If you got real rich real quick, what would you do?

[RossMAN]

Retire
Payoff bills
Travel
Buy lots of stuff
Buy ATOT from Anand and make Mosh the forum admin

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

1) Give my brother enough money for a Condo in Columbus, Ohio.
2) Give equal amount to my sister in law/family to be fair
3) Keep enough to retire.
4) Philanthropy to the point that I have nothing more left to cover items 1,2,3 in a few years.

Why? I didn't create income for others so I don't deserve it when others work 80 hours a week over two jobs to simply feed a family. I think the governmental controls in the USA are way out of whack in terms of being fair to the poor and need fixing but that is not my job to fix. Out of scope in terms of my talent set and currently out of scope of my talent set while working a full time job.

 

[Pacfanweb]

That's a fair statement. What happens when your family members start to resent you because you didn't buy your cousin Bobby a new car? Imagine if you bought Bobby a car and 2 years later he needs a new car? What if cousin Susan needs $20k so she can send her two kids to an expensive private school?

Also, you can't forget anyone in the family. You didn't give your third cousin money? You're a bad person!

I guarantee you that you will be the person that they come to for money. After a while you start to question people's motives. I should know. I watched my aunt write $6k in checks at one sitting because people needed money.

To put it bluntly, "screw 'em". I'll give MY money to whoever the hell I want to. If they think I gave someone else more, let them think that. I don't care. And neither should anyone else.

As I said, in my earlier thread, I'd pay off all my immediate family members' debt. Mortgage, CC's, etc. If it was a huge lottery, maybe I'd set up a mutual fund of some other investment for them.
Now, just paying off their debt, that's going to vary quite a lot, so just doing that is going to mean that you technically "gave" some of them more. And again, screw 'em.

Example: the Wife's family, only her brother actually owns his own house and has anything to speak of, so if we paid off all his debt, it'd be more than the two sisters combined. And I wouldn't care what any of them thought about it...I don't have to do a damn thing for them. They should be glad I'm nice enough to share my good fortune.

The problem with a lot of people that come into money is, many feel they "don't deserve it". Screw that, you bought that lottery ticket. It could just have easily been someone else that won. You're damn right you deserve it. You deserve it just as much as any silver spoon trust fund kid who never has to work a day in his life, or does the bare minimum until he gets his money.

 

[inf1nity]

I'd buy a large nuke and throw it at the middle east.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

consult with a financial adviser

 

[IronWing]

I'd build a giant lava lamp and go scuba diving in it.

 

[xanis]

In order:

1) Hire a a good lawyer and financial advisor
2) Buy a nice chunk of land somewhere in rural New England (maybe VT or NH)
3) Build a completely-custom home on said chunk of land
4) Create a fund with a set amount of money to be evenly distributed among a select group
5) Travel until I can't travel no more

 

[Anubis]

pay off my debt
consult finincial planner type person, to advise on investing and such. low risk low reward long term stuff
Pay off debt of family i care about - this would be the only money going to fam unless a true emergency - simple debt payoff, (house, loans, CC and so on) all of them work and simply having no debt is huge.

id buy a house somplace in the boonies and tell very few people where it was

travel the world

 

[Newell Steamer]

Quit my job. Buy/build a house. Find some simple work somewhere; like working in a cigar, comic or coffee shop (to learn the business and start my own). And, when things are set up properly, travel like crazy.

 

[PricklyPete]

Probably start a non-profit farm that could employ local workers at a decent rate and provide fresh food at a decent price to impoverished areas.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I'd hire a full-time chef and go on more vacations.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Flee the country before they figure out how I did it and come after me.

 

[roguerower]

If I won $5 million:

1. Hire a financial advisor, although the first person I would turn to would be my grandfather. He's done a VERY good job of taking care of his money.

2. Put $1 million into a retirement trust.

3. Finish this project with my company and then quit (November 2014).

4. Temporarily move to Denver, CO for 4 months ($8k for living expenses). Spend the winter snowboarding (say $5k) and flying in the tunnel and getting REALLY good ($20k).

5. Temporarily move to Zhills, FL for 5 months ($10k for living expenses). During that time I'd jump my ass off (probably 200-400 jumps) and train for Canopy nationals ($15k including coaching). I'd also get my Commercial Pilots license, multi, high performance, & complex ratings ($50k).

6. Move to Blacksburg, VA and buy a house ($400k). Buy a couple of acres on Claytor lake ($200k). Buy a Cessna 182RG Turbo ($200k).

7. Build a PEMB building on the Claytor lake land ($500k). Outfit the building with all the equipment needed for a successful rowing team.

8. Go back to my old position as a coach for the VT rowing team.

9. Donate new PEMB building to VT.

10. Work as a coach for the rest of my days, taking time to skydive and travel.

So I have my time where I blow money left, right, and center. But it'll amount to maybe $1mil. Sprinkled in there is helping my close friends (can count them on 10 fingers) and family with any outstanding debts.

