The Million Dollar Roundup

Long before Barenaked Ladies wrote their famous “If I had $1,000,000,” people have dreamed of becoming millionaires. It’s fair to say that a million bucks isn’t quite what it used to be. In fact, inflation over my lifetime has eroded the value of a million dollars down to $141,000, or conversely, you’d need over seven million dollars to have the same purchasing power as a million had when I was born. (See the Inflation Calculator if you’d like to see how the dollar has changed in value over the years)

• Sandy at Yes, I am Cheap – Hide from the relatives, pay off debt, buy a franchise.
• Elle at Couple Money -  Pay off debt, buy a 4 family house to rent, help family, set up a charity fund.
• Kay Lynn at Bucksome Boomer – Pay off debt, give to charity, save for retirement.
• Afford Anything – Wow, she’s jumping into rental real estate big time, leveraging the money and planning to retire on the rent once the mortgages are paid.
• Thrifty Decor Chick – Buying new appliances, redecorating, expanding rooms.
• Retire by 40 – All invested to help get to that goal of early retirement.
• Emilie at I came to run – Emilie starts with far more than the even million, as she was looking at a recent megabucks drawing. She’s generous, helping students through scholarships she’d set up, and also helping family get rid of their own debt.
• Jeff at Sustainable Life Blog – Wipe out debt, buy a house, take a vacation, invest.
• Andrea at So Over Debt – A nice mix of investing half, paying debt, and coolest of all, giving away $100K to a number of people just because she can.
• Jesse at PFfirewall – Get rid of debt, buy into a franchise, invest.

By the way, there is no million dollar bill, the largest printed bill was $100,000 and it was only used between banks, it isn’t legal to own any longer.

These were fun to read, I commented on a few of these posts that I’d invest such a windfall, every cent. We have six years to go on the mortgage, and feel no urge to pay it faster. I believe the market will rise more than the 3.5% post tax rate the mortgage costs us. And in our late 40’s/early 50’s (yes, Jane is older) we’re not looking to upsize the house, in fact our dream home is about 2/3 the size of the one we are in. I’d be curious to know if the answer to the million dollar question changes with age, I suspect it does.

What would you do with a cool million if someone wrote you a check tomorrow (you know – the giver has to pay the gift tax, not the recipient. It’s all yours)