What would you change if you had plenty of money.

Not work and travel more, although my travel time is limited to my daughter’s school schedule.

I’d buy a bigger house – more room for my stuff.

My father is a CFP so I’d trust him to manage the money adequately and I’d trust his advice.

More toys.

Seriously….I would pay off the loan on my company and then turn around and sell it make another 5 million profit. Then I would pay off the mortgages on my home and sell the lake house I have and buy a much nicer one on a lake closer to home. Buy the mintest baddest ‘68 Camaro ZL1 convertible. Then put in a state of the art recording studio in the my house complete with a 1965 Fender Stratocaster. Then go shopping for a retirement home on the NC/SC coast. There I would build a full on art studio with ceramics wheel and kiln, a black smith shop so I could weld and shape wrought Iron and a painting/drawing studio. The great room of the house would have a soaring bay window that would have a grand piano I could play as I watch the sun rises over the ocean.

I would invest the remainder and then set off to either contribute to or start my own charities focused on handicapped and disabled kids, Make a wish type programs, art/music programs in disadvantage neighborhoods near me…and continue the work I already started on scholarships for high school seniors who are organically leaders as evidenced by their actions in and out of the classroom.

Pay off my mortgage and student loans. Set aside a big chunk for my daughter’s college. I’d still work at what I do, just less maybe. Travel more. Sleep better.

I used to have plenty of money, not 30 mill. obviously but, plenty to not worry about anything.
If I had 30 mill. I would restore my realm to it’s former status.
I’d buy a nice little home on some property, and then just live the way I lived for years, simply but well.
Nothing would change in a big way.

My spending habits and tastes run along the lines of good food, a nicely decorated abode, purchasing artsy objects that strike my fancy and some travel. I could care less about expensive jewelry, cars, and status symbols. Just give me a comfortable, aesthetically appealing and cozy home with room to roam. Other than that I would be quite generous in extending help to organizations and find a lot of joy in altruistic endeavors.

“The rich man is always sold to the institution which makes him rich. Absolutely speaking, the more money, the less virtue; for money comes between a man and his objects, and obtains them for him; and it was certainly no great virtue to obtain it. It puts to rest many questions which he would otherwise be taxed to answer; while the only new question which it puts is the hard but superfluous one, how to spend it. Thus his moral ground is taken from under his feet. The opportunities of living are diminished in proportion as what are called the ‘means’ are increased.” – Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

I’d feel very free and content. There’s great dignity in having financial resources. Money can’t prevent illness, trauma, or grief, but it’s very good to have a cushion and some flexibility for whatever life might send.

I wouldn’t go berserk and fall prey to windfall mentality; I’ve been a financial professional for decades, so I do know better.

I’d help the people who have always loved me, treated me well, and wanted the best for me. Then, I’d chuckle and roll my eyes at all the folks who suddenly ingratiate themselves and try to become my best friends.

I would do a horse ranch just north of San Francisco somewhere on the coast between Marin and Mendocino. It would be more pleasure than business, but I would breed good stock. I would import a retired Scottish shepherd to train border collies for work purposes and have a small herd of sheep they would work with. I would offer Coloma a position on the ranch, as I believe she knows horses much better than I.

The house would be a brand new Victorian or Queen Anne, the interiors would have high ceilings, some large windows, dark woods, well lit by elaborate chandeliers, etc. It would be high on a ridge with a westward view of green, rolling knolls, Eucalyptus and the wide, blue Pacific not far beyond (I want to hear those magnificent waves crashing against the cliffs) and north to the rocky escarpments of Cape Mendocino and south to Point Arenas. Views to the east would be of the giant redwoods as they rise upon the next ridge and touch the sky.

The stables, barn and other outbuildings would repeat the architectural style of the house. I envision the place high above the Pacific on the north side of Coleman Valley Rd. about a mile before it comes to a T-stop at the cliffs along Hwy 1. They have/had fine horsetrails throughout that part of the coast. The beaches are beautiful, often secluded in rocky coves and wonderful for brisk rides and general horseplay. I’ve never known a horse that doen’t love going to the beach as long as there is plenty of fresh water. I think the place where the Russian river enters the Pacific at Jenner would suffice.

I would like to have a fine apartment in SF, on one of the hills, with a view from the Golden Gate to south of the Bay Bridge. Business and pleasure. Maybe a getaway in Paris with a view of the Sacre Coeur, but I might be getting geographically over-extended here.

