Ok, how about a SUPER big windfall

[OnTheBrink]

$3,000,000, after taxes.

[KidsHappen]

I would pay off my house, my brother's house, my dd's house, all debt and the kids' college and probably still have some left to put in the emergency fund.

[amyable]

Now you're talkin'! :D

 

Pay off my parents mortgage and their debts so they don't lose their home.

 

More money aside for college.

 

Pay someone to fix up our falling-apart house so that we can put it on the market - while we live somewhere else!

 

Buy the little farmette I've always wanted and some animals, AND hire someone to help me start up because dh is unable to help out.

 

At least a week away at a silent retreat for me. :001_smile: SILENT.

[patchfire]

Well, besides the basics of paying off debt and buying a new house... I've always wanted to buy a building. Incorporate it as a non-profit community center type deal, and then make it available to groups on a sliding fee scale. I don't know what I'd call it, but it'd be geared more towards women & children. Childbirth ed classes, LLL groups, book clubs, events, educational things, homeschool groups - just an all-purpose center that was easily available and inexpensive.

 

If there was still money left after that, I'd buy myself a horse. :)

[Daisy]

Liquidate everything.

 

Move to the country.

 

Hopefully get lost.

 

Buy peace and quiet.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Pay off all debt.

Put aside some for a vacation to take after this job ends.

Some more expensive things to try to feel better health wise.

Clothing and such so I don't freeze in VA this winter :)

Speak to a financial advisor on how best to make the rest work for us.

[MamaAkins]

~$300,000 to our home church and/or charities that we choose to support.

~pay off the house we currently share with my dad $110,000

~pay off our credit cards $9000

~pay off our student loans $17000

~pay off our car & van $6000

~pay off my mom's car $5000

~start a full scholarship program at the dance studio where my dds take classes $100,000

~buy a bigger house for us with about 10 acres and some animals(and let my dad keep our current house) $500,000

~start a college fund/wedding/starting out fund for our 4 children $400,000

~buy a hybrid car for dh $30,000

~buy a really nice van for myself $35,000

~buy a nice work truck for my dad $30000

~pay off any of my dad's debts $75,000

~buy my mom a nice, small home $100,000

~take our entire family to Disney World & take my dh on a much-overdue honeymoon $11000

~buy an RV, do lots of traveling $100000

~I'd put aside about $700,000 to supplement our income & retirement for the future.

 

The remaining $400,000 I'd use for community programs (library, food bank, etc).

[Gwenhwyfar]

THREE MILLION DOLLARS?!

 

lose my mind, no doubt. :laugh:

[justamouse]

roth ira, college accounts. I dunno, I'd have to talk to my banker, lawyer and financial advisor. Probably more real estate (In Maine on the coast). :001_smile:

[Mrs Mungo]

Liquidate everything.

 

Move to the country.

 

Hopefully get lost.

 

Buy peace and quiet.

 

 

In other words: blow up your tv, throw away your paper, move to the country, build you a home; have a lot of children, feed 'em all peaches, try and find Jesus on your own? ;)

Edited October 19, 2010 by Mrs Mungo

[Ravin]

I'd quit walmart immediately, pay off all our debts, and buy a house. The rest would go towards DH and my school expenses.

[MBM]

I'm sorry, but I'd still invest it all! And I wouldn't tell my kids I had that money, either. I would also make them all pay for their own college educations, cars, unnecessary items, apartments, etc. Gosh, I'm mean! :lol:

 

I'd have to figure out a way to decrease my taxes, though. Ugh. This is giving me a headache just thinking about it.

[Garga]

Would want to buy a cottage by the seashore, but then I'd have to leave all my friends, and I don't know if I would really want to do that. So, I guess it'll have to be a cottage in the woods nearby.

 

I'd find a wicked-good financial person who could help me invest it in a way that I'd never have to work again, but it would grow and grow. (This step is a little foggy...)

 

Then, I would spend money helping people. I'd travel to African and build a few wells. If I found out people around me needed money, I'd anonymously give it to them. You know--if a person at church needed help with the mortgage, I'd find a way to anonymously pay the mortgage for the month. Or if someone's coworker was in a fix because they couldn't pay the daycare that week, I'd give them the money for the week. Stuff like that. Just for fun.

