What will I do with a million bucks?
Wow, it happened: I am a lucky bastard having cashed in this fantastic amount, $ 1,000,000 net, in the sweep stakes!
The first thought was: man, you can never work again. But then I just sat down and thought it twice: what is going to happen if I don’t work anymore? Don’t make any plans and have no wishes except for consuming, consuming, consuming? I’d probably end up drinking or even taking drugs because of no motivation to do anything. Then there would be no more money or no more me. My life would be finished at the moment of taking such a decision. So I decided to change my mind and think like a responsible millionaire who put his best efforts and probably uncounted years to achieve such a goal.
First, I’d devote one fifth of my unexpected income, $200,000, to charity. Don’t know what kind of charity foundation I would choose but I think it would be something connected with helping children with big health problems. Those who need urgent and expensive surgeries or medicals and so on.
I would allocate another $200,000 into my two daughters’ future and invest it in some reliable financial enterprise: let this money work.
I would then hand over another $ 200,000 to my wife because she, as my own experience shows, always knows better when it comes to handling money and saving it.
I’d put $ 100,000 on my own banking account just to save it in case of anything.
At this point I’m left with $ 300,000. Still probably a good amount to dream on and plan something serious. I would establish an enterprise where travel meets media. I know I would definitely need partners with successful business experience and those I can trust. I even know a couple of folks here in Russia who I would approach.
I have several ideas to develop in this field. For example, I dream of a media project set up like a big sporting competition but in the travel area. Several teams would compete with each other at various distant world locations performing some quest-like, rather extreme activities or tasks. Each team consists of people of different nationalities as such cooperation defines if there is team spirit or it’s non-existent. It is also cool to see not just personalities but teams in extreme situations finding a way to win. It would also be interesting to the TV/internet audience from anywhere. They could do climbing, hiking, running, mushing, etc., just any kind of cool stuff that looks out-of-the-world to ‘ordinary’ people. The strongest two teams get to the final trying to win the world champions title in this last battle. OK, it would take time to develop the mechanics but it could well be done.
We would hopefully find some real big media company, such as Discovery channel, to provide funding for the production of the show or to buy rights to broadcast it. I would also think of generating profits from selling merchandise.
Yes, it looks like a venture and I’m risking to lose my money, these $ 300,000. Anyway, it would be a 
great opportunity to test my ideas against reality and that’s why I really want to try it.
You’d say it sounds naive or won’t work? You’re probably right and it is one of the reasons why I don’t have a million bucks. But I’d definitely try it: we’re all smart enough to speculate how to spend a million dollars and this is my way.
What will I do with a million bucks?
Back with I was a kid a million bucks was a lot of money. Of course I also remember ¢35 gas – and yeah, we still have real gallons. You need them to drive your two story car; we keep the children upstairs.
But alas, a million is not what it used to be. I understand if you win big on a game show or in a casino, the American revenue department has an agent in the building. They visit you as soon as you get off-camera. You don’t even have the money yet and they want it. The bill comes to about half of whatever you get. They don’t wait for me owing to the fact that I don’t have any money.
But that’s another rant. In our game show the man in the tie isn’t waiting for you and you have a million dollars. So how will you spend it? I’m not going to lie, and no, it won’t do you any good to be nice to me… it’s mine! I’m not wishing for world-wide love or any of that crap. 🙂
New house – something kinda’ modest but nice. Say in the 200K range. I would also invest in wind & solar for the place and a source of water. That would cut future bills.
New car but not silly, I don’t have the money for a prancing pony.
You know what? I’m going to take a $100,000 and blow the hell out of it! That’s right, screw all ya’ll I’m going on a little trip. And don’t speak to me when I get back because there’s a good chance I’ll still be hung-over.
My younger Daughter got her first student loan payment. She’s worked so hard she deserves a break, I would get those. By the way, her Daddy is proud of her.
You know the American Government hates their own people. They, along with several States, actively fight against people having insurance. So I don’t have any insurance at all. I would fix that so I could see a Doctor.
That should get the problem down to a manageable size, say five hundred thousand dollars or so. If everything is paid for and I set aside money for a car ten years from now, perhaps I could live off the interest the rest could generate. Maybe a cruise and a two-week trip each year.
What would I do with a million bucks?
My answer, many many years ago when I was a child, would have been so very different. Back then, a million bucks seemed so, so very much money, almost unimaginable wealth.
Today, whilst it would be most welcome, it simply doesn’t seem that much.
Let’s see how many pounds make up a million bucks. At today’s exchange rate, it would get me around £775,000. That still sounds substantial, but what can I get from that?
One of the greatest feelings ever for me was the day I suddenly owed nobody anything. The house was paid for, and there was enough in the bank to be fairly comfortable, rather than affluent.
So obviously, the first bit of spend would be to make sure my two boys and their families have no more debt. Between them, I estimate they owe something like £200,000 each on their homes – both live in extremely expensive parts of the world, Copenhagen, and Jersey (Channel Islands, not U.S.A.)
So, in one fell swoop, that’s £400,000 taken care of. That leaves £375,000.
A little place for my granddaughter and small family would set me back maybe £50,000. My grandson isn’t sure what he wants to do yet, so maybe a round-the-world trip to find out more about real life and how it is lived may be the answer. Say £30,000 for a year or two travel and lodging.
£295,000 left. There are various charities in which Mrs B and I are involved, so a decent lump sum would go to each of those.
Once upon a time, a big yacht could be bought for that sum of money, but in any case, I’m not interested. One thing I have discovered since retiring is that I have, in fact, got everything I really need. Yes, I could have a bigger and definitely faster car, but my current car is perfectly ok, so I don’t need it. I don’t really need anything. How lucky is that?
But one thing Mrs B and I still love doing is travelling to new places. Now, her mobility isn’t good, and it’s not going to get any better. So comfort while travelling is a must.
So I reckon, with the rest, I will invest it wisely, in various places, and have fun doing that. With the proceeds, we will travel like royalty – always up front on our flights, always in first class on the trains, and always top-of-the-range in comfort hire cars, and a state room on the luxury cruise. Whatever the
cost. I can now afford it. And afford to invite along the rest of our increasingly large family.
So, not as great a sum as you might think, but still life-changing, for the better.