

Ask HN: What would you do with $1,000,000? - mybbor

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?
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elblanco
I would immediately move to Malaysia and retire.

<http://www.workpermit.com/malaysia/malaysia.htm>

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teyc
I don't think 1m is enough to retire on if you are reasonably young. Malaysia
is not that inexpensive to live in.

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S_A_P
resisting 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.

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petervandijck
You have 300,000$ in debts? I feel for you.

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S_A_P
Mortgage plus car note. personal/CC debt is pretty much nil.

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petervandijck
Ah ok, didn't think about that.

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Tycho
I'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.

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noodle
a 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.

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byoung2
_a 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-
liv...](http://trifter.com/asia-pacific/philippines/true-cost-of-living-in-
the-philippines-for-2009/) 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.

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noodle
> 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
I 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.

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anamax
You're assuming that you're only taxed on what you "take out" and that's
wrong. You're taxed on taxable income, whether or not you "take it".

Yes, income inside tax deferred accounts is not considered income until
distributed, but other accounts don't work that way. If there are sales,
dividends, or interest, you've got taxable events even if you leave the money
in the account.

Let's look at that $100k in earnings. $10-20k goes to taxes. (The marginal
rate for $100k is higher, but you don't pay it on the whole amount.) $30-50k
goes to inflation, leaving you $30-70k to "safely" take out.

However, it's hard to get 10% these days - even 5% may be too high.
Fortunately inflation is currently low too, but $5k for taxes and $20k for
inflation leaves you with just $25k to safely take out.

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n2dasun
Pay 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.

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iuguy
I'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.

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kreedskulls
I would start a Y-Combinator Branch in Atlanta!

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user24
save 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.

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petervandijck
No party?

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user24
"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...

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raquo
I would probably set up a software / gamedev company in US (and get a green
card).

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charlesdm
I'd buy a nice place, and use the rest of it to live while I build something
else.

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jshen
buy a nice house in a nice city

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citizenkeys
"Two chicks at the same time."

