What Would You Do With $100,000?
As far as potential windfalls are concerned, a hundred grand is an interesting amount of money.
It’s a tidy sum for anyone to be sure, but it’s hardly what Powerball jackpots and overnight retirements are made of. So, I want to know, what would you do with $100k?
While I would love to take a few months off to travel the world, buy a new car, and build my dream home on some acreage in Maine, my answer is pretty boring. If I were to receive $100,000, I’d pay off my remaining debts and sock the rest away in two accounts: one for a down payment on a home and another for general emergencies. If there were anything left, I guess I’d hit Hawaii in January.
What about you?
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Published on October 28th, 2008.
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I’d take the “boring” route, too. I’d pay off my student loans and save the rest for a down payment on a home. But, with no more debt payments, I’ll have more money to save towards doing something more fun (i.e. traveling and buying a new car).
Well I guess we think alike. I would pay off my car loan, stash the rest for a rainy day, and take a trip somewhere, probably Europe.
Take a year off from work and do what I love.
House, for sure. It’s astonishing that for our generation, it’s such a stretch to aspire to such things.
With youth a distant memory and retirement age getting closer, I am pretty much like you all. Except the money would pay down my home and debt with a bit left over to max out our retirement contributions and fully fund a self-insured life account.
These rough times are not a stretch for you guys, they are a learning step. One that will help you to better reach your goals on the next step. I wish I had the lessons you all carry with you now, then.
Save it.
I’ll have about $70k net in cash after I am finished this project in December, and that’s close enough to $100k for me.
I’d just save it, put it in retirement, savings, EF, whatever.
Even if I had a million, I’d just save it. There’s no point in spending it. I want it to grow so I can retire comfortably and provide for my future kids/family.
I would take the whole works and invest it in dividend growing stocks over the next 6 months.
I would put $25,000 in my money market fund (12 months of basic expenses), $25,000 in my bond index for real estate reserves (almost 12 months of expenses), $5000 in my Roth IRA, spend $5,000 on myself (clothes, vacation, spa, maybe a personal trainer)…
And then I’d hold the other $40,000 in cash until I am ready to use it for a home down payment, a car, etc. Then I’d be able to suspend all short term savings and max out my 401k.
I think it depends on how I got the $100K. If it was won then taxes will take up around 40% so I’d be left with
$60K. I would tithe 10% right off the bat to charity so that would leave me with $50K. I’d take $15K to pay off my remaining consumer debt and then put the rest into CD Ladders, fully funding my Emergency savings. If I assume taxes didn’t need to be taken out (this really is pretend now) then with the other $40K I would take a trip to Ireland and fix up my house.
* 10k for instant gratification…new clothes, vacation, household items, home repairs, etc.
* 10k to bolster my ‘emergency savings’
* 10k for playing around in the Foreign Exchange and Equity markets
* 15k for my “New Car” fund account (following this general bit of advice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYHCzfPeldE )
* 55k for my Roth IRA
* Student Loans.
* Charity.
Aaaand, the money’s spent.
I found a way to get 18% on the amount of money I invest on another persons debt to automatically be deducted into my bank account.
With $ 100,000.00
Plan A:
I would pay off my credit card, and find some nice investment property like a multifamily home, or restaurant that I would buy with the remainder of the money. (Of Course it would not pay for it all, but a nice down-payment would ensure that I get the property that would bring in a couple thousand dollars a month).
Plan B:
I would pay off my credit card, pay 20% to charity, (don’t ask why I send 20% to charity of all my money every year) then buy a couple small online businesses, that would bring in even more money.
( I am one of those people who knows what to do with the money, so it does not go to waste, in my opinion.)
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I bet you might be close to having $ 100,000.00 and you are not sure what to do with it. (Feel free to contact me at my e-mail lpresident@hotmail.com).
Buy my boss out, being my own boss would be the most satisfying thing 100,000 could get me. Plus it would be more lucrative.