 

And I'd squeeze in some travel for my family as well.

[littlebug42]

Quit my job

debt paid off for us and family including our mothers' homes

move to home with some land and quiet

new cars

girls to Disney World

savings for what is left

[elegantlion]

buy my parents a house in the country and pay someone to move them.

 

take a long vacation to a quiet island with my ds and dh, and sleep for about a week. We've all have insomnia and stress and would love to fall asleep in a hammock with a cool ocean breeze blowing the hammock in a gentle sway.

 

buy all the things from 300,000 windfall.

 

buy my son a Mac and all the video equipment he wants.

 

buy a bunch of teaching company DVDs I want.

[MBM]

I'd find a wicked-good financial person who could help me invest it in a way that I'd never have to work again, but it would grow and grow. (This step is a little foggy...)

 

 

That person would be ~ you. Ta-da! Seriously.

 

Taxes, on the other hand, would be tricky, at least initially.

[ChristusG]

I've always wanted to do the following.....

 

Buy lots of land in the country. Have enough space to move my parents, sisters, and MIL there too. Also have enough space for when my children are grown, they can have room for a home too. Build ourselves a nice little log cabin. Nothing extravagant, just exactly what will work for our family.

 

Adopt a child. Or five.

 

Buy a Jeep Wrangler, just to drive when I want to. I've always wanted one for some reason. And I'll never get one till the kids are older since it is just not a family friendly vehicle. But I could drive it around our acreage if we hit this windfall.

 

Help people. I love the idea of random acts of kindness in the name of Jesus. I'd love to be able to hear of someone in financial trouble and send them an anonymous envelope with several thousand dollars in it. Or pay someone's house payment when they are having trouble. Or buy gifts for kids who won't be receiving any. Just things like that. I could do so many random acts of kindness with that much money!

 

Go to Disney. Okay, we spend a week there every year and then a few weekends as well, but still....I would take the Disney vacation to top all other Disney vacations LOL. Right now we do the budget friendly, value resort type vacation. We'd do the Deluxe vacation!

 

Buy all the equipment to set up my own photography business. I have some of the things now, but I'd buy all the great lenses and stuff like that.....the ones that I'll never currently have LOL.

 

And save for the future, of course.

[RoughCollie]

In my fantasy, it is $300 million, after taxes. But I'll go with 3.

 

During week #1, I would hire an accountant and a lawyer:

 

1. I would pay off my student loan.

 

2. I would set aside $1 million for our retirement, with the principal in trust for our children until they are 55 years old or meet other criteria, upon our deaths.

 

3. I would set aside $400,000 to pay for the children's college educations.

 

4. I would try to talk DH into retiring and into giving away the books in his bookstore to homeschoolers who want them.

 

5. I would get a complete cardiac physical.

 

6. I would make sure my mother, sister, and brother were okay in the need & want department. I would buy my cousin a new truck, health insurance, and give him enough money to improve his quality of life (almost anything would be an improvement).

 

7. I would apply for our passports.

 

8. I would plan a 1 year trip for the family and we would all do the required research and leave for Europe when our passports arrive.

 

9. We would go to Disney World while we waited for DH to retire and for the passports to come.

 

10. I would set aside money to buy a ranch house (IOW, 1-story) for cash, plus needed vehicles (used; 2 years old) and furniture when we return.

 

11. I would buy health insurance for my family.

 

12. We would research charities and give money to organizations and individuals as we see fit.

Edited October 19, 2010 by RoughCollie

[OnTheBrink]

Ok, I'd still give a chunk to church and pay off my house, remodel the bathroom AND kitchen, then rent it to my son while he's in school. OH, I'd build a garage, too.

 

With $3M, I'd probably buy a house, and hire a lawn service to deal with it. Still buy a Mustang, go on better vacations and invest.

[bookfiend]

Is that before or after windfall taxes?

[Night Elf]

Invest it and live off the proceeds.

DH would retire early. Yay!

And I'd send gifts to all my WTM friends. :tongue_smilie:

[Momma2Many66]

I'd keep our lives pretty much the same.

