What would you do if you won/ received $2million?

[gregchang35]

We have always talked about this at work, but it is usually when the big $$$ is at stake like $20mill.

But, I thought- with that big sum, individually +/- family, we could retire and live comfortably doing what we like. So, I thought maybe a little less in lotto winnings or any kinda windfall: not enough to retire/not enough to stop working in your paid regular job/ barring any illness.. I wonder how many ppl would put bling in their 'to do' list?!! My bling came in at number 5, and before medical!!! Lol.
I guess there are some PSers that are close to retiring or retired or stay at home parents/partners, this thread isn't to exclude you guys, so wish away with your $2mill.

You can be as frugal or as selfish as you like. Have some fun!


We are fortunate that we are all still healthy, so here is my list

1) clear mortgage
2) renovations to house
3) sort out 2x kids private education from kindy to university degree. They are only 3yo and 7mo at the moment.
4) money aside for holidays in USA with kids- Disneyland etc. for when they are around the 6/8/10 yo.
5) buy my SO his dream ring from Canturi- cubism, and maybe a matching pair for me!!!
6) convert my A to an O
7) put some money aside for medical- I think our 3yo may need braces.
money for emergencies for other family members

I seriously think we may only get to 3)n4) with the actual windfall, we are both young enough to continue working so that the others can be realized without to much discomfort. As discussed previously education can be pricey.

 

[JewelFreak]

You are practical & smart! I'm dumb -- what's "convert your A to an O?" I know I'll kick myself for not getting it.

I'm presuming the $2 mill is after taxes, right?

I'd sell my house & buy a smaller one somewhere more interesting.
Set up an investment account with 3/4 of it to make it grow.
Establish a trust to give money from that to: animal rescue, habitat preservation, historic preservation.
Help my nephew with his college debts.
Buy some bling -- maybe try to limit myself to 2 things that I could actually wear in real life (e.g., no tiaras, sob).
Buy a vintage Thunderbird!

--- Laurie

 

[VRBeauty]

I'd buy a nice house in a good neighborhood in the town I'm living in now, and move my parents into it. They'll get better healthcare options here than they do in their rural town. Eventually, I'd move into the house myself. And, I'd probably get a good timeshare that would allow (and require ) me to get out of town more often!

 

[justginger]

Australian lottery winnings are tax-free, so I'm guessing Greg definitely means after taxes, if they were applicable.

I would only do two things: buy a gorgeous character house on South Tce, and go on a massive South American/Antarctic holiday. I'd use my house as a rental property, and be very happy living the hippie, Freo lifestyle!

 

[gregchang35]

Jewel freak- i am in the process of converting my asscher to an Octavia. But there are a few things that I need to look into. The O's have a high crown and I am looking at a min of 1ct. I also wear gloves all day. Am waiting for an Octavia cz to become avail to do a real life assessment. So lots of planning and reading. I do love my current set, but fell in love with the O. I can't get it out of my head. But, if it doesn't happen, I am lucky that I have my current forever set.
Your plan is very sound!!
VRBeauty- that sounds like a very smart idea!
JG- can u move into Sth tce n travel for under 2mill? Nice!

 

[justginger]

It's under offer, but this would do nicely: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-fremantle-115994055

 

[gregchang35]

Nice JG!
Are u not saying something!!!! Lol

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

1. Pay off existing debt, student loans, car, etc.
2. Buy, renovate and furnish house in current area where I'm renting, mortgage free!
3. Have some babies and actually be able to stay home until they go to school.
4. Save for said babies college educations.
5. Hobbies for me and the DH (aka bling, car parts & telescopes)
6. Save the rest for life's adventures!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I'd spend about $15k on jewelry... A nice RHR, pendant & a couple pairs of diamond earrings...

Then buy a bigger house, new furniture, go on a vacation to Hawaii, then try to put the remaining money into something that would help make more money.

 

[VapidLapid]

hmmmmm
I would spend 100k renovating my apartment, then sell it.
buy something cheaper and far better within 30 minutes of the henry miller library
make investments to live on in future and possibly start a small business or three.
I would have a medium sized bronze casting capability in my studio, which means I would also have the ability to work in gold and silver as well, A separate wood shop, Pugs! and a few guest house cabins so that I could invite artists and writers to come for 6 months at a time to work on projects unfettered.
it seems bling wouldn't really make it to my list
A forest green, red leather interior, 1960 bug eye sprite would definitely be mine

 

[ihy138]

I've thought about this a lot.

