What would you do with $1 million in cash

[NW-Bound]

Maybe you should ask the OP to increase the mill with 10 mil?

In Vail, a smallish and older condo can be had for $1M or slightly less. You still need to include the maintenance cost and HOA. I figure Telluride or Jackson would be comparable.

 

[outdoorgirl02]

I'd give some cash to each of my 5 siblings and my parents.

Finish funding DD's 529 plan

Hire a regular house cleaning service

Hire someone to cook and prep meals a few times a week

Buy a newer car

Use some funds to see the best possible doctors for my health issues

Invest the rest

 

[Choices]

100k to each of my three kids. Keep 200k back for improvements to our proposed hobby farm. 50k each to MIL and DH's aunt. Park the rest in a donation acct with Vanguard.

 

[KmmFIdreamer]

no; but $1M tax free falls into my lap I'd prolly pull a johnny paycheck

+1

I would pay off the remaining $115K that I owe on my house that I am living in, which is all that is really stopping me from quitting now!

The rest would be invested 1/2 in equities and 1/2 in rental real estate. I could live off the dividends and rentals quite well since I live a pretty frugal life anyway.

 

[KmmFIdreamer]

In Vail, a smallish and older condo can be had for $1M or slightly less. You still need to include the maintenance cost and HOA. I figure Telluride or Jackson would be comparable.

Keystone & Dillion/Silverthorne area is still semi-affordable. I picked up my unit there 1.5 years ago for a bargain of $150K. I saw that one unit in my building with slightly more sq. ft. went for around $219K just a couple of months ago. There are a lot of units listed in the $300K range in some of the other buildings nearby. Breckenridge is only about 12 miles from my condo, but the prices are outrages there too.....

Granby/Winter Park area might have some affordable places too, but boy does it get cold in the Frazier Valley area in the winter! I remember taking the boys tubing once and it was a high of minus 11 that day .....

Steamboat Springs is where I would buy if I were looking for another ski property. I love the town anyway and real estate there can be found for some okay prices if you look hard enough....

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I would invest it mainly in investments like TIPS, I-bonds and CD ladders.

 

[Cap_Scarlet]

I think it depends on whether I'd won it or earned it. If I had won it I would probably:

- Spend 50-60k doing various upgrades around the house.
- Spend 70-80k on a nice motor (Range Rover).
- Give a couple of hundred to family.
- Book a world cruise.
- Invest the rest mostly in high risk but high upside.

If i had earned it then 50:50 in bonds and equities ;-)

 

[marko]

I always said that if I won the lottery the one thing I'd get is a private jet. Go anywhere, anytime with no hassles.

$1M won't do that but it would buy into a nice fractional.

 

[bclover]

I'm surprised there are not more splurges. C'mon...money with no tax consequences and it all goes into your AA?

I'm splurging.

this is an easy one for me. Beach house. Doesn't have to be huge but no more than a block away from the beach. I would say 35% on the house itself and the rest save for upkeep and maintenance

 

[NW-Bound]

I always said that if I won the lottery the one thing I'd get is a private jet. Go anywhere, anytime with no hassles.

$1M won't do that but it would buy into a nice fractional.

Fractional jet? Ah, that would be a lot nicer than waiting at the airport terminal even if you fly first-class. But is $1M enough?

Out of curiosity, I looked into it. A smallest fractional share from NetJet is 1/16th of a small jet, which allows you up to 50 hours of flight time per year. Here are the costs:

* Acquisition Fee: $550,000
* Maintenance Fee: $115,200/year, no matter how many hours you use
* Flight Fee: $1,950/hour, or $97,500/year max for 50 hours

I don't think $1M is enough, as you would run out of money after just a few years. See: http://www.forbestravelguide.com/pa...h-does-a-private-jet-flight-cost-with-netjets.

One can go cheaper, and buy a Marquis Jet Card that lets you prepay 25 hrs of flight. Cost: $119,900 or $5K/hr roughly, but you can have multiple passengers (seat arrangement unknown). And there are additional surcharges for fuel, and insurance, etc... You have to use the card in 1 year.

 

[gcgang]

At 4% SWR, you'd be able to spend a little more than an extra $100/day. Doesn't sound as exciting as ONE. MILLION. DOLLARS!

