If I were a rich man

[Denur]

Or woman. What are the first things that come to mind to buy when you were to happen to stumble across loads of money? Please state age and personal status (single, married, living with parents, etc).

I'm a 40 yo single male and would first spend all that money on an even bigger appartment with a lovely view (mountain, sea, lake, whatever), an Alfa Brera and a few more helps around the house (buttler, maid etc). And when there is any money left, I'd like a race seat and a new stereoset.

 

[nick09]

I'm 17 years old living with my parents and I would get a unlimited supply of PS3's to mod(if I know anything), get a real nice car, and save some cash to last on current gas prices for 5+ years.

 

[TopHat]

I'm 14, living with parents.... I'd probably put it away until I needed it.

At which point, I'd use it to get through college and have a nice apartment/house, and a decent car.

Oh and a big TV, PS3, and some nice Bang + Olufsen speaker systems.

 

[Only_in_f1]

I'm 16, living with parents, single and male. I'd buy a hell of alot of geeky gadgets as I would have nothing better to do. Id save quite alot but spend just as much.

 

[Jondot]

17, living with parents, male, single, would like to meet others for friendship and more. Likes rainy days, ice cream and Meg Ryan movies.


Yeah, anyway... I'd buy myself something wonderfully comfy yet cheesy (a used C5 will do nicely) and put the rest away until Uni has come and gone. I don't fancy the idea of being 'rich' per se, but I'd like to have 'enough' cash stored away somewhere so I don't have to panic about where my next meal/rent/fill-up is coming from (although it'd have to be under £50k unless Gordon decides otherwise).

 

[daan]

Yeah, anyway... I'd buy myself something wonderfully comfy yet cheesy (a used C5 will do nicely)

 

[Jondot]

Ahh, now don't tell me you haven't thought the same at some point in your life It's the vehicle of the future... yesterday!

 

[daan]

It's the answer to the transport question that was never asked.

 

[Gil]

How much are we talking about?

If I were to hit the Lotto (which is currently at $25M) which would cash out at about $15 million, I have very definite plans.

BTW, I'm in my mid-40's with a wife and six sons.

First would be the $2 Million tithe to the church and charitable foundations.

Each of my guys would get $1,000,000 put with a good investment banker. They would be able to draw on the interest starting on their 21st birthday, with access to the principal after they turn 25.

I would then gift each of them $100,000 For their Checking accounts.

I would then take $8,000,000 and put it with various investment bankers and live very well off of the interest.

That last million...Can you say Spending spree.
Half for my wife to do with as she pleases.
Then I'd hit the Jewelry store and add a couple of Tag-Heuers, Oris, and Seiko Sporturas watches to my collection.
I'd find my old T-Bird and restore it, and hit all the area guitar stores.
And I might find my way to Major Infiniti in Overland Park, and buy a couple of cars.

 

[Sage]

All day long I’d biddy biddy bum.

I’d pay off my student loans, pay for the rent, buy a new bike, and stick the rest in savings and CDs. My life is just fine right now without any additional material possessions (in fact, I’m trying to get rid of stuff).

 

[Perfect Balance]

I would finish my car, buy another one to drive around in, buy a house with a garage, and enjoy life.

Of course, that would have to be a large sum of money, a few million bucks isn't going to get me far without a job.

 

[BayConRong]

16, 17 in january living at whoever's house. Male, single

i would get a 1984 celica 3 door like I always wanted and spend some to fix it up and make it a little better, considering how much trouble all my cars have with the transmision i would but a 8k one and make sure that sucker would never break. then invest the rest.

 

[Danoff]

28, M, Married

With the first billion I'd start an Economics foundation dedicated to teaching basic economic principles. I'd probably use another 5 Billion or so to create another foundation to try to restore the constitution into our government. The foundation would take on legal cases that challenged the constitutionality of laws, lobby against unconstitutional proposals etc. etc.

I might also want to found a university that promoted economic and constitutional understanding.

I'd probably also contribute heavily to cancer and solar cell research - possibly creating foundations in those areas as well, depending on what the state of the art is in research in those areas. Most likely both areas are already well established and could just use additional funding to help further the cause.

