Poll - Would You Spend All Your Money If You Won 1 Million Dollars Today?
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I was thinking how much money people would spend if they just won 1 million dollars today. Remember that this is money that is totally unplanned and all of a sudden was at your disposal. The money includes charity, celebration, paying off mortgage and debt etc. Vote and also see the results of others!
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I often dream about getting a lump sum. Of course we all dream of that big one, but I’d also like something “small” like a million. After taxes it’s about 600k, right?
$400k to pay off our house. $50k to pay off our debt. About $50k to upgrade some much needed areas of our home. And the other 100k? Help our families with their debt, because after all our debt is gone, we’d have a whole wad of disposable income to put towards retirement for ourselves. We would help our families pay off their debts (that they incurred partially because of us).
I would pay off every debt that we have (approx $270k) take $30k to do some home repairs, $100k to put in the bank to supplement our income, $100k to my parents for putting up with me for 40 years, and the rest in the bank for retirement.
We have no debt. We are happy with what we have. If we won a big lump sum, we would probably take a nice vacation to some exotic location and the rest would go to our investment portfolio.
A million dollars really doesn’t take you very far these days - it is certainly not enough to retire on in California, but if wisely invested it could lead to financial freedom in a few short years.
Clever Dude: It’s good of you to help your family pay off their debt. I see so many families that have one rich sibling but wouldn’t share!
Kimboshell: Hmm…. I would think that you should put some in investments instead of just the bank. If you really mean like a savings account, maybe you should look for a good financial advisor and see what his/her suggestion is.
Shadox: Yes I totally agree with the California and also the financial freedom comments. I don’t know about a few short years but over time it would a great investment. I think most people make the mistake of retiring right away, when they just use that money and let it grow a little bit before they start using it.
I will probably just spend the investment return of the million dollar capital
I’d be giving 10% to charity, 5% to my parents and each to my siblings, spending 1-2% straight away. That puts me over 30% already.
$1 dollars (about £500,000) doesn’t go very far here in the UK - my next door neighbour’s house just went for £485,000, but I’d probably buy a property in Spain and a few apartments in Prague, put £100,000 into shares, and give what’s left over to family and relatives.
plonkee: Wow that’s very generous of you to give $100k to charity in one big swoop
I would be calling you if you win the lottery or something!
Let’s Discuss Money: Imagine that you just won something that will take you 30+ years to pay off (mortgage + years to gather down payment) and you wouldn’t think that $1 million USD is not a big deal
Think positive!
Omg.. if I got a million dollars… I would put it in a high yield savings account that earns at least 5%. In a year, I would earn 50k or more in interest without ever touching the principle. After taxes, you are looking at around 35k a year to spend. How many of us americans live with a 40k/year job? That’s before taxes. That is more than enough to live on without ever working. Treat each month like it’s your paycheck and pay off your bills and debt till it’s all done. I would however work a good solid year so you could build the interest up to where the second year, you could start spending your interest money and just retire forever.
Stephen: You are the first person to say that you will still keep working but retire after one year and live off the interest. I think that’s such a good idea because most people end up using much of the winnings early and then end up not having enough when they could’ve delayed the enjoyment but made it last a lifetime!
I think I’d spend around 6% right away, paying off all my debts, and hiring a financial advisor to help me allocate the rest wisely.
I would purchase a larger, detached house with about one acre of land in the country where it is cheaper. I would have to sell my present house to have enough money because I think such a house as I would like would cost about £750000 in the uk.