3 kids and invest in some blue chip stocks for their future use.

Donate to the Save Darfur fund.

Take a LOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNGGGGGG vacation!

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Neat. What are blue chip stocks? Yeah... I guess investing some of the money might be a good idea too. Razz

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Blue chip stocks: "Shares of generally large companies that have a history of strong earnings growth and dividend payments."

The dividends really pay off if you get into a program where they are reinvested in the company.

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Ahh, ok. I've never heard that term before. Thats good. I guess if I could have enough money to invest in something I would need some help on that end because I've never really looked into that kind of thing before.

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Pay off all my expenses, buy a few neat things I might want, and put a small amount in the bank. Give the rest to people who really need it.

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Let's see,
first I'd give 10% to various charities (e.g. UNICEF, Compassion Int'l),
then I'd finish my degree. Then maybe put 10% in mutual funds,
5% in gold and 5% in those "blue chip stocks".

Then I would travel and spend several years in other parts of the world,
such as Russia, Australia and Italy. I'd decide what country I like best
and stay there for a while and teach.

Now I haven't decided if I would like to retire in Italy and work in a
vineyard or buy some land in Wyoming and by a nice pick up truck
and get a friendly black lab.

Oh yeah, hopefully I'd find a wife somewhere along the way!

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Quit my job, sell my house and move to Thailand. I'd probably finish my degree so I could get a job teaching Thai kids to speak english.

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Last week there was a £120 million lottery draw!!I could have done with winning that.

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First of all $1 million today isn't really much. Now if we start talking about $100 million, I'll be interested. :wink:

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If a person wins a million, Uncle Sam has his hand out first. So that million would be diminished right from the getgo.

There have been numerous studies of people who have won huge lotteries. What has been found is that a couple of years later, most were WORSE off than before. Why? Because unless a person has an understanding of what it means "to make money", winnings are characteristically frittered away.

For a person of formerly modest means, who has heretofore lived from paycheck to paycheck, a windfall can often bring disaster. Relatives that would not give a person a second look, will come crawling out of the woodwork. If the winnings are large enough to have been publicized, scam artists af all kinds will come sniffing around.

If I won the lottery, the first thing that I would do was learn to keep my big mouth shut. I would not discuss my winnings with anyone. I would then investigate and find a REPUTABLE tax attorney and business manager. I would learn more about investing.

I would not spend a cent of that money for at least six months. In the meantime, I would stick it into some dividend yielding, safe investments, while I figured out a "game plan". I would spend the six months getting used to the idea that I now had a lot of money. You'd be surprised. Coming into money can be as much of an emotional trauma as losing it.

Once I figured out what I would do with the money, I would slowly implement my plan.

Then again, I might buy a mansion in Beverly Hills! :wink:

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Miller wrote:

First of all $1 million today isn't really much. Now if we start talking about $100 million, I'll be interested. :wink:

If you don't want that million, I'll be happy to take it off your hands.

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Miller wrote:

First of all $1 million today isn't really much. Now if we start talking about $100 million, I'll be interested. :wink:

It might not be much to some, but it's a heck of a lot more than I've got right now!

Phoenix wrote:

If a person wins a million, Uncle Sam has his hand out first. So that million would be diminished right from the getgo.

There have been numerous studies of people who have won huge lotteries. What has been found is that a couple of years later, most were WORSE off than before. Why? Because unless a person has an understanding of what it means "to make money", winnings are characteristically frittered away.

For a person of formerly modest means, who has heretofore lived from paycheck to paycheck, a windfall can often bring disaster. Relatives that would not give a person a second look, will come crawling out of the woodwork. If the winnings are large enough to have been publicized, scam artists af all kinds will come sniffing around.

If I won the lottery, the first thing that I would do was learn to keep my big mouth shut. I would not discuss my winnings with anyone. I would then investigate and find a REPUTABLE tax attorney and business manager. I would learn more about investing.

I would not spend a cent of that money for at least six months. In the meantime, I would stick it into some dividend yielding, safe investments, while I figured out a "game plan". I would spend the six months getting used to the idea that I now had a lot of money. You'd be surprised. Coming into money can be as much of an emotional trauma as losing it.

Once I figured out what I would do with the money, I would slowly implement my plan.

Then again, I might buy a mansion in Beverly Hills! Laughing Wink

Very wise plan phoenix! Yep, I figured by the time uncle sam was through with me there would only be about what... $700,000 left? That is still a LOT. There's a lot of things I'd like to do. More than $1,000,000 could handle. Donating to charities and such is something, but I'd also like to start some programs across the US. A second chance for people who need it and really want it. Kids, adults, who ever, as long as they are serious about fixing their life and willing to do the work necessary to fix it.

While I know there's a lot of free loaders in this world, I also think there are a lot of people who sometimes just plain need a break. To feel like someone actually cares what happens to them. I think that's why religion has such a powerful influence over people sometimes. I think investing is a really wise choice, as well as setting some aside to not be touched. I know how easy money goes. I once held $10,000 in my little hand. It was almost gone in three months. Imagine that. The only reason there was $3000 left was because I just flat out refused to hand over another dime.