 

We already are debt free, so I don't need to pay off any debt except a small mortgage.

 

We'd continue to live in the same house (our 11 acre farm) but do a lot of remodeling to it and get it fixed up really nice.

 

We'd still homeschool and my husband would continue at his job as groundskeeper at a state university. He has great medical/dental benefits and 75% off college tution for both ourselves and all children, so we would need to keep that job. After all, 3 million only goes so far, one huge medical exspense and your wiped out and college for four kids really adds up !

 

Then I'd buy a nice little beach house, one of those little bungalow type deals so that we could visit the beach every month. Not right on the ocean, but back a few streets within close walking distance. I don't want to spend a fortune on it, I just want something cute and low maintence that we could keep up with easily.

 

I'd purchase a nice little used motor home to travel around the country and we would go on great homeschooling adventure field trips to all the places we always dreamed about seeing like The Grand Canyon, Colonial Williamsburg, Yellowstone Park, The Florida Keys, Mount Rushmore, etc........

 

I'd also buy a nice bayliner boat to take out in the bay and ocean for some deep sea fishing. I'd buy it all used though, because I am still going to be really frugal with all the money :001_smile:

 

Everything else, I'd sock away a HUGE portion of it for safe investments and our retirement someday.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Invest it and live off the proceeds.

DH would retire early. Yay!

And I'd send gifts to all my WTM friends. :tongue_smilie:

 

This. Though I'd include family and charity in the gifts list.

[Hunter's Moon]

Put about 8 years of college money away for me, put lots of college money away for my future children, buy my parents a house and two cars, buy myself a car and pay for driver's ed, have a free for all at Borders, put money away for my own house, save all that is leftover for my parents and my own future.

[SonshineLearner]

Wow, First of all, I'd talk to a financial advisor. I'd hire him mostly to have people send letters to, when they ask me for money. Then, I'd talk to 2 or 3 and get their ideas for what to do with the $$$. Then, I'd invest and figure out how to get our family out of our house and into another. My parents have a nice house. I'd love them to be able to sell it for a profit... and somehow get them into a house next to our "new" one with no mortgage. My brother? I'd think of how to best help him. Oh, I'd hire a home organizer for once a month to come and help me out. What I probably wouldn't do but would love to do... hire a chef :) I'd also probably think about sending my son to a classical school.. or perhaps start a University Model school.....

 

:)

[Mrs Mungo]

$3,000,000, after taxes.

 

Pretty much the same thing as the $300,000 windfall, only go ahead and buy property where we intend to retire. That money could grow and grow while we finish our last few years in the military.

 

Now, if we were talking a $30,000,000 windfall? I'd buy a house near a gorgeous beach and leave it as little as possible, mostly for traveling to other wonderful places.

[Alyce]

I'd pay off the loan on my car and Dh's boat.

 

Then buy Dh, Ds and Dd a new car.

 

Then do an addition to my kitchen to make it bigger.

 

Go on a 12 day cruise and buy lots of diamonds and gem rings and necklaces for me and dd. We'd go first class in the fanciest room they have available. (Actually did this in January after getting Dad's inheritance. It wasn't the fanciest room but we did get two suites, one for us and one for Dd and Ds only ours was a 5 day cruise)

 

Hire someone to redo our lawn and take off the junk that's accumulated and take care of it

 

Hire a housekeeper (used to have one when I was able to work)

 

Add a deck to house and redo front porch to make it bigger, also add outside electrical wiring.

 

Put both my kids through college and grad school if they wanted.

 

Buy some nicer clothes for Dd and Ds

 

Higher a gardener to put in some nice flower beds and flowering trees like dogwoods and maintain them for me.

 

And probably put the rest away for a good inheritance for my children when I'm gone like my Dad did for me.

