If I had a million dollars....

Rick Meyer

Rick Meyer

Veteran
A buddy of mine and I were just talking about a rich acquaintance we have. He inherited a TON of property and is loaded. It got me to fantasizing...that age-old fantasy that we've ALL had...what would be the FIRST thing you would do if you came into a LOT of money. MUCH MUCH MUCH more than 1 million dollars. I'm talking struck it rich, instantly...via lottery, inheritance, etc.

You can tell a lot about somebody based on how they'd answer this question...what would be the first thing you'd do? And I know PK will say something that will have us all feeling less like human beings and more like selfish animals. But, I'm cool with it.

First thing Id do, AFTER I changed the poop in my drawers, pick my mom up in a limo and buy any house she wanted....hopefully something rediculously extravagant...but knowing her, she'd pick something small and near her kids....
 
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Well, first of all, one million dollars isn't what it used to be. I don't know how many extravagant homes you'll be able to buy with that (and have anything left for Uncle Sam... or yourself).

That said, I would pay off my own debt and help family and friends with their financial struggles.
 
I would have a comfortable but still fairly modest home.

I would drive a nice but not extravagant car.

I would help friends and family.

And I would use it to do the things I want to do.

I'd like to have enough money to live the way I want to live, but I don't want to be on anyone's radar.
 
But I am talking THAT day. The day of....The day you found out....would there be some impulsive thing you would do, say, or buy? A boss you'd like to flip off or a spontaneous trip youve always wanted to take?
 
Pay off the debts (mine, Parents', Sister's).

Get rid of the worklights.

Make two real films and roll the money over into more. (Assuming I can get enough time off work. I'd probably have to LWOP it a bit.)
 
rlm7189 said:
But I am talking THAT day. The day of....The day you found out....would there be some impulsive thing you would do, say, or buy? A boss you'd like to flip off or a spontaneous trip youve always wanted to take?
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I wouldn't run out and blow half of it impulsively.
 
rlm7189 said:
But I am talking THAT day. The day of....The day you found out....would there be some impulsive thing you would do, say, or buy? A boss you'd like to flip off or a spontaneous trip youve always wanted to take?
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Oh, well. Immediate gratification? Buy a house a Sinaia. But that's probably only about $50K if I don't get suckered. Piddling cash.
 
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Well, how appropriate, I just finished arguing with my girlfriend about how having a lot of money is sometimes a curse and a double edged sword! Here's the deal, she has somewhere on the order of 250k in stocks and lives in constant fear of being poor and destitute (oh, and her parents probably have another 1-2 mil that she stands to inherit a lot of).

I on the other hand have been out of work for a year (I turned down a 100k job (at her request) so I could do the film thing and become a girlfriend welfare receipient... the welfare part isn't working too well, she's constantly full of fear about money and I'm looking for work again).

Anyway, this is what I'd do:

1. Make films and music! (you know, films that heal the world, save the children, inspire peace, and donate a percentage of the profits to PK!)

2. Pay off all my debts/credit cards.

3. Visit my mom and friends back East

4. Travel somewhere outside the U.S. to decompress and gather my thoughts (maybe China)

5. BUY a RED Camera (with Primes or their lenses) as soon as possible.

6. Buy a Steadicam type of stabilizer

7. BIG MONITORS for editing

8. Monster rendering/editing machine with a 100 terabytes of RAID storage.

9. Find other enthusiastic filmmakers who understand that it takes a LOT of work and a LOT of preparation to create a high quality film.

10. Have someone build me a modest music studio/recording/jam space.

11. make more films!

12. Have fun.

**And dole out a fair amount of cash to friends and family, but most of them aren't doing too bad.
 
I'd buy a nice bottle of cognac, sit down and look forward to living life like David said earlier... on my own terms.
 
Shawn Murphy said:
...money is sometimes a curse and a double edged sword!
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Yes I agree. Money itself cannot make you happy. But it can definitely help get rid of many of the things that make you unhappy.
 
HorseFilms said:
If money can't buy happiness, I guess I'll have to rent it.
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HA! Yes, with $50-$100 mil you can pretty much rent anything you want.

I know that I would set up many college funds for my neices, nephews and friends children. But as for myself, I would LOVE to live modestly for as long as I could. Live in a tiny apartment, drive around in a beat up truck and still employed for a while. The idea of living very modestly while being loaded sounds very cool. However, I would probably last about 2 weeks before I'd crack and sell out.
 
I am in Finland. My Girlfriend is in Maryland. Any questions?

And a call to Frank Rush is 2nd on the list right after that call to British Airways. (I have both on speed dial...)


- Mikko ... has a running lottery ticket.
 
rlm7189 said:
HA! Yes, with $50-$100 mil you can pretty much rent anything you want.
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Whoa, whoa, whoa... $50-100 Million?!! That's a far cry from your original question. If we're talking Powerball money, then I just might buy something big that day. How about a nice, new vehicle?
 
That day?

Hmmmm.
Honestly, that day I would probably spend the day asking my friends what they would do if they suddenly had a ton of money. I wouldn't tell anyone that I just came into money ... yet.

Then I would make reservations at my wife's favorite restaurant (a sushi place here in austin) - I'd pick her up at work and take her out for a great night on the town.

I'd get a bottle of champagne with dessert (the same champagne we had the night I proposed, and on our honeymoon)- and by this point she would be highly suspicious as to why I'm suddenly blowing all this money - and then I would tell her.

Afterwards we would probably wind up at the same coffee shop we always go to - and we'd talk about what to do next. First thing on the list would be to buy a house - outright.

After that - we're pretty frugal people....so most of it would go into long term savings hopefully structured such that we can live of the interest. I can tell I'm getting old because I know that when I was young nothing could have sounded more boring than "long term savings" - and now the thought is about as sexy as they get.
:)

The next day my wife would quit her job - but hopefully I could talk her into giving two weeks notice.

Other than my wife - I don't know that I would tell anyone...at least not until we got used to the idea ourselves.

Damn - enough day dreaming - I've got to get back to work.
A friend of mine used to say "money may not buy happiness, but I'm sure as hell not going to be happy without it"
 
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