While it's not one of my goals in life to become rich, it sure is fun to think about what it would be like to be rich. To be able to help others, and not be limited on what you can do, where you can go, and so forth because of living paycheck to paycheck. To actually own something and not owe anyone anything. I hate debt. Yet money does not bring happiness. I think quite honestly if it's not handled correctly it could cause more misery than happiness. Like you said, to end up worse off than before. That would definitely suck.

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Miller wrote:

First of all $1 million today isn't really much. Now if we start talking about $100 million, I'll be interested. :wink:

It's more than enough if you're not greedy and are sensible.

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I'd buy a big mansion! And a huge yacht! Then I'd go out and buy a huge wardrobe and get one of them big plasma TV's! Then I'd but a real nice car like a BMW or a Toyota or something -- brand new! Not one of them used pieces of ****. Then I'd hire me one of those Mexican gardeners like you see on TV to plant me some rose bush's and all kindsa flowers. And a swimming pool! Gotta have a pool! Olymic size! Then I'd save all the money left over and give some to a college or something for a tax write off. I'd invest the rest. Boy, a million bucks! I can hardly wait!

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NickFun wrote:

I'd buy a big mansion! And a huge yacht! Then I'd go out and buy a huge wardrobe and get one of them big plasma TV's! Then I'd but a real nice car like a BMW or a Toyota or something -- brand new! Not one of them used pieces of ****. Then I'd hire me one of those Mexican gardeners like you see on TV to plant me some rose bush's and all kindsa flowers. And a swimming pool! Gotta have a pool! Olymic size! Then I'd save all the money left over and give some to a college or something for a tax write off. I'd invest the rest. Boy, a million bucks! I can hardly wait!

I get the feeling you'd need the 100 mill!

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NickFun wrote:

I'd buy a big mansion! And a huge yacht! Then I'd go out and buy a huge wardrobe and get one of them big plasma TV's! Then I'd but a real nice car like a BMW or a Toyota or something -- brand new! Not one of them used pieces of ****. Then I'd hire me one of those Mexican gardeners like you see on TV to plant me some rose bush's and all kindsa flowers. And a swimming pool! Gotta have a pool! Olymic size! Then I'd save all the money left over and give some to a college or something for a tax write off. I'd invest the rest. Boy, a million bucks! I can hardly wait!

Dammit, you stole my response. Don't forget you'd save a poor country too.

I would look into buying commercial real estate(apartment complex, ect), then use the equity to buy more.

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Average Miss America Contestant:

"I'd use the money to fulfill my dream of working with children. Other than that, all I want is world peace in my lifetime."

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Miller wrote:

First of all $1 million today isn't really much. Now if we start talking about $100 million, I'll be interested. :wink:

Yeah, I'd probably just use it to wipe my a$$.

Seriously, Phoenix speaks wisely and true. You should really just sit on the bulk of your winnings for a few months to get comfortable with it. For a million, or let's say 650K after everythings said and done, I wouldn't rush right out to quit my job. That's were a lot of people get into trouble, thinking this amount will see them through the rest of their lives without thinking about that proverbial rainy day.

That said, first, even before the 6 months are up, I would use it to pay off any credit card balances. From our remodeling, we've got a pretty good chunk on our cards, but I have them all on cards where there's no interest if you pay it off buy a certain date (hint - don't automatically shred all those credit card offers you get in the mail, if you can control them, and not have them control you, it's a powerful tool). Anyway, a big one has to get paid off by next July, so I'd probably just get it out of the way now. Then, I'd pay off my mortgage, the balance is really small, like just over $20K, again, it'd just be one more thing off my plate. I'd arrange for an automatic deposit of the money I would have sent to the mortgage company, to cover the property taxes and insurance, knowing they go up each year.

Then, I'd max out both of our IRA's each year, helping to ensure retirement income.

I'd get a housekeeper, cleaning person to come in twice a week and clean everything.

I'd do some traveling, my friend and I would go to Italy and I'd pay his way, and we'd stay in really nice places. My husband and I would go to Niagra Falls and the Grand Canyon.

I'd take ice skating lessons
I'd try skiing again, I went once as a teenager, and really sucked, mostly because of being self conscious. With both of those, I'd make sure the teacher knew I wasn't trying to get into the Olympics, just want to have some fun.

If I was good at the skiing, I'd take weekend trips.

I work mostly because of the insurance benefits, and when my husband gets on Medicare, I'd find a part time job that would still have benefits for me.

I'd buy a classic wardrobe of things I look good in and never go out of style.

I'd send useful, thoughtful presents to my friends.

I don't know about a lot of charties, I'd want to get the most bang for my buck so donations would have to be for something where people learn skills to make it on their own. Maybe I'd do something directly with people.

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I have this old beat up '54 pickup truck that is rusting away and held together with baling wire.

If I were to win a million dollars the first thing I do is to put some new tires on that old boy.

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