I would visit Flutherites as a kind of hobby. I know one that I’d like to approach in a store or something and try to start up a conversation with her. If she gets too freaked about why I know so much about her, I would simply show her a copy of The African Queen and smile. I expect to get punched in the shoulder for that, but it would be a friendly punch. I wish I could have shown up at Gail’s house in that last Spring and anonymously offered my services as a helper to get in that last season of King Edward Tulips for her. They were so important to her and she planted a field of them that she could gaze upon from her windows every year.

I would also do pretty much the same as @Cruiser (above). Some of my work in this area would be with local children. I think they would enjoy roughing it for a night or two on weekends after a day on horseback, pitching tents, learning some woodcraft, eating cowboy beans by the fire. LOL. They would be assisted in every way by trained counselors to ensure that it was a pleasurable experience for them.

I’d keep a 53ft Pearson motor-sailer at the dock at Bodega Bay for the same purpose and to hold classes in Algebra, Geometry and Trigonometry disguised as Navigation on week-long trips up and down the coast for kids who are struggling in those subjects.

With enough money, I would be working quite a lot of hours.

@SmashTheState In case you are not aware…the top 1% provide over ⅓ of the overall donations given to charities…but I understand your reluctance to include this fact in your narrative.

^^And I really, really hate to say this, but most of the donors in the US are Republicans by a landslide.

@Espiritus_Corvus I’d like to import some fine Cleveland Bays from Great Briton and also love Morgans. What kind of horses do you want to raise?

Okay, well…I didn’t fully entertain the extreme fantasy aspect of 30 mill but you know, I forgot to mention my designing eye after working in Int. design and home staging for years and my DNA heritage of having an architect father. It completely escaped me that I would love to design and build a house. My few endeavors over the years on smaller scale projects turned out quite pleasing. If we’re going to exercise fantasy, that would for sure be one of my dreams.

I would also have a live in chef and a personal trainer to keep me hoofing it along as I can eat like a horse. lol
An amazing naturally landscaped mountain river designed pool and spa would be on the list too.

@Cruiser Funny thing, you like to use the whole “teach a man to fish” trope, but when I explained that I’ve spent the last several years investing all my time and money into renovating an abandoned storefront to act as a union hall and cultural centre for the hobo arts so that people can learn to busk and make simple handicrafts, you dismissed the whole thing and said you’d never financially support a project which trained people to engage in what you regard as small and unworthy enterprise.

That “charity” you’re boasting about doesn’t seem to extend to making people self-reliant, just to propping up an exploitative system by slapping bandages on gushing wounds and misery.

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walden

My fantasy is to feel free again. To feel no pressure to buy a house, because there is no worry about paying to live or worry about buying something that will lose money if the market tanks.

I want my husband to sell his business, that’s up to him though, and I want to be with him, and sleep late, travel, and eventually if he wants to work again that’s fine too.

I have no desire for new things right now, I only have a desire to stop worrying about making decisions.

Funny, right now I want to feel more “stable” because we have gone through so much change in recent years, but it’s not really about being rooted as much as it is just that I want to have control over what I am doing and I feel out of control and unsure. A lot of money feels like it would solve that problem, I could be wrong.

@Espiritus_Corvus Don’t worry, if you research it more you see that idea has to do with a study about red states donate more. It’s an electoral college study, it’s not by individual. When they look at the individual the stats are about even, but conservatives tend to give to more religious organizations. The giving is just to different places among dems and republicans. Even if republicans give more, maybe there are more republicans in the top 5% to be giving more. That whole thing about republicans giving more is a little twisted around if you read up about it.

With the 30 mil, I’d also give some to friends and family. Fortunately for my family members, they’re all doing ok but I’m sure a mil here and there will be appreciated by them. Very limited quantity of friends I’d give some money to, too. I think my criteria might be “if the shoe were on the other foot, would they do the same for me?” Perhaps another thought would be “in my time of need, did they help me in some incredible way?”

Another nice thing is a family vacation. I am following a celebrity chef on FB, Sandra Lee, and she does family vacations that I’m assuming she is paying for the majority of since she words it as such. That would be a nice thing. Let’s all go to the Greek Islands or Ireland or something like that and spend a few weeks.

@Espiritus_Corvus “I really, really hate to say this, but most of the donors in the US are Republicans by a landslide.”

That claim is based on an analysis of charitable giving by red v. blue state, and it’s heavily distorted by religious giving. Churches are charities, and church donations are charitable contributions. Someone who tithes gets a hefty donation write-off, even though that person isn’t someone whom most of us would think of as a charitable donor.

@JLeslie and @Love_my_doggie I’ll look into this further. I never liked that little soundbite. You two made my day brighter. Thank you.