 

And I'd also tithe 10% to some of the charities we strongly believe in like Stop Hunger Now and give some to our church

Edited October 19, 2010 by Alyce

[Wendi]

Here goes:

 

$300,000 to our church

$200,000 to pay off our house and car

$5,000 for needed furniture and home repairs/upkeep

$250,000 to pay off both our moms' homes

college fund for ds ($80,000??)

retirement $500,000

newer car for me $20,000

world travel fund $50,000 :)

 

 

I'd love to invest the rest in ministry. A big chunk would go to the Free Burma Rangers. Maybe I could set up a fund to support an orphanage in a poor area in Africa or Asia, providing necessities as well as scholarships for the kids to get training/education or start their own businesses if they are not adopted before adulthood. I have also heard that orphans in the former Soviet Union face a fairly bleak future when they "age out" of the orphanages. I'd love to set up a ministry to provide support, counseling, training, etc., for them.

 

Wendi

[Liz CA]

In other words: blow up your tv, throw away your paper, move to the country, build you a home; have a lot of children, feed 'em all peaches, try and find Jesus on your own? ;)

 

Maybe funny but still sounds pretty good to me! Wait...I am in the country, can't have anymore kids, can get my hands on peaches, already found Jesus.

 

I'd pay everything off and donate to a few of my favorite charities! :) Just the thought makes my heart sing.

[StephanieZ]

Now I'll play!! This is fun!

 

1st $1,000,000 -- pay off all debts & mortgages at home & business, and put extra 100k each in emergency/rainy day/slush funds for work & home.

 

2nd $1,000,000 -- long term conservative investments for our retirement, kids' college, kids' seed money.

 

3rd $1,000,000 -- play money! This is the fun part!! 200k: Addition/new kitchen/finish basement. 100k: fun money in money market so I always have cash on hand! 100k: three new vehicles. 600k invested aggressively, but diversified. . . use expected 6% interest (so 36k/yr) for fun stuff such as vacations, furniture, electronics, vehicles, and other toys. Fun, fun, fun.

 

We'd keep working for sure for a long time, but with all the debt paid off at business, etc, we could hire another full time associate vet, so dh could work 30 hrs instead of 50, and take 2 mos vacation a year instead of 2 weeks! That's our plan for 12 years from now (when the debt is scheduled to be retired). . . but it SURE WOULD BE NICE to accelerate that plan! We could also save much more aggressively to fund retirement, so could retire in our early 60s instead of our late 70s. . .

 

Where can I sign up for the $3,000,000? Can someone give me a link?

[Liz CA]

Oh Yes - a cottage by the seaside. How could I forget that - well it would have to be a small cottage because I would want to have lots left over for that rainy day fund.

 

[Peela]

I would buy a decent acreage in the hills near here. Then I would buy an apartment or terrace house down in Fremantle.

The rest would go into investments to live off, and to then be able to fund various projects and/or charities that inspired me over the years.

[JenneinCA]

We would buy a house. And fund the kids' college funds.

 

Given we are in the SF Bay Area, there might not be much left. If there is we would go to the East Coast to visit my husband's sister, go to Japan Disney, and invest the rest.

[IsabelC]

For a large sum of money like that (which I will never receive as we do not buy lottery tickets and do not have any wealthy friends or relations) I would put it into a term deposit to force myself to take my time deciding what to do with it.

 

Then sometime during that period dh and I would sit down and allocate amounts for various charities, community projects, direct gifts to people we know who are doing it tough, etc. Once these amounts have been given away, the residual amount would go into some form of annuity so we have a long term income. This income would be rolled in with our existing income and used according to our (revised) regular budget.

 

What I would not do - put my kids on easy street. I believe it's good for young people to work and save and not be handed everything they want. So I would only be buying them the things that I already wish I could buy them if we had the money. Not houses or cars or anything like that.

[Annabel Lee]

Well, it would move me out of my all-practical-and-no-fun mindset, that's for sure!

 

I'd probably worry about blowing it all faster than I realize; so I'd sit on it awhile and think carefully.

 

My husband would quit his job and take time to find one w/o such a negative environment. There would still be most of it invested to live off of, but I'd want to take time and make sure that our investments aren't able to be whisked away with the whims of the fickle stock market and the like. We'd first invest in some financial education, whether that only cost us time or $$.

