I find it interesting, we have had over the years, several similar threads, not sure what it was about this one that made the responses so "serious" but the nature of the responses is exactly what I'd expect from the bored. Sound investments, not letting the money make you go crazy, using it to better society and such.
And as for what to do with it all, Denryle has so far said it best:
Alyrium Denryle wrote:salm wrote:I´d like to know why so many people would invest the money to make even more out of it. You´ve allready got more than you and your extended family plus two dozens of friends could ever give out. Do you guys never get enough?
Is there an amount of money where you´d stop? If so, what is it? A billion? 10 Billion? A Trillion?
Well in my case, only a tiny fraction is being used by me. The rest is being invested, only so that the money supply becomes self-sustaining and can be used to make the world a better place. Restoring wetlands is very very costly. Restoring 1 acre of freshwater marsh will cost around 25k. I can get 12 acres out of 3.5% returns on the first year. Exponential growth of that figure over twenty years and then it flattens out and becomes self-sustaining, allowing restoration of 254 acres a year, forever.
Permanent trust funds like that dont die like I will, unless the economy completely collapses, an asteroid hits the earth, or someone embezzles everything.
When you get into the sums of money we are discussing here, it very quickly gets into the realms of far more then 'smart' people like us would ever use, and into serious question about how best to improve society.
For me, I am more a local person, for some time I have had a list of various groups and organizations I would wish to donate to here in Arizona. Mostly natural parks, and parkland across the state but a lot of downtown buildings as well. There are a LOT of historical buildings in the Phoenix area from the 1920 and 30 that are in dire need of repair. Spending half a mil here and there would well be worth it to preserve history for the state. In the primary Phoenix downtown area there is actually a small block of abandoned buildings from the 30 that I have for a while, fantasized about fixing up. The block has an old grocers store, a Bar, and a small two-story Hotel all from the mid 1930's.
To anyone who knows what’s going on downtown these days in Phoenix, having a small low priced grocers in the area would be a big boon. And there’s always room for another Bar, trust me on this. Also, my brother for a while has entertained thoughts of working a Hostel for people and Phoenix really doesn't have a good one in the downtown area.
One of the other things is dozens of small little places I would like to see 'cleaned up a favorite restaurants of mine, bookstores, small shops, I can think of a lot of places where a simple 10,000 check would really make a difference. As for larger organizations, well in Arizona we've got.
KBAQ and KJZZ the npr stations
Botanical Gardens and Zoos,
ASU, UoA and NAU the local universities. And then some to my old grade schools as well which I have fond memories of.
Again various downtown buildings, there is a "castle" that needs a lot of work and of course lots of money into the local Democratic Party and the local Humanist society.
I mean, even writing checks for 20,000 to many of these organizations is putting barely a dent into my funds. You could easily set something up like a yearly payment to a vast number of organizations and charities.
A great deal of other things I can see being done in the family. Both my Dad and Granddad have business of their owns, they know very well how to run and manage money as well as how to fund organizations. My dad is also a treasure for the Humanist society and I would easily trust him with setting up various trust funds.
My only caveat is that the trust would... Of course... Be called:
"The Crossroads Incorporated Trust"
As for my own personal needs?
As many other have said we have Debt to pay off, Student loans, Mortgage loans and car loans. Once all of that is down and settled, I am buying myself a new car, new computer and new equipment. The main thing I would do is travel.
Scotland, Ireland, Europe, Alaska, Japan. Every year I could spend a good month someplace new and have the time to fully explore and enjoy the places we go. I mean how many people plan a big trip, and end up only having 3 to 5 days of actually seeing the place you visit?
In terms of living, I wouldn't even move out of my condo. It is in a really nice place in Phoenix and is close to the best parts of town
I think the only really nutty thing I would do, and this is one of my personal dreams, is buy some land up north, deep in a heavily forested part of the US or maybe even Canada, and build a
Personal Castle Yeah it is silly, but with this much money I can have ONE truly opulent item. There is just something about having a fully self-contained remote getaway that appeals to me. It would be good solid stone, but as modern as possible. Solar and wind would provide energy. I could see putting in fuel cells and internal water filter systems. Satellite for Internet access, heating solar as well, etc.
Something else to consider, and I have gone over this with my partner, is that sometimes, for some of us, we might not want to stop working right away. My Partner really really enjoys his job, he has a lot of good friends and working helps keep his OCD in check. Something he formulated a while back was giving a "donation" to his place of work in return for allowing him to continue work but at an easier pace. Basically 'donate' say a Million directly to the job in exchange for employment and a 'paycheck' of like 10,000 a month for the next several years.
Having been unemployed myself for almost two years and only now working again, I can see the value of this as doing "nothing" for a long time is not what its cracked up to be
