What would you do if you won $ 1 million in the lottery?

[Anonymous]

What would you do with the money if you won $1 million (say $700k after taxes)? Would you pay off your mortgage and any debts? Invest in an interest bearing account?

[Anonymous]

I'd buy that house I saw in rural Kentucky and live like a hermit until I died.

[Anonymous]

Pay off a chunk of my house. Pay off a chunk of my parents house. Invest the rest. Although $1m is just not enough for all that. Probably take one fun trip abroad with it or Hawaii.

[Anonymous]

Pay half of it to the tax man, then I would sell my house and move out of here.

[Anonymous]

1. Call our financial advisor
2. Set aside a chunk as fun money for a vacation or house stuff we've wanted to do
3. Based on #1, probably either pay off remaining $450K on mortgage, fully fund 529s, put in other retirement accounts
4. Wish it was $10M instead of $1M so we could retire.

[Anonymous]

It would be more like $600,000 after taxes, including the state share.

I would:


1) Pay down consumer debt.
2) Top off the college accounts for each kid -- another $100,000 would do it.
3) Take one really nice trip somewhere.
4) Replace the 12-year-old van with a late-model used hatchback.
5) Invest the rest. Keep $50,000 liquid, the rest into mutual funds.

[Anonymous]

save half for college fund and half for retirement, then hopefully retire before 60 (we already have about $mil combined in retirement). Done.

Have two kids, and no other debt than mortgage.

[Anonymous]

We only owe 300k on our mortgage at 2.75 so I don't think I'd bother to pay it off. I'd take our 3 best friend couples and their families on a vacation- rent a house somewhere and pay for 2 babysitters to come- treat everyone. (Our parents are set, they don't need help). Then invest the rest and just forget about it.

[Anonymous]

Pay off our student loans. Not sure what I would do with the remaining 99 cents.

[Anonymous]

With $700K I would buy a house in cash. I'd keep within the price range I'm currently looking for. I'd then use what is left of my current down payment savings to jump start college savings. Anything left I'd invest somehow. Probably a combination of a more robust emergency fund + mutual funds. I'd also quit my job and we'd live off of DH's salary, so maybe we'd invest in a rental property I would manage.

[Anonymous]

Buy a second car. Dramatically expand my vision for renovating our house. Take a really nice trip. Invest the rest.

[Anonymous]

Invest it to get a small income from it.
Quit my job and finally be able to have children.

[Anonymous]

OMG. QUIT. And pay off my mortgage.

[Anonymous]

Nothing different from what we are doing now. It's a great windfall, but certainly not enough money to qualify as "life changing". I'd invest it in chunks over time into index funds and maybe buy DW a nice piece of jewelry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing different from what we are doing now. It's a great windfall, but certainly not enough money to qualify as "life changing". I'd invest it in chunks over time into index funds and maybe buy DW a nice piece of jewelry.

For me it would be life changing. With $700K I could pay off house, top off 529s for 3 kids and have enough left that I could fund camps / vacations for fun rather than necessity. Given where we are for retirement savings + pensions (DH is n government w 20 years of service) I could retire or at least cut my work significantly.