 

[NW-Bound]

And if you try to live on the 2% S&P dividend, that's only another $50/day.

Still, if you save over enough days, you have enough to do something. Lemme see how many days I would need in order to do a business-class seat upgrade...

 

[frank2009]

Spend half on hookers and blow, $100,000 to a mix of charities, then waste the rest on half stocks and half bonds. I'd like to up my bond holdings a bit.

Sounds good!

 

[NW-Bound]

It's funny how people respond to this thread, where the OP was asking about how to invest $1M in cash in this stock/bond climate. Many just want to spend a big portion, if not all of it, instead of investing it.

Could that be due to repressed desires of the ERs?

 

[travelover]

............Could that be due to repressed desires of the ERs?

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

 

[MichaelB]

It's funny how people respond to this thread, where the OP was asking about how to invest $1M in cash in this stock/bond climate. Many just want to spend a big portion, if not all of it, instead of investing it.

Could that be due to repressed desires of the ERs?

Did you see my post? I strategically invested 90% of the windfall.

 

[Meadbh]

This could be interesting.
If you suddenly found yourself with a million of cash that was not invested in bonds or stocks, what would you do with it given the current stock/bond market.

It's funny how people respond to this thread, where the OP was asking about how to invest $1M in cash in this stock/bond climate. Many just want to spend a big portion, if not all of it, instead of investing it.

Could that be due to repressed desires of the ERs?

If you reread the OP, he said nothing about having to invest it. His question was: "What would you do with it?".

Your mental model and mine are different.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I would not do anything different with the money if I received it all in one day or piled it up from annual savings from earned income over a longer period of time.

 

[Danmar]

Many just want to spend a big portion, if not all of it, instead of investing it.

Could that be due to repressed desires of the ERs?

I was wondering this too. A little surprised at these repressed desires. Mostly I hear things like "I don't spend that much, but very happy and wouldn't know what to spend more on". To be fair there were quite a few who just invested it.

 

[Meadbh]

I was wondering this too. A little surprised at these repressed desires. Mostly I hear things like "I don't spend that much, but very happy and wouldn't know what to spend more on". To be fair there were quite a few who just invested it.

My "repressed desire" was to buy a vacation home (I didn't specify where, but it could have been a Paris apartment) and travel there in style (first class). So why didn't I just fulfil that desire before ER? Because it would have taken at least a decade of work to accumulate the necessary funds, by which time I might be too burnt out to enjoy it. Another word for "repressed desires" is "choices". This was a want, not a need.

 

[Danmar]

My "repressed desire" was to buy a vacation home (I didn't specify where, but it could have been a Paris apartment) and travel there in style (first class). So why didn't I just fulfil that desire before ER? Because it would have taken at least a decade of work to accumulate the necessary funds, by which time I might be too burnt out to enjoy it. Another word for "repressed desires" is "choices". This was a want, not a need.

Got it. "Repressed desires" was someone else's term, perhaps not the best choice of words.

 

[jollystomper]

I don't think it is "repressed desires" so much as "I'm fine with what I already have, so with this windfall I don't have a need to invest it all".

 

[NW-Bound]

This could be interesting.
If you suddenly found yourself with a million of cash that was not invested in bonds or stocks, what would you do with it given the current stock/bond market.

If you reread the OP, he said nothing about having to invest it. His question was: "What would you do with it?".

Your mental model and mine are different.

I observed that he asked in the forum "Stock Picking and Market Strategy".

If he asked in the "Life after FIRE" forum, then his intention might be more about indulgences.

 

[audreyh1]

I think I have enough invested. So, if I truly received an unexpected $1M windfall, I'd figure out how to spend it over the next 10 years. Gifting would probably figure largely into the scheme.

 

[Meadbh]

I observed that he asked in the forum "Stock Picking and Market Strategy".

If he asked in the "Life after FIRE" forum, then his intention might be more about indulgences.

I didn't even notice what forum it was in, because I was looking at the portal view. In any case, I think stocks are overpriced right now and bonds are not looking good, so any spare cash is staying in cash and if I had a windfall tomorrow I would not be dumping it in the markets.