I would buy a Hermes Birkin and a Classic Chanel along with a huge diamond ring and/or studs.

Then I would up our house hunting budget to 1.5-1.7 million.

We'd take a trip to Paris and bring the nanny to watch our daughter.

Save/invest the rest.

Well except for the tree house I'd have built in our new backyard....

Anonymous wrote:Did and put it away for college/retirement.

+1

Anonymous wrote:Duh. I'd buy you a green dress (but not a real green dress, that's cruel.)

I'd also buy you a monkey (haven't you always wanted a monKEY?)

If I had a million dollars, if I had a million dollars, if I had a million dollars ... I'd be rich.

I can't believe this went four pages without a green dress joke.

I would build a life-size model of the Fairfax Wegmans out of matchsticks.

My friend just inherited a few million from her parents. She paid off her small mortgage, will spend some on travel, and will sock away the rest for a rainy day. I think her parents would be proud.

Anonymous wrote:I would put my head down on the kitchen table and cry with relief.

Same here. The unemployment and money pressures are awful.

Duh. I'd buy you a green dress (but not a real green dress, that's cruel.)

I'd also buy you a monkey (haven't you always wanted a monKEY?)

If I had a million dollars, if I had a million dollars, if I had a million dollars ... I'd be rich.

I would put my head down on the kitchen table and cry with relief.

Anonymous wrote:I'll never inherit that much money though. My parents don't have much. My husband's parents don't have much either.

Me too. I'll be lucky if I don't deplete the inheritence that I could leave for our kids caring for my parents and my DH's parents.

I'll never inherit that much money though. My parents don't have much. My husband's parents don't have much either.

I'd pay off the mortgage, put the rest in a high interest savings account or some sort of stable investment vehicle. I'd feel better knowing the house is paid off, and I'd put extra monthly income in savings.

I know everyone says "invest," but I had a few friends lose a ton of money in investments. And they used financial planners.

Of course, I'm wondering if that's a million after taxes that you're inheriting? That makes a difference.

I'd put some in a college fund, divorce my H and buy him out of our house, cut down to a 30-32 hour/week schedule (at least for some time), put some in a "house maintenance/improvement" account, and invest the rest.

Anonymous wrote:We did, but I find that I am strangely frozen and can't decide. It does not seem like so much around here...

Pay off your mortgage and put the rest in savings and then do some careful research on how to safely invest it. There are a lot of people out there that would love to take it away from you--don't let them.

I think we would do a lot of what the other posters mentioned. I would look at the house situation and either move and rent out current house as investment property or make the improvements to the house that would make the biggest difference in our day to day life but maybe we were hesitant to borrow money to make those improvements. We added onto our house with an inheritance and having the bigger kitchen isn't just about having the bigger kitchen but having the space for the kids to make cookies with their dad or hosting our family over for the holidays. Maybe it's fencing the yard and getting a nice playground set or the dog your kids always wanted. I would also look at a nice family vacation. The rest of the money would go into things like college funds, investments,and retirement. If there was a non-profit I was attached to (church, kids activities, college alma mater, Children's Hospital etc.) , I would consider donating more than I usually do to that organization.

I would look at a million dollars sort of like skipping stones in a pond. I wouldn't want to throw it all in one place but rather see how it can make the most impact and ripple effects. I would like to think how I use it honors the person that left me the money in the the sense of contributing to family memories or opportunity to participate in something or help someone (realizing things like college and education or being in a stable position in retirement or paying off debts would fall in that category) that maybe I wouldn't otherwise be able to do without it. I would also balance long term with short-term so the benefits and impacts aren't all today nor are they all in 30 years.

Pay off my car and student loans. Put some into a trust for my son's education. Invest some, save the rest and sleep very well at night.