 

But I would want to travel, even if just a little. College education would be a certain option for my family (not just the kids; dh & I, too), so some of it would go to that. I would want to get set up in a way that honors quality of life over lavish material luxuries; following interests, being self-sufficient (living off interest and enjoyable hobby businesses and working for causes we're passionate about), and not falling into a spoiled mindset.

[Osmosis Mom]

I'm sorry, but I'd still invest it all! And I wouldn't tell my kids I had that money, either. I would also make them all pay for their own college educations, cars, unnecessary items, apartments, etc. Gosh, I'm mean! :lol:

 

I'd have to figure out a way to decrease my taxes, though. Ugh. This is giving me a headache just thinking about it.

 

Why? If you don't *want* the money, why not give it all or most away and just get on with your life? I am just wondering here as I try to understand why you would not want anything to become easier for you or your family?

 

As for me, then I can't answer the question. I understand not wanting to completely change your lifestyle, but something would have to change!!!!

[runmiarun]

First, I'd hire a lawyer and an accountant/financial advisor. Then I'd donate 300,000 to my church. I'd sit on the rest for a year while planning how to quietly help family get out of debt and plan for the children's college expenses, our retirement fund, purchase some land for building our dream home and family compound, and a nice, long vacation. We'd also set up a foundation for giving a percentage of the money away.

[Renee in NC]

Donate $300K to various places.

 

Pay off all debt.

 

Move where we want to.

 

Buy a house.

 

Help a few people I know.

 

Bank the rest.

[cdrumm4448]

Why? If you don't *want* the money, why not give it all or most away and just get on with your life? I am just wondering here as I try to understand why you would not want anything to become easier for you or your family?

 

As for me, then I can't answer the question. I understand not wanting to completely change your lifestyle, but something would have to change!!!!

 

Investing it all is a way for life to become easier. You just have to have patience. Warren Buffet also makes his kids earn what they have.

 

I am assuming the $3M is before taxes, so take about half right off the top for the government. Then, I would invest the rest.

[bettyandbob]

Again I'd start with college (consider private/out of state and grad school too) and retirement followed by

major charity donation

new house (not necessarily big, but with a separate "suite" so my ds with disabilities will have his "own apartment" when he gets older, and my dh wants space for a real woodshop)

maybe I could create the perfect vocational training program for my ds (I have no idea what this would look like and have a few years to think about his adult needs)

travel would be in order (Iceland, Hawaii, a rainforest, scuba diving)

[JFSinIL]

I'd put $1.00,000 into a decent retirement account for US (we have zilch so far :glare:) and cover college for the three who are/will be going, and an equally large chuck into the special needs trust of SillyAutismBoy.

 

I'd also fix up the house a little, take us on a trip back to S. Calif. to see my family (and not stay in the cheapest motels, either.) with a few days in San. Francisco and Yosemite.

 

Plus I'd like some bifocals!!!

 

Oh, and a tummy tuck and gym membership for oldest dd and self.

 

Maybe even a newer, second car (we have both an 11-yr-old mini-van ....and the local commuter train to Chicago. )

 

I'd also like to set-up a fund to help pay for the week-long special needs camp SAB and other mentally disabled kids attend - they are short of cash and might not exist much longer. I'd cover the cost of renting the horse camp for two weeks each year for the whole group (as long as they promised SAB a spot in the camp each year :-)

Edited October 19, 2010 by JFSinIL

[MissKNG]

#1 - Tithe to the Lord

#2 - pay off all debt

#3 - set up trust funds for the girls

#4 - set aside college money

#5 - invest some, save some

#6 - a nice vacation

[Meriwether]

Tithe.

Build my in-laws a home.

Give an equal amount to my parents.

Make sure my grandmothers have everything they need.

Bank/invest enough for my kids' college.

Bank enough that we could support in-laws (basic needs) if necessary.

Redo my kitchen.

Go to the next homeschool convention and say "I'll take one of each."

If there is any left, help the nieces and nephews with college.

 

 

I probably wouldn't put a lot of money into retirement/savings for our personal use. We have a sufficiency and some money in retirement (and, God willing, Dh has 30-35 working years left). I'd rather use the money to provide a better standard of living for our elders and get the kids off to a better start. I probably would put the home for the in-laws in our name so that would come back to us when they were done with it.