1. Pay off student loans and credit card debt
2. Purchase a home so we no longer have to rent. Get some new furniture - a lot of our pieces are hand-me-downs from family.
3. Invest at least half of it
4. Pay off my parents' mortgage
5. New car. I'm driving a 14 year old car now and it is a ticking time bomb.
6. Gotta have bling! I would buy a giant OEC and finally set all the loose stones I have kicking around
7. New wardrobe
8. All the vacations my husband and I have been wanting to take

I didn't think 2 million would feel like a lot, but I did the math and I could do all of the above with it.

 

[missy]

You are practical & smart! I'm dumb -- what's "convert your A to an O?" I know I'll kick myself for not getting it.

I'm presuming the $2 mill is after taxes, right?

I'd sell my house & buy a smaller one somewhere more interesting.
Set up an investment account with 3/4 of it to make it grow.
Establish a trust to give money from that to: animal rescue, habitat preservation, historic preservation.
Help my nephew with his college debts.
Buy some bling -- maybe try to limit myself to 2 things that I could actually wear in real life (e.g., no tiaras, sob).
Buy a vintage Thunderbird!

--- Laurie

Love this Laurie! I would do the same.
I would also pay off our BH mortgage, have my dh get the garage of his dreams there and give my sister for my nieces education fund and my parents as much money as we could and still put some away for retirement and rainy day fund. I've been having some health issues lately and even though I knew this before I have internalized it even more now-that work isn't my life (though it is necessary to pay the bills) and health really is everything.

 

[justginger]

Nice JG!
Are u not saying something!!!! Lol

There are not enough laughing emoties to properly convey the likelihood that I've dropped 1.35mil on a house.

 

[packrat]

$50,000 would pay off our bills.
$100,000 would get us each a new vehicle w/trade ins, get JD a boat and a 5th wheel trailer for vacations.
$100,000 would remodel our house and shed/garage and finish our landscaping.
$250,000 in some sort of college acct for each of the kids-I don't know how much college costs, or will cost by the time they're old enough, so am unsure how much to set aside for each of them.
$250,000 for JD and I to further our education/learn a couple languages. JD would work on Criminal Justice in hopes of being Chief of Police down the road, and Spanish for the language. I would work on Early Childhood Education, with Spanish and ASL for my languages. We'd both do some sort of landscaping schooling b/c we enjoy it so much.

That's 1million.

$50,000 each for dream vacations (Alaska-JD, Australia-me), toys/hobbies and cosmetic surgeries like lasik, tummy tuck, boobs fixed, acne scars etc.
$500,000 savings/retirement
$200,000 animals/wildlife/habitat preservation
$200,000 for the community. The police department, school district, library, community theater.

That's 2million.

We'd both still work until retirement.

 

[Sakuracherry]

Buy a decent apartment for a million and save the rest. It's pretty boring, but I guess that's all my husband/I want.

 

[madelise]

$2M doesn't do much here. Houses are ~1M for just an average house. I'd want to spend ~1.5M of it on a nicer house (not even THAT nice, but not the worst ones, at least) in a city that's north of me, that has an amazing school district for my future kiddos. So there's that. And paying off my student debt. The rest goes towards cost-of-living for the rest of my educational journey, as well as paying for tuition. Maybe a few small presents here or there. Like a car. Because I hate my car.

 

[monarch64]

If I received $2 million, I would:

1. need to change my pants
2. hand-write a thank you note to my generous benefactor
3. do all the sensible things with half
4. book flights to exotic locales and live like unfettered by cultural norms til the other half runs out.

 

[kenny]

I'd do a few crazy things and some smart things like investing.
It would be fun to go door to door handing out wads of cash.
Throw cash out the window when driving.
Leave $5,000 tips at coffee shops.

Give to charities, but anonymously.
Find places to really make a difference, like installing water treatment and sewage facilities in a few of the many places that lack them.
Find some very sick kids who need but can't afford medical care.

 

[Dancing Fire]

I'd buy a nice house in a good neighborhood in the town I'm living in now, and move my parents into it. They'll get better healthcare options here than they do in their rural town. Eventually, I'd move into the house myself. And, I'd probably get a good timeshare that would allow (and require ) me to get out of town more often!

and what part of town would that be?..

 

[lknvrb4]

I would give my home to a needy family. I would then move to a large lot of land and start an animal sanctuary for senior dogs that nobody wants to adopt.

 

[missy]

I would give my home to a needy family. I would then move to a large lot of land and start an animal sanctuary for senior dogs that nobody wants to adopt.

lknvrb4, is it weird to tell you I think I love you?
What an amazing thing to do and I really hope you win some big money!!!

