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Ask HN: What would you do with $1,000,000?
Hello HN. I was sipping on my morning coffee and I had the idea to ask HN, "What would you do if you received $1,000,000 today?" How much would you spend, how much would you invest, where and how would you invest it? Would you continue to look for funding for your projects? Or, would you self-fund with your newly acquired nest-egg?
- raquo 16y agoI would probably set up a software / gamedev company in US (and get a green card).
- S_A_P 16y agoresisting the urge to quote the movie office space here... I would pay off debt, save a portion, and invest the rest. in my case it would work out to be just about equal parts. That solved, I would probably spend a few months recharging and starting a business of some sort- most likely some sort of software plugin creative tool for musicians.
- petervandijck 16y agoYou have 300,000$ in debts? I feel for you.
- jackowayed 16y agoDepends on what kind of debt. Having a $300k mortgage would not be a big deal.
- tomstuart 16y agoYou don't own your home?
- S_A_P 16y agoMortgage plus car note. personal/CC debt is pretty much nil.
- petervandijck 16y agoAh ok, didn't think about that.
- elblanco 16y agoI would immediately move to Malaysia and retire. http://www.workpermit.com/malaysia/malaysia.htm http://www.workpermit.com/malaysia/malaysia.htm
- teyc 16y agoI don't think 1m is enough to retire on if you are reasonably young. Malaysia is not that inexpensive to live in.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- noodle 16y agoa million bucks isn't enough to retire on in perpetuity, but it is enough to set yourself up in such a way that you can, professionally, do almost anything you want with your life as long as you have some sort of working income stream. i'd probably work on my current bootstrapped startup full-time for a while, see how it goes, and then travel the world while doing freelance work a few hours a day. edit: oh, and pay down all of my debts, of course.
- byoung2 16y agoa million bucks isn't enough to retire on in perpetuity It is if you don't live in the US. You could invest that money in the US where you can get decent returns and live somewhere like the Philippines where less than $1000/month affords you a comfortable lifestyle (see http://trifter.com/asia-pacific/philippines/true-cost-of-living-in-the-philippines-for-2009/ http://trifter.com/asia-pacific/philippines/true-cost-of-liv... for a middle class married couple who do it for under $500). Living in the Philippines will also give you a more relaxed lifestyle (maids, drivers, live-in cooks, etc) so you could even work on a startup if you wanted since you can't say you're too busy working or doing chores.
- noodle 16y ago> It is if you don't live in the US. i disagree. even if you adjust for inflation, consider taxes and such, you can live a very comfortable middle class lifestyle on $1m in the USA. going elsewhere, of course, makes it easier. but its not about "just living". retiring in perpetuity it about having enough money socked away that, for example, a major, expensive medical problem won't ruin it for you, or that you can put your kids through college. its the big non-regular life expenses that get in the way.
- byoung2 16y agoI completely agree that you can do it in the US, I just meant that you can get more bang for your buck in a place like the Philippines. $1,000,000 invested in the US, even if you could get a 10% guaranteed return (that's a stretch in this economy), you'd earn $100,000 per year. Inflation is going to eat 3-5% of that $1,000,000 each year, so you can only take out $50-70,000 if you want the nest egg to stay intact. Give 1/3 of that to Uncle Sam for taxes, and you have $30-50,000 to live on, which won't go far, even in Arizona. Hopefully you have the restraint to live a lower-middle class lifestyle knowing you have $1,000,000 in the bank. In the Philippines that same middle class lifestyle can be had for $6,000/year, or if you want to live an upper-middle class lifestyle, $12,000/year.
- user24 16y agosave half, invest a quarter in long term things (property, bonds, etc), distribute an eighth to friends and family, improve my own immediate quality of life with 1/16th. Invest the final 16th in shorter term projects, eg putting together a startup etc.
- petervandijck 16y agoNo party?
- user24 16y ago"improve my own immediate quality of life"=="vodka, hookers and weed" ;) edit: and a top hat and monocle. I mean, I am loaded after all...
- iuguy 16y agoI'd pay off the mortgage, take a short holiday somewhere nice then consult a wealth advisor to help with creating a more diverse investment portfolio.
- charlesdm 16y agoI'd buy a nice place, and use the rest of it to live while I build something else.
- Tycho 16y agoI'd spend it on hackers, designers, marketing and hosting to aggressively launch my 'big idea' with a head start on anyone who tries to copy it. (It's an idea for a website with low costs but universal appeal and clear money-making potential... but if I just built it now there'd be nothing to stop a bunch of richer more competent people making clones. So I'm sitting on it till I figure out what to do about that. Which is a pity cause I think the world could really use it) Ok, I probably wouldn't blow it all on that.
- kreedskulls 16y agoI would start a Y-Combinator Branch in Atlanta!
- citizenkeys 16y ago"Two chicks at the same time."
- jshen 16y agobuy a nice house in a nice city
- n2dasun 16y agoPay off all my debts, then my parents and in-laws, set up college funds for my children and nieces/nephews/godchildren, give something to my siblings and my wife's, invest half of what's left, and donate the rest.