I’d change it from dollars into pounds, immediately.

@SmashTheState Again you are guilty of editorializing to make this all about you and creating a diversion away from my simple answer that the evil 1%‘rs you demonize provide 35% of all charitable contributions some if not many of the funds go to similar help the dirt poor get on their feet again. I am a 1%‘r and the charity that gets a majority of my benevolence is a local shelter that provides a roof over their head, food, clothing and job training for the down on their luck families in my home town.

Do continue to pat yourself on the back for a job well done but do take time to recognize you are not the only one providing relief to the down on their luck.

Buy a house. Get a new car. Get my mother into a topnotch, specialized, nursing situation.
Get a breast reduction.Get a dog or two. Get a whole new wardrobe. Do a lot of fun stuff. I would feel a great sense of relief and freedom.

Millions and millions of dollars. That’s a tough one. For my pleasure alone I would build a two story house on a few acres of land with a year around creek. I’d want an upstairs bedroom that I could look out the windows and see deer and rabbits and any homes would be barely visible. It would have a big electric fence and be decorated in a beautiful, traditional manner but the kitchen would have those off white cabinets and the island would be painted a different color from the cabinets. It would have a sub zero fridge and freezer. I might bring in a cook on occasion.
I would buy my younger daughter whatever she wanted. She is such a treasure and has helped us so much in various ways after my husband’s two surgeries in twelve hours. The big problem would be my older daughter. She probably is bipolar , uses an alias and does various kinds of drugs. I would not want her buddies to cash in on my millions. No way.
I’d sell this house while moving into the new two story. It has an apartment sized kitchen I hate. I mean I really hate it. The hinges on every cabinet in the place are very strange and stressful to the point that a door can almost fall off onto your head. Who the nutcase was who used these hinges should be fired or lectured on the subject. Was I to know cabinet hinges could be so threatening?
I’d definitely give to local charities; more than I do now. I would love to fund local animal shelters so the dogs and cats were free to good homes.
I would have a theater room. My daughter had one and now she is getting a new one after selling the last place. I knew she’d miss it.
I really believe I’d keep our car. It is very nice; meets all our needs. If my s/o got to the point he couldn’t haul himself up into it then we’d trade it in.

I know many, many staunch republicans and democrats. Yes the folks on the right give much much more but the folks I know on the left generally cannot afford to do so. The democrats I know who have the means appear to give at about the same rate.

If I had 30 mil I would quit “working.” We would keep the same house, do some nice trips like hike the AT, I’d build guitars, muscle cars, do some charitable work and generally do what I want.

@aster Where have you been?

Hi Aster!

@Espiritus_Corvus It would be a smile and a big hug! I’d be in the cocoa aisle.

I could turn $30 million into a small fortune.

I’d pick up @cazzie and her youngling, take a quick whip ‘round Europe and Asia, seeing all the places on my To See Before I Die list, then buy a small farm in New Zealand and never be heard from again.

Some well-deserving orphanages would benefit from some anonymous benefactor.

@Cruiser So you support poverty pimps who make a nice living keeping people poor and desperate and reliant on help. Good job, Schweitzer.

I bought lottery tickets tonight! I don’t do it often. I was pumping gas, and in bright lights were the jackpot amounts. I figured maybe this is my night, having asked this Q.

I’m getting superstitious in my old age.

@JLeslie
You should watch this video

@SmashTheState Get over it…I employ people who otherwise would be under your wing learning to brusk if not for the jobs I give them with not only a living wage, but bonuses, 401K and profit sharing. If you consider me the boogie man that is your problem and I pity the poor people you brainwash with your nonsense.

Well, @Cruiser, let’s hope you have the opportunity to experience a Wobbly shop for yourself some day. I’d enjoy helping to organize that.

@SmashTheState Your assumptions about me and what I endured in my past are stunning….do you give your flock the same scrutiny and scorn?

I’d certainly plan to retire over the next two-three years. I would even invesigate taking an adjunct position so I could do my research, but do my own thing.

I’d definitely travel much more too.

And I’d like to build some accommodation for young people who are in care, but need a half-way house to find their feet, get jobs and make their way in the world.

I’d also like to build some accommodation for women (and their children) who need refuge from violent partners.

Beyond this – I have no idea. I probably wouldn’t change much. I might buy a house by the ocean.

Hi, guys! I’ve been helping to take care of my husband who fell again , on the same leg that has a titanium rod . He uses a cane but needs his walker . He has physical therapy 2x weekly.
I have to be honest; I’ve been on Facebook mostly. Thanks for caring!