 

[ringbling17]

I would pay off my mortgage, car payments and put aside money for college for my four kids. I might buy a sedan since we drive an SUV and a minivan.
Then I would renovate my house. First I would do an entire kitchen renovation including extending the kitchen and adding a sunroom and do some landscaping work on my backyard including adding a water fountain/ fall to the pool slide. I would also redo all my carpeted floors and change everything to mahogany santos to match my existing wood floors. I would also finish the storage room in my basement and add a home theatre. Plus pave out my driveway ( which is 20' x 150' with an extra carport for four cars).

Then I would buy a 3 to 3.75 carat diamond and send it to Victor Canera for an Art Deco style setting and set my current diamond in a pendant.

Lastly, I would buy a vacation/ getaway home. Probably in Florida. I want somewhere hot. Maybe a condo.

The rest of the money I would save away and invest.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Pay off the mortgage (that I just took out on Feb. 3!) ad pay for the renovation I'm currently in the middle of

Give money to my brother so he can start the business he's been talking about, and also take care of his family (I get a new niece in a few weeks!)

The Demon would donate to anti-cruelty and his crazy brother Oscar would donate to PAWS, where they each came from (it would be interesting to see them writing those checks with their furry paws!)

Pay off the CB's daughter's student loans (not sure how much they are)

Travel (African safari!) and who knows where else

$1,000,000ish left so that when I decided what I want to be when I grow up I can pursue that, but I love to work so I wouldn't stop

 

[momhappy]

A portion of it would be used to pay of debt (our home, etc.). Probably the majority of it would be invested for future gains. Maybe a couple of small "splurges" but we'd probably be pretty careful/frugal with it.

 

[diamondringlover]

First thing I would do is quit my highly stressful job, then pay off my mortgage and all my debt. Then I dont know, I would have to think long and hard about it, I would probably invest the money so that I have a income to live off of.

 

[pandabee]

Greg, I thought there was an OctaCZ available? Does it not ship to you?

As for me, here's my list:
1. pay off student loans
2. build our dream house
3. set aside money for college for future kids
4. help my mom set up a restaurant for her delicious Chinese food
5. visit al 50 states, plus all the other places on my travel bucket list
6. get my dream antique (true or antique style cut) cushion...maybe in a Singlestone setting. and a chunky OMC 5-stone. and some nice blinging OEC studs. and of course a nice engraved Frenchie band.

 

[manderz]

Assuming that's after taxes, I'd....

1.) Spend $150k on stuff. Mostly jewelry, some nice bags and shoes, maybe some new clothes.
2.) Pay off mortgage and student loans, and set up payment for the rest of our educations. (~$160,000 for me to get the two master's I want, and hubs to finish out and get his masters, should he so choose).
3.) Buy or build our dream. We could very easily do that for $250,000.
3.5) Fill it with new furniture. I'm not even sure what nice quality furniture would cost, so I'll set aside $75,000 for it.
4.) Retirement: $750,000.
5.) Seeing that I'm not even up to $1.4m, I'd spend some more on clothes and jewels (now that I have a big ass closet to fill ). $100,000.
6.) $100,000 for travel.

Then, I'd hang on to the rest.

 

[manderz]

Assuming that's after taxes, I'd....

1.) Spend $150k on stuff. Mostly jewelry, some nice bags and shoes, maybe some new clothes.
2.) Pay off mortgage and student loans, and set up payment for the rest of our educations. (~$160,000 for me to get the two master's I want, and hubs to finish out and get his masters, should he so choose).
3.) Buy or build our dream. We could very easily do that for $250,000.
3.5) Fill it with new furniture. I'm not even sure what nice quality furniture would cost, so I'll set aside $75,000 for it.
4.) Retirement: $750,000.
5.) Seeing that I'm not even up to $1.4m, I'd spend some more on clothes and jewels (now that I have a big ass closet to fill ). $100,000.
6.) $100,000 for travel.

Then, I'd hang on to the rest.

 

[rosetta]

Assuming its $2 million US, then it would be used towards paying down our mortgage (we are putting an offer in tomorrow). If it was £, I might have a bit left over for bling even!

 

[madelise]

Quite jealous about all of ya'll who say you can do so much with 2M., like buy a house AND go do a bunch of other stuff and shop.
I did a quick search because of this to confirm how real or unreal my previous comment was, and:
http://www.redfin.com/city/17481/CA...t=&region_id=17481&region_type=6&market=socal

Yes, the cheapest house on the market in that city right now is 1.4M. CHEAPEST. And there's only that one under 2M. /facepalm.