At a networking meeting last week we went through the usual questions – how are you doing with work, personal, and your health and then we turned to our wildcard question which changes every month. The question was what would you do with $10M? The answers led to a very interesting discussion involving everything from paying off mortgages to starting a foundation. Some people said they would take care of others who had blessed them, some said pay off taxes. But the most interesting part of the discussion was whether $10M could buy happiness or health?
What can ten million dollars buy you? Stuff? Yes, it can buy a lot of stuff; but, generally people didn’t want stuff – maybe a boat or a cabin on a lake, but no one cared about stuff. They cared about people, experiences, and taking care of each other.
Experiences/Travel
Several people mentioned being able to use the money to travel or have certain experiences. Travel is definitely on my list with or without ten million dollars. And more travel is definitely on my “winning the lottery” list. I’d love to be able to spend more time with friends and family who are flung all across the world. That is definitely what I would do. But, I have been trying to do this all along. I’m not waiting for anything to happen before I travel and see friends and family. I’ve seen it happen to so many people — they say, “Oh I’ll do that when I retire.” Then retirement never comes or when they do retire they are in too ill health to travel. Or they get cancer and can’t travel. No one regrets spending their time doing what they want – especially if it involves friends and family. Some people in the room said they would use it to travel in a more comfortable fashion – 1st class or use AirBnB to stay in more interesting places – a farm house in Ireland with views fo the ocean on three sides. Money will definitely hep with this one!
People
Many people said they would take care of their spouses, parents, or other family members who are in poor health. They would buy health. (I’m not sure that is possible, but some people wanted to do this.) Some had sick parents and they wanted to use the money to help them get good care and be in better health, if not good health. Others said they didn’t want to be alone with all that money and they wanted to spend time with friends and family. One guy said he would hire a coach for his family to figure out how to live better, eat better, be more active. My reaction to all of these are yes – spend more time with family and friends. Help them where you can. But, in the end, no one can take care of you but you. Others can help in the process, they can become a caretaker if you are unable to take care of yourself, but at the end of the day, no one can take care of you but you. You. You take care of you. If you smoke or have other bad habits that affect your body and health, only you can change that habit or face the consequences. If you are sedentary and don’t eat well, only you can be more active or choose to eat different things. Yes, money can help you find a better doctor and get care you might not otherwise be able to afford, but at the end of the day, it is much easier and cheaper to take care of yourself now. Eat good whole food, move more, make good choices and take care of yourself now. One day it may be too late to take care of yourself or others, no matter how much money you have. Answers in the “taking care of each other” category ranged from doing more yoga, to building their own yoga studio to taking care of aging parents to starting a foundation to help minority kids go to college. Fundamentally people want to do good and take care of each other. One guy said he wanted to help poor, especially in China. Another wanted to do the same kind of networking we were doing for non-profit groups. These answers ranged far and wide, including spending on our own hobbies, interests, and causes.
Most fascinatingly — Only a couple of people said they would quit work right away. Some said they wanted to continue working but only take work they really wanted to do. I would keep working or find particular projects to work on that I could fund. I like working, I like being busy. I like working for a cause. But I’m not sure having $10M (through winning the lottery or otherwise) would change that part of me!
What would you do if $10M fell into your lap?!