Another pet project for the funds is the promotion of a flat sales tax and the abolition of income tax. I'd probably use my economics institute to try to promote/lobby to that end.

It might be fun to buy an NFL team.

I might also want to start a competitive racing league to take formula 1's place since the FIA is in the process of killing that one.

I think I'd also want to buy an island somewhere and put together a nice living situation for myself. I'd want to keep it out of hurricane traffic, and preferably not one that was so large that it would of interest to any governments who might one day have aspirations of annexing my island. Just a place to go and retire to in the event that the world collapses.

Of course throughout all of that I'd want to have access to all the latest technology to make my life both comfortable and ultra productive. I'm sure I'd need a bunch of assistants to help me stay on track with my foundations, university, NFL team, racing league, etc. I'd naturally need a chef, maid, landscaper, personal shopper, dog walker, hair dresser, etc. at each of my homes.

I'd want to have fun too. I'd start some collections: cars, probably first edition old writings that I'm fond of, antique maps, paintings, guns, wine, probably quite a few others.

I'm sure I'd adopt quite a few children as well.

I might also spend some serious time trying to get over my fear of heights. With the additional cash, I'm sure I could arrange for extended extended stays in the air at various heights. I think I could ease my way into accepting air travel and being comfortable in tall buildings.

I'm certain that my wife would be with me 100% on most of these things, but she might also have some other interests that she'd like to pursue - so obviously additional funds are spoken for.

Well, that's what I've got off the top of my head. I'm sure I could do this for another hour, but since I have no plans to have that kind of cash it's really moot.

 

[mafia_boy]

Just turned 30 on Thursday, defacto, 1 son.

$10 million is my target. Of that it would be like this:

$2 million = Custom designed 4-5bdr house built on acre of land in a tropical area away from the rat race fully furnished.
$1 million = Garage full of my dream modified cars to build, all capable of either insane acceleration and/or insane maximum speeds. 10 cars @ $100k can easily fulfill those wishes.
$1 million = Pay for any phone/electricity/cable bill for the next 50yrs.
$5 million = Invested Wisely (Property and shares are becoming cheap again!! ) or Term Deposit at bank (now that the governments are guaranteeing deposits again at banks!! )
$1 million = Play money, use it to go to WSOP Main Event or binge on something unsavoury. 👍

 

[TB]

Danoff, if you wouldn't mind specializing some of that medical research in CF, it'd be much appreciated.

31, male, married

My house if fine, short of the modest changes we're making to it, as are both of our cars, so the first order of business is to pay those off. Then student loans and add to our kids' 529's. A few bucks will go to our parents and siblings to shut them up and the rest will be socked away for the inevitable medical bills.

 

[Keef]

I'm 20, male, single. I think the first thing I would do if I suddenly happened across a mountain of money would be to ask somebody "Now what?" Our personal bank accounts here in America are now insured up to $250,000. But say you won $250,000,000 in the Powerball or something. That's 1000 seperate bank accounts to make sure all your money is safe. Not including the year-salary interest that it would rack up in days. None of that is insured because it goes over 250k. So, I'd have to figure out just where to put my money.

After that I'd pay off my parent's bills and go buy me a Suzuki SX4 hatchback. I like those.

 

[Omnis]

I would start my own news/education media network. With that kind of money (a trillion? trillions?), I would do everything I could do re-establish the fourth estate with an anti-collectivist, pro-peace, pro-market perspective. I'm sick of news networks being lapdogs instead of watchdogs, so a good chunk of my money would go towards reversing that trend.

Second thing I'd do is start a local school system and lobby Florida to get rid of public schools. If that doesn't work, I'd start with Broward county and buy their school system instead. I might keep a few schools for my own company and then auction off the others. The goal is to create a free market in education to see how things turn out. If it would work in my county, I'm sure I could cut a tax deal with the county to help students' families, which would eventually put pressure on the state to change/abolish certain tax regulations or even the entire state's school system.