 

[riahc3]

Some of you have taken this WAY WAY WAY too seriously....

It was just a pool of ideas and having fun at it.

Obviously, the first steps are getting a lawyer and a consultant to help organize your money. I dont think that even needs to be said.

In a way, throwing "fundraisers" actually sounds better than the charity idea.

 

[jlee]

Define rich. If it was in excess of $1mil, I'd probably retire and just work on the side for fun. $2mil+, my gf and I would retire. $3mil+, I dunno.

 

[manimal]

Property in France, Italy, Hawaii, San Diego, Zurich, NYC, LA and Argentina.
Private plane
charitable trust
trusts for kids
racetrack
yacht
car collection
bike collection
robots lots of robots
develop 3d printer technology
develop pelletized concrete that requires no heat in shipping.

 

[Mai72]

Some of you have taken this WAY WAY WAY too seriously....

It was just a pool of ideas and having fun at it.

Obviously, the first steps are getting a lawyer and a consultant to help organize your money. I dont think that even needs to be said.

In a way, throwing "fundraisers" actually sounds better than the charity idea.

It's because you're talking to ATOT. We are already rich. I alone own 5 cars, speedboat, and 3 mansions. Mongrel owns an island I believe.

 

[AmdEmAll]

First order I would do this

Id quit my job.. pay my bills off.. pay my parents bills/mortgage off.. pay brothers bills

I would book a trip to Bora Bora for me and my family and go there for a couple of weeks

Then make my dad retire.. then id have to think about where we are all moving.. I like Florida but there are better places if rich of course. Maybe have a house here on the water still.. in keys or Bahama's??

Id like my own race track somewhere with a collection of cars.. my own helicopter.. not sure id get a jet.. depends on how rich. I actually like flying on commercial airliners. Obviously it would be business/first class always.

 

[mrjminer]

Depends on how much it was.

First, I'd sock enough into multiple accounts to the FDIC insured limit for each. Enough to ensure I could live comfortably forever if I blew through all of my money.

Second, I'd have my general living fund to cover my anticipated required expenses until I died.

Third, I'd give enough money to all of my relatives to retire, or at least pay off a bunch of their shit, depending on how much I made.

Fourth, I'd marry a hot chick and get an ironclad pre-nup

Fifth, hookers and blow, with or without my new hot wife included.

Sixth, hire a bunch of programmers, engineers, healthcare workers, and farmers dedicated to the creation and implementation of technology to increase or ensure an acceptable quality of life in the US.

Seventh, buy politicians to reform welfare to workfare.

I would give nothing to charity unless the benefits of the donation saved me an equal or greater amount in taxes. If I did give anything to charity, it would be a charity I established, or something I deemed for the benefit solely of Americans. Because I'm not some dickhead that ignores the problems we have in this country and gives all of their extraneous income to some worthless shithole like Haiti.

 

[TreVader]

Define "rich", and "quick". My definition would be a personal income of say, 10 million in one year after taxes.


I would take some 4 x 100,000 and open new bank accounts at B of A, Chase, Wells Fargo, and Wachovia.

I would purchase a new house in southern CA for 600,000.

I would purchase a few new surfboards and update all my electronics, put $1M in a mutual fund and put the remaining ~$7,990,000 in a hedge fund.

 

[Engineer]

Retire too quick to talk about. I'll figure it out from there.

 

[gotsmack]

You guys are retiring too quickly with too small sums of money. I figured out that I need 6-8 million cash to retire and live a normal life. Any less than that and I'll be working.

If I won big money, the first thing I'd do is write a thank you letter to the Nigerian Prince that graced me with the opportunity to share in his father's wealth by assisting him to move it outside his country.

 

[Mai72]

Move out of America. Go live in SE Asia for much less, and you will get a lot more.

Retiring in Vietnam: http://www.retireinasia.com/cost-of-living-in-vietnam/

Hiring a maid, pursuing an educational or hobby course, buying groceries, spending on electronics etc too add to the cost of living in any country. You can get a maid and laundry service for about $36/month whereas private high school for your kid can cost about $90/year. Similarly, college tuition fees range from $100-$250 whereas a pack of Marlboro is about $1 in Vietnam.

 

[smackababy]

I'd buy Anandtech and ban whoever bumped this pointless thread.

 

[ultimatebob]

First thing would be to get a reputable accountant/accounting firm. Everything after that would be based off bouncing ideas around with them about investing / trusts / IRAs and shit. After all of that, I'd know how much I could afford to spend each month for xxxx years and be 100% secure that I wouldn't have to do anything ever again if I chose not to do so.

Then, hookers and blow time.

I can't believe that it took until post #28 for the classic "Hookers and Blow" answer.

ATOT's post reply quality is slipping!