what i’d do
This week’s question on Wise Bread is, "What would you do with a million dollars?"
Here’s my response:
If I had a million dollars after taxes, I’d eliminate my student loan debt and all of my parents’ debt. Then I’d invest in modest but nice mortgage-free homes for myself and my parents. I would set up trusts - one for my parents, and one for my grandmother, that are designed to help them if they need help with medical care, taxes, or housing and energy costs during their retirement. Other family members could get small, low-interest loans from me for down payments on homes, seed money for business investments, or educational pursuits. The money would come with strings attached - I would likely retain a financial advisor to help guide my family through the process of learning how to handle money better. I’d invest in financial education for young people by supporting existing programs, and I’d also like to invest in AIDS research and treatment.
I would use some of the money to have a dream wedding with my honey, and I’d give serious thought to investing in starting our own business(es), which could possibly involve family members, depending on the nature of our work. In any case, I would not stop working and in fact, I’d probably hold on to my current job for some time. I’d hope to keep the majority of the money in investments so that one day I could live off the interest.
I suppose that if I’d given it more thought, I’d have talked about a financial planner, and what kind of businesses I could see myself running… but I felt like I’d already blogged in the comments, so I let it be. If you’d like to have a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift certificate, stop over at Wise Bread to say what you’d do with a million.
