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How many zeroes to change your life?

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    How many zeroes to change your life?

    I'm not driven by avarice, beyond enough to be comfortable, but it's fun sometimes to wonder what I'd actually do if I came into substantial funds, of different amounts.

    Let's call it a question of zeroes, where 1 zero is £10-99, 2 is £100-999, 5 is a between 100k and a million quid, etc
    1. Maybe give it to a homeless person or buy PsycoCandy lunch or buy a book/album off my wishlist
    2. A nice dinner or a new power-tool, buy a friend something they could do with
    3. between 1-10k. Tricky, it's a sizeable amount but for us doesn't materially change anything in our situation. In all likelihood, stick it in the ISA or pay of a bit of mortgage, or perhaps have a holiday
    4. 10-100k: More of the same really. It would make a decent dent in a mortgage or buy a nice car but we don't really want a nice car. We could help some people out, give a chunk to a local grass-roots charity, but our lives are not going to noticeably change even with £100k. This is the point we start to differ from a lot of our peers, for who £100k would effectively clear their mortgage or allow them to do major property improvements or pay for private education for their kids.
    5. 100k-1m: depending quite where on this wide scale, we can pay off all our mortgages. Even 1m isn't going to mean we can retire though it would mean our disposable income rockets so we could work less, or travel more, put substantial amounts into savings, etc. I would say our lives are still not drastically altered just more comfortable.
    6. 1-10m: Work should become optional especially with decent investments, you can effectively live a comfortable lifestyle without actually caring what you are spending. We don't have profligate desires so I reckon I'd retire and find interesting pursuits, interesting causes to support. Basically live like people who have really good pensions
    7. 10-100m: I reckon I could easily spend 10m on some luxury house, more depending where it is. Beyond that I am not sure what - more properties around the world perhaps but it doesn't really attract me when you can just rent and at this level, pay someone to make sure everything is how you want it. A house that sits empty 10 months seems a big waste. But you have the capability to seriously change the lives of a lot of people... rebuild our church building, buy houses for local charities to use helping people get a clean start.
    8. 100m-1bn... it's fun to just dream but I have no interest in a collection of supercars. Beyond a private island (which does actually attract me) I'm stumped. Interested to know if others have a realistic idea how to use this amount of cash. Being able to decide you're going to attend major sporting events and so on without bothering to check if there are tickets, hire a theme park or get private entry to busy tourist spots are all things I would enjoy as an introvert.
    9. 1-10bn. Utterly perplexed how you would even give it away fast enough let alone spend it. I fear I'd end up working really hard to try and figure out what to do with it, and be tired and stressed. Of course, everything you can possibly want or need is done without ever having to wait - you have staff clearing barriers before you even see them coming.
    Was just idly thinking about this hearing a friend has sold their company for £Xm. We actually were already in 5. about 5 years ago, when a 6-figure inheritance came my way. We moved to a nice big old house in the country but that's where it all went - so we are living the same life as before but in nicer surroundings. On the other hand we could have stayed somewhere cheaper and semi-retired, like the dinner-lady who wins the lottery and stays on her terraced street.

    Anyone got any good ones?
    Originally posted by MaryPoppins
    I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
    Originally posted by vetran
    Urine is quite nourishing

    #2
    Originally posted by d000hg View Post
    Anyone got any good ones?
    I've got zero.

    Comment


      #3
      Below 2m - settle mortgage then no difference.
      2m to 10m - pay off mortgage, buy houses for kids, but otherwise no difference.
      10m+ - as above, but give rest to charity.

      And if I may, just a reminder. https://forums.contractoruk.com/gene...ive-posts.html Of course, people who make such posts object, but it seems to be having a good effect.
      Down with racism. Long live miscegenation!

      Comment


        #4
        0, if it's heart rate, that would change my life completely...

        Comment


          #5
          Had a similar conversation with friends a couple of weeks ago - would you hire staff and buy loads of property if money were no object? The decision was no.

          The conclusion swiftly arrived at was:
          • poor / low income - you rent because you can't afford to buy
          • middle / low end of high income - you buy because you can and you think that's what you should do
          • high and nosebleed income - you rent for the most part because it's easier to manage

          Most people don't need a huge home and the larger the home more effort (and probably staff) it takes to maintain so if you're going to buy then you buy something sensibly sized but in a nicer area or with a bigger garden / off road parking etc.

          There's no point buying overseas properties as, if you're minted, why not rent somewhere nice and leave the owners to maintain it? You can visit anywhere you like rather than the same place all the time to get your money's worth.

          Similar with cars - just hire what you want to burn around in when you need something fancy for a laugh and give the keys back when you're done. Then hire something else for a change or because you want to do a tip run. Sainsburys doesn't need to be done in a Bentley.

          Same with boats, planes, etc. Those are just money pits and you're way better off just renting those when you need them.

          Spend the cash on having fun and die young, leaving a good looking corpse.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by AtW View Post
            0, if it's heart rate, that would change my life completely...
            If you've got a pacemaker / defibrillator combo you'll be fine.

            Comment


              #7
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              Comment


                #8
                In your 50s a million with a paid off property is enough to retire with a reasonable level of comfort. 20 years at £50,000 tax free, 33 years at £33,000 a year and 50 years at £20,000. That is without any interest or investments.



                Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by vetran View Post
                  In your 50s a million with a paid off property is enough to retire with a reasonable level of comfort. 20 years at £50,000 tax free, 33 years at £33,000 a year and 50 years at £20,000. That is without any interest or investments.


                  At 50 you'd really need at least 2.5 million in cash to live in comfort for the rest of your life. Inflation and healthcare costs to think of.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by TwoWolves View Post

                    At 50 you'd really need at least 2.5 million in cash to live in comfort for the rest of your life. Inflation and healthcare costs to think of.
                    £2000 a month after tax and housing is more than most people have.

                    nhs is free.
                    Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.

                    Comment

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