analog_sa:
As others have mentioned, $1,000,000 (US) may not be a game-changer for a lot of people (especially those of us who have retired or are close to that point). Sure, we could blow it on something spectacular, but then what? The market generally returns around 8% per year, and if you want to account for inflation at least half of that annual return should be reinvested. That leaves $40,000 at the end of year one (and 4% more each year thereafter). Certainly not pocket change, but not necessarily life-changing either.
Now, if the question was what if $10,000,000 was suddenly dumped in your lap, then you might start seeing more whimsical responses.
Regards,
Scott
I couldn’t help to reply, this is my first post and most everyone likes talking about getting hit with a pile of money. I live without debt so that’s not an issue which simplifies things.
50k to brother.
200k to mom.
Sister needs nothing.
200-300k toward an income producing cabin/lakehouse in the Smokey’s of NC/VA. I work half the year with half off so owning a second home with short term rental potential makes sense.
450-500k toward retiring 5 years early.
50k to brother.
200k to mom.
Sister needs nothing.
200-300k toward an income producing cabin/lakehouse in the Smokey’s of NC/VA. I work half the year with half off so owning a second home with short term rental potential makes sense.
450-500k toward retiring 5 years early.
You would need the rest to pay the property taxes on 2-bedroom apartment with direct sea view and 400K residence.I have a studio at the beach, I would sell it and get a 2-bedroom apartment, also direct sea view. 300k gone.
My main residence is a rented apartment, I would try to buy it. 400k gone.
I need a new car to replace the 16 yr old. 50k gone.
Get an APx555B, and a 4-channel 1GHz scope. 40k gone.
So, what do I do with all that money I have left???
All depends on when and where you live.
In such case, the first thing you would need is to call an ambulance because your legs will be broken from the weight.
It would not change my life.
OK, I thought you wanted to know why it wouldn't change my life, that's all.
It's all perspective and Location, Location, Location.. So for people not in the know as far as the location where Cal is concerned just look at the real estate prices there. Anywhere on the west coast from Vancouver to Van Isle and in between etc = megabucks and the taxes that go with it. A million does not go far there if you want to own a domicile anywhere there, but it's the best place in the world imo..
So for me I miss the west coast like I cannot even explain, speaking from a Victoria BC perspective. The best place in the world for me is Vic and all of Van Isle. So many lakes and beautiful places there, mountains, scenery, the smell of the Ocean etc.
Now a million does not go far anywhere there at all really, unless you go to a real remote area with no real services and that's still expensive unfortunately comparatively to other options.
So a million for me would mean I'd take a year to live like a Nomad in a cheap RV and go back to the West Coast. So there's about $25-30G.. Then after that I have three designs for tiny houses that I would like to build, and if I stayed where I am I could probably have like 10+ acres and a brand new house and garage for $200,000 or less and still looking good with about 700-750G left over.. But it's still not home, it's not the west coast and all that I loved in life.
So for me I miss the west coast like I cannot even explain, speaking from a Victoria BC perspective. The best place in the world for me is Vic and all of Van Isle. So many lakes and beautiful places there, mountains, scenery, the smell of the Ocean etc.
Now a million does not go far anywhere there at all really, unless you go to a real remote area with no real services and that's still expensive unfortunately comparatively to other options.
So a million for me would mean I'd take a year to live like a Nomad in a cheap RV and go back to the West Coast. So there's about $25-30G.. Then after that I have three designs for tiny houses that I would like to build, and if I stayed where I am I could probably have like 10+ acres and a brand new house and garage for $200,000 or less and still looking good with about 700-750G left over.. But it's still not home, it's not the west coast and all that I loved in life.
Logically speaking, shouldn't the best place have a good value per dollar ratio? New York City and Los Angeles both offer top notch things, if you've got the money. For those who don't, it's far from the best place in the world. They may even be number 1 & 2 on the opposite criteria for those without much money.
Yep I agree. I meant the best place for me, what I know and knew for many years. Home will always be home and that place was and will always be home. Can I afford to live there as a buyer, nope.. The place I live in now I own 1.25 acres with a house, not the nicest house by any means. I'm 15-20 mins from the city. By comparison if I had this land and crappy house 15mins outside of Victoria it would probably be about $600,000. Then you need to pay taxes on that per year.. I was only speaking as a person who misses 'Home' and all I knew there..
In my case I said It wouldn't allow me to retire just yet. That doesn't mean it wouldn't change my life in the long run. It would most certainly mean that when I do retire that I would be able to do a lot more than I could if I had not received the windfall
I might even buy a new car (though I would probably still keep my 24 yo Peugeot 306 S16, I would probably spend some money to bring it back to as new condition
Tony.
I might even buy a new car (though I would probably still keep my 24 yo Peugeot 306 S16, I would probably spend some money to bring it back to as new condition
Tony.
We have a 4 bedroom house on 360 square meter block. My commute to the CBD is about 1 hour 15 minutes and current valuation is around $1.4 Million. Sydney prices are just ridiculous
It is almost impossible to find a house for less than $1 million in Sydney. Tony.
Here is an interesting list. Now I don't feel quite so bad living here in Vancouver. We are #112. Like so many things that are different around the world, we have relatively inexpensive food but accommodation is quite high. Electricity low, but fuel tax high. Lots of examples of that.
Don't worry about the access denied link, works fine here.
Access Denied
Don't worry about the access denied link, works fine here.
Access Denied
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Pittsburgh made the list at #97. The average household income here is around $52,000. A million dollars at a respectable 4% return on investment over inflation would allow a family to last around 60+ years. Of course doing that rate of return is not trivial. So figure you would run out of money in 40 years. Including Social Security would stretch that.