[Tess in the Burbs]

tithe, pay off debt, retire and buy small home near water/mountains and set up college funds for kids. And travel with the kids to learn History ;-)

[momofkhm]

Tithe, not all to our home church though probably. Pay off the mortgage. Put money away for college - fully funded even if they went private. Buy gadgets - iphones, ipad, new computers, etc. Maybe not pay off the mortgage. Maybe buy a new house. :)

 

I don't know how much that would leave, prob a lot. Invest it.

[MBM]

Why? If you don't *want* the money, why not give it all or most away and just get on with your life? I am just wondering here as I try to understand why you would not want anything to become easier for you or your family?

 

Oh, no, I'm not saying I wouldn't *want* the money! Heaven forbid.

 

However, I already have what I need and a little of what I want, so for me, I'd choose to invest the money and then try to use it wisely. My thinking is more along the line of Warren Buffett's.

 

What I'd ultimately do is set up my own charity that would benefit the most destitute in some long-term way -- maybe through education and/or providing a means of living for the truly down and out. I'd want administrative costs to run as little as possible, so I'd try to run things myself. I believe I could do it. LOL.

 

As for children, my two eldest are now in their mid-20s, and we did not make their lives too easy. They had to pay for all of their extra things, including college, but as a result, both of them developed self-confidence and self-reliance. I realize this isn't the route for everyone; it's just how we prefer to do things.

 

I would still recommend to someone who fell into that kind of money -- and if their basic necessities are covered -- to use the money as a tool and try to live off the returns from it. IOW, make that money work for you, by golly.

 

As for me, then I can't answer the question. I understand not wanting to completely change your lifestyle, but something would have to change!!!!

 

My taxes would change, that's for sure!

[The Girls' Mom]

Buy the land next to my inlaws we are eyeballing and build a modest house.

 

Pay off the debt of immediate family.

 

Set aside a small amount for each of my girls to get their lives started on.

 

Start a small church with a HUGE missionary outreach program, helping people get their lives turned around and back on their feet.

[Luckymama]

My husband (a CFP) has a client who did inherit such a sum :) First steps, 12mo living expenses in an accessible form, pay off the house, then purchase long-term care insurance for selves and relatives. The rest of the money has been invested.

 

For us, we'd pay off the house, increase the various emergency/savings funds, then invest everything else (after gifts to charity, of course). The kids wouldn't have to worry--so much--about receiving academic scholarships for college. My sister's kids wouldn't have to worry, either :)

 

I don't think we'd tell dh's family, though. That probably sounds awful but the majority (save one sibling and spouse) do not have the greatest money management skills. It is increasingly frustrating to listen to their complaints yet see their latest purchases on Facebook. After 18 years of living frugally and having that lifestyle choice "pay off" for us, I'm just tired of their whining :rolleyes:

[Farrar]

Probably pay off the house and sink a nice chunk into fixing up all the things that need fixing on our century old house - repoint the back, new windows in the front, new basement doors, ceiling in the basement, new wiring in the kitchen, better range in the kitchen, insulation in the bumpout on the back, new porch before this one actually falls off, repave the parking space in the back, and possibly get some of the walls repaired.

 

Then we'd take a big trip - Africa probably.

 

Invest the rest.

 

I know we're all just playing, but dh is in the pool for Jeopardy so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. We bought our house with game show money as the down payment (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire), so I actually believe these things can happen! No one burst my bubble!

[DarlaS]

Well for that much money, dh would quit his job, and probably start a business that would put other people to work (because he is the type who needs work to keep his mind and hands occupied or he'd drive us all nuts.) This would take a big portion of the money.

 

Invest enough to live well off the interest. Probably about half of it.

 

The rest remains the same as my 300k answer:

 

Set aside a lump sum for each kid to help with their education/down payment on house/weddings, whatever.

 

Pay off any small debts, car payments and the house. Major remodeling is a given (meaning we'd finish the major remodeling already in progress much faster).

 

We'd stay here as we like this area, but probably would purchase a nice vacation cottage somewhere we could drive to (We live in Michigan, so somewhere pretty in the U.P. or Traverse City would suit us well.)