Then, if I was even more ambitious, I might start a campaign to bring sound money back to Florida. That would involve becoming governor or helping a governor willing to do it. Basically, I'd try to see if we can't reverse Gresham's Law by requiring all state transactions to be done with gold or silver, thereby creating a de facto state currency.

Then I'd put some money into cyborg technology research. Not like cyberdyne stuff , but more like cybernetic vision for the blind, cochlear implant tech, and mobility or prosthetic technology.

The rest I'd just manage somehow so that I can live off of interest.

edit: Oh, and I'm 19, male, and single (couldn't you tell?).

 

[Wenders]

45, female and living with my two kids....no wait, they live with me.

Now I have to admit I am greedy and have decided that a lotto win of anything less than around 20mil is just a waste of time.

First thing I'd do is quit my job.

Then I'd hire myself a personal trainer to rock up everyday and get me back in shape.....I'll need to be fit to spend my millions.

Pay off my mortgage and credit card.

Renovate and landscape my house and garden, even though I will more than likely build a new house, I have plans of what I'd like to do to this place and I'd like to see them done plus building new house will take a few years to get the right location, design etc.

Invest some money for my kids for their future.

Put money away for nieces and nephews to be used for home deposit or uni fees.

Buy my step-mum, mother in law and step-sister a place to live so they don't have to pay rent.

Buy some sort of business that Jack can run - in other words buy Jack a job.

Invest the rest wisely to provide plenty of income.

Travel.

 

[Joey D]

21, male, long term relationship, still live at home

I'm assuming a ton of money here, like enough to get me by with whatever I wanted in life.

The first thing I would do is buy my mom a brand new red convertible Corvette, she has wanted one forever and I think it's the least I could do. I would also set up my parents in a nice home in a warmer climate then Michigan, probably Arizona and get them a cabin in the northern part of Michigan for the summer months.

I would then probably get my Ph.D in archaeology and take up working in the UK since that is where my interest are. I would get a nice house more in the country side somewhere. Kate and I would probably get married before going over to Europe, I would be able to afford a really nice ring for her too.

I wouldn't need a real flashy everyday car, maybe a BMW 3 series. I'd get Kate the convertible Cooper she's wanted as well. I would have my weekend fun car though, a Morgan Aero 8 as I've always wanted one. I'd also have my project car, a Datsun 510, and my archaeology work vehicle, a Land Rover Defender. I would also have a motorcycle, a really nice BMW one.

I would have at least two kids, probably adopted, a boy and a girl. I would make sure they got a top notch education and went to a really good university. They would also be taught not to be little rich b*******.

I would probably do a lot of traveling to places I've always want to see. The pyramids of Egypt, Iceland, the ruins in central and south America, Australia, many many many tropical island, Ibiza, Dubai, all of China, a trip down to Antarctica, and many other places.

I'm sure there are many other things I would want to do but that's about all I can really think about for the time being.

 

[TB]

Invest some money for my kids for their future.

Buy some sort of business that Jack can run - in other words buy Jack a job.

Based on these two, one on Jack's list better be "Put iMum in the nice nursing home. Not that crooked one we saw on '60 Minutes'."

Thank you, Homer J.

 

[Casio]

I'm 20, male, single. I think the first thing I would do if I suddenly happened across a mountain of money would be to ask somebody "Now what?" Our personal bank accounts here in America are now insured up to $250,000. But say you won $250,000,000 in the Powerball or something. That's 1000 seperate bank accounts to make sure all your money is safe. Not including the year-salary interest that it would rack up in days. None of that is insured because it goes over 250k. So, I'd have to figure out just where to put my money.

After that I'd pay off my parent's bills and go buy me a Suzuki SX4 hatchback. I like those.

Keef I'll let you invest it my in bank account because the Government of Australia insured our Bank Accounts with No Amount Limit.

 

[Solid Lifters]

With my 3.3 trillion dollars, I'd buy Arizona, throw everybody out of Flagstaff and use it for bombing practice with my A-10E. I'd drive around town in a AHED 8X8 with twin mounted M134s (for traffic clearing purposes).

38, wife and two kids.