Thinking about all that, I think I already live as if I had 1M$. I am living off my retirement pay, and any money I make from Linear Audio goes into parts and test equipment and project boxes and such.
So I could last 100 years easily, if not for old age
Anybody wants my 1M ?
Jan
So I could last 100 years easily, if not for old age
Anybody wants my 1M ?
Jan
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A million dollars is not a lot of money any more. In 1960 a million dollars made you rich. Now it's barely enough to retire on.
I had millions until 2008 when the crash demolished my wealth. I barely was able to keep my house. Now I'm a pretty poor mofo facing retirement with serious illness and no health insurance. I have less than $100K in savings now (was almost zero in 2009).
So first thing I would do is hire an accountant to shelter the money from gubmnet confiscation, since their policy of late is to eat the middle class.
Sine the gubment priced me out of health insurance six years ago, I would use that money to buy health insurance and start going to the doctor again. If I could have better quality of life for my last few years that would be worth it.
I had millions until 2008 when the crash demolished my wealth. I barely was able to keep my house. Now I'm a pretty poor mofo facing retirement with serious illness and no health insurance. I have less than $100K in savings now (was almost zero in 2009).
So first thing I would do is hire an accountant to shelter the money from gubmnet confiscation, since their policy of late is to eat the middle class.
Sine the gubment priced me out of health insurance six years ago, I would use that money to buy health insurance and start going to the doctor again. If I could have better quality of life for my last few years that would be worth it.
That sucks. Those health insurance issues are often very surprising for people on my side on the pond when we hear of such cases.
Most people here view the governments' main tasks in life to provide for education, health care and physical security to their people as the very minimum. We would find it very curious that a government could negate on one of these tasks without a major revolution.
Different worldview I guess.
Anyway, hope your situation improves quickly.
Jan
Most people here view the governments' main tasks in life to provide for education, health care and physical security to their people as the very minimum. We would find it very curious that a government could negate on one of these tasks without a major revolution.
Different worldview I guess.
Anyway, hope your situation improves quickly.
Jan
My retirement was not by my choice. I designed cell phones and two way radios for 41 years. That specialty is no longer done in the USA, so its employment game over, also called retirement.
Unfortunately it's just as Fast Eddie stated. I left the job market at 62 years old. I got a $2600 per month pension.....not bad until I sign up for government mandated health insurance. The premium for my wife and I.....$2600 per month. Coincidence? The worst part is that the insurance company denied or disputed EVERY claim we submitted.
Now at 66.9 years old I'm covered by Medicare, a government program that isn't bad. Total premiums are under $200 per month and they cover most everything. My wife unfortunately is stuck with a $1200 per month premium for the next 5 years, and the new insurance company covers about half of the charges. 4 days in the hospital....$11,000. Health care expense is the NUMBER ONE surprise for retirement in the USA....it cost me about $100K in 5 years.
Number two.....kids. My daughter returned home with a husband and 4 kids. Guess who is supporting them? Their health care however is totally free and they pay negative income tax....yes, their tax credits are larger than their liabilities.
Million bucks?......I would give a chunk to the church, and most of the rest to my daughter....slowly so that they wouldn't just waste it.....then Sherri and I could get on with OUR retirement plans.
Ditto for Tubelab. It pays for my experiments and projects. When Tubelab can no longer support itself, it will go away. That almost happened in 2016, but the economy changed for the better at the end of the year.
Unfortunately it's just as Fast Eddie stated. I left the job market at 62 years old. I got a $2600 per month pension.....not bad until I sign up for government mandated health insurance. The premium for my wife and I.....$2600 per month. Coincidence? The worst part is that the insurance company denied or disputed EVERY claim we submitted.
Now at 66.9 years old I'm covered by Medicare, a government program that isn't bad. Total premiums are under $200 per month and they cover most everything. My wife unfortunately is stuck with a $1200 per month premium for the next 5 years, and the new insurance company covers about half of the charges. 4 days in the hospital....$11,000. Health care expense is the NUMBER ONE surprise for retirement in the USA....it cost me about $100K in 5 years.
Number two.....kids. My daughter returned home with a husband and 4 kids. Guess who is supporting them? Their health care however is totally free and they pay negative income tax....yes, their tax credits are larger than their liabilities.
Million bucks?......I would give a chunk to the church, and most of the rest to my daughter....slowly so that they wouldn't just waste it.....then Sherri and I could get on with OUR retirement plans.
Ditto for Tubelab. It pays for my experiments and projects. When Tubelab can no longer support itself, it will go away. That almost happened in 2016, but the economy changed for the better at the end of the year.
Ours is the last generation with that expectation, and they're cutting us off at the knees.
My parent's generation would have staged a very major revolution. They bought and paid for that social safety net, because they grew up during the depression. They would literally fight to the death to stop what's happening, but they're all dead.
Not in my case.
Thanks. I'm getting help from a "millenial" social worker, who is volunteering her efforts. She's helping me straighten things out.
It's too bad that the gubment chose to put the middle class out with the trash. They think they don't need us any more. Their focus is overseas anyway. They don't give a ---- about anything here at home.
And I would like to point out that the young people here know what's going on. They have a different approach. They're preparing to live on their own without gubment help or interference. They're totally different than we are. They are not crying over spilled milk. They're not looking for a corporate career.
I wish them all the best.
But they are looking at their cellphone (many times I almost collided with them on the sidewalk and bicycle paths due to their lack of attention).
I wish them luck.
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