If you found one million dollars in the morning and had to spend it by nightfall, what would you do with the money?
This question was the prompt for the first day of NaBloPoMo and even though I got a late start, I didn’t want to skip this question. Since I have to spend it, conservative answers like put it all in the bank or save it for retirement are out. No, I have to give every penny to someone else.
Once I got over the missed investment opportunity, the decisions on what to do with this “found” money wasn’t very hard.
Charity
I would give half of the money to charity. It would be so fun to be able to make meaningful donations to some of my favorite charities instead of my current donations.
- Feeding America. It baffles me that the richest country in the world has citizens that don’t get enough food. Feeding America has a nationwide network of food banks that work to feed the hungry and fight to end hunger. I would give $250,000 to this charity.
- American Cancer Society. My father and his brother both died from lung cancer. We have family members that have battled other cancers; sometimes successfully and sometimes not. This organization will receive $125,000.
- American Heart Association. My husband and I both lost our mothers to heart disease in their early 70’s and it plagues so many of our friends and family. I’d give the remaining $125,000 to this charity.
Retirement Home
We are thinking about retiring in Florida eventually. The cost of living (especially taxes) is much lower than California and as of now, none of the kids live here.
I would spend $250,000 on a retirement home in an active 55+ community. If we end up not liking it or changing our minds about retirement locations, we can always sell it.
Our Children
Last but not least, I would split the remaining $250,000 between our five kids. (FYI, my husband brought three children and I brought two to the marriage.) That gives each of them $50,000. No strings attached and I would do my best not to be judgmental about what they did with it. 😉
That’s it; the money is gone. How would you spend $1 million in one day?
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