 

[Keef]

Keef I'll let you invest it my in bank account because the Government of Australia insured our Bank Accounts with No Amount Limit.

Well that's a great idea because you guys empty your savings for a kegger every week. The government won't hardly have to spare a dime.

EDIT: Solid, I've got an idea similar to yours, but less...exciting. See, if I had my Powerball winnings I'd use the money's influence to get my town's police to stop harassing people who don't deserve it. See, if I had enough money to cover the city's budget and those of all the residents, there'd be nothing they could do about it. Id just buy the city and fire everyone. Problem solved. So, knowing that, they'd surely not screw with me or anyone I know. Protect and serve, baby. I'd serve that money-hungry Chief of Police an early retirement, pension not included.

 

[cb8673]

22, male, searching for a school to enter.

Step one, buy home for myself and my fiance.
Step two, marry fiance.
Step three, start family.
Step four, enter school, then medical school.
Step five, complete residency,
Step six, open a medical school and teaching hospital, going into practice there.
Step seven, help family.
Step eight, take up golf.
Step nine, buy a R34.
Step ten, enjoy life.

 

[1X83Z]

Our personal bank accounts here in America are now insured up to $250,000. But say you won $250,000,000 in the Powerball or something. That's 1000 seperate bank accounts to make sure all your money is safe.

You tool. You're insured for a maximum of $250k at separate BANKS, not in separate accounts. Otherwise everyone would do what you're describing and the FDIC wouldn't work. Good luck finding 1,000 different banks - and dealing with the hell of having to deposit $250k in each of them!

You have two OTHER options:
a) put all $250m in the same account, because this isn't the great depression and banks don't fail anymore (and those which do fail, like Wachovia, are bought up by other banks and continue to operate normally).
b) invest the $250m. Even in an index fund. This is probably safer than banks because even with the recent market volatility, time has proven the market is an extremely safe investment if you hold steady for the long term. Plus it keeps your asset relatively liquid (vs., for example, real estate, or art, or some other investment), since you can pull out with relative ease and no penalty.

There's also rarely-utilized option C, wherein you could open a Certificate of Deposit (CD) with the money and earn better interest than a savings account. The positive here is that the FDIC insures CDs up to $50m, but the negative is that CDs are long-term lock-ins so the money is completely illiquid.

If I had $250m and wanted to keep it as a nest egg as best as possible, I'd probably do a $50m CD for the shortest term possible, put about $10m in a simple savings account, and keep the rest in very low-risk stocks. You have almost no chance to lose everything there, and you're diversified enough so that if one of your stores of money fails, you're still holding good money in another. Then again if you had $190m in an index fund and the market failed, the last thing I'd be worrying about is my remaining $60m. I'd be more worried about the impeding nuclear war.

1,000 separate accounts. What a dumbass.

(BTW there are literally TONS of other options you could do as well... I believe some offshore banks have no insurance limit)

 

[Keef]

I knew they had to be in separate banks, I just didn't say it right. Jeez.

It's sounding like being rich is a lot of work. Screw that. Give me a hundred grand, a savings account, and a part-time job at McDonald's. Now that's my kind of easy.

 

[1X83Z]

I knew they had to be in separate banks, I just didn't say it right. Jeez.

It's sounding like being rich is a lot of work. Screw that. Give me a hundred grand, a savings account, and a part-time job at McDonald's. Now that's my kind of easy.

A HUNDRED GRAND!??! You'd probably buy like six Civics and call yourself successful.

 

[Perfect Balance]

A HUNDRED GRAND!??! You'd probably buy like six Civics and call yourself successful.

Or 5 Audis.

 

[TB]

Or a used Range Rover.

 

[Boz Mon]

I actually was thinking about this the other day. I am currently 21 and living at home with my parents. If I won an ungodly amount of money, the first thing I would do is quit school. Then I would pay off my parents house, buy both of them the cars of their choice, and give then a fair chunk of the money, not to mention my sister. I would also split some between grandparents. Then I would buy a house, a yellow S2000, a Porsche 914, and possibly a brand new Yamaha superjet. There would also be a membership to some sort of race track and then I would just wing the rest of my life