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Ask HN: What would you do with $1M?

by zmz88 on 5/30/24, 2:27 PM with 50 comments

• by edgineer on 5/30/24, 5:40 PM

  Most likely I'd have to give half to the IRS, then could barely afford a condo not too far from the city and and a used electric car with the rest. Or, since that seems barely worth it I'd seek out a financial advisor to invest it for me, then continue to rent and maintain my old car with slightly less worry about my future.

• by afinlayson on 5/30/24, 5:17 PM

  1M isn't the F-you money it was back when Barenaked Ladies wrote the song. I'm curious if anyone who had 1B would actually do something to better the world rather than private jets, drugs and other of the deadly sins...

• by incomingpain on 5/30/24, 2:59 PM

  Stocks most likely, I kind of wish I knew how to start a business.

  Here's my crazy idea that there's 0% chance of me starting.

  General Aviation plane. It will look an awful lot like a B2 bomber. Rooftop solar panels on the top surface, this baby is parking outside.

  2 EDF sourced out of the automotive crate engine options. Chevy bolt supplychain probably? Aiming for 400-600kw combined.

  2 battery packs and speed control. You have a lever which picks 1 or the other battery pack. Solar charges the one not being used by the motors.

  Everything is redundant. Who doesn't want to own this already?

  But it would be a more advanced GA plane, retracting gear, twin engine, etc. Most likely a 02 bottle system and not pressurized. Probably limiting it to below 18,000feet.

  The purpose? Not only will the bomber be able to manage the weight of 2 car battery packs, it also carries food to remote places. Food scarcity in the far north of Canada for example is it's purpose. It would have hundreds of km range, it can get high no problem.

  The key problem would be runway, it likely requires a rather massive runway. especially when it has ~20,000lbs of food in its bomb bay.

• by pickle-wizard on 5/30/24, 4:52 PM

  I’d invest it into a mutual fund and retire. My cost of living is pretty low so I could keep my withdrawal rate below the normal appreciation.

  From there I would spend my days working out and working on open source projects.

• by coreyp_1 on 5/30/24, 3:46 PM

  I would hire some students, mentor them, and we would build all of the open source projects that I want to build (that I'm already slowly working on/planning out on my own).

• by visox on 5/30/24, 2:53 PM

  Guess i would invest most of it stock index investing would be enough. Then i would do some travelling. I may not give up on my job right away even tho in my country the 4% from the 1M would be enough.

• by EcommerceFlow on 5/30/24, 5:27 PM

  Stocks are the smart option, but I'd heavily consider a 5% Treasury for the $50,000/year guaranteed.

• by more_corn on 5/30/24, 6:44 PM

  There was a fire here recently that burned a thousand homes. I’d see if I could buy some land and start making a subdivision of modest 2bedroom homes. I might be able to get the land, infrastructure and first home done for 1m, then hopefully sales would support filling in the rest.

  The housing crisis is largely a supply problem. Fix supply and you start to alleviate the problem. The good news is that along the way you have a cash-flow positive business.

• by romerocarlos on 5/30/24, 6:16 PM

  With $1 million, I would first ensure that my family's financial future is secure by paying off any outstanding debts and investing in their well-being. After that, I would set aside a portion of the money for personal savings and investments to generate passive income. Finally, I would invest in my own personal growth by pursuing educational and entrepreneurial opportunities that I'm passionate about.

• by jjgreen on 5/30/24, 2:33 PM

  Hold my little finger to the side of my mouth and say "One million dollars"

• by fuzzfactor on 5/30/24, 7:15 PM

  Well I'd build another experimental laboratory like I had before so many disasters struck.

  If you're careful you can get a lot more done than people who have spent 10x the money or even $100 million sometimes.

  I never really wanted less than 10x the progress I could get in an academic or industrial institution, and for that it really helps to build it your own way.

  Even though I made more than a million using my own technology, there was no windfall, I never had that much in the bank at one time to work with.

  So it's really just the same thing I would have done when I still had the first lab I owned, if I would have managed to accumulate a million, which is build me another lab.

  Actually I was already setting up a second location for a lot less than a million, where it would also be able to do enough invoiceable work to pay its way too, but it turned out to be too late, the final disaster came too soon.

  Had the equipment standing by, and the infrastructure at the more disaster-resistant location over halfway ready for deployment too.

  That's all ancient history, now I might be more likely to get a million worth of equipment onto benches and start turning them into money-making machines, without having any cash outlay at all.

  After that if I had a million in cash I would put deployment on steroids and do the exponential growth thing (within limits) like normal but from a much more advanced starting point, and at a scale that can return funds to the bank faster than they can be drained by disaster.

  For me a million cash would be critical mass toward financial growth, primarily for people other than myself who need a leg up.

  I wouldn't let it stop me, I'll probably go forward with a million less than that even if there are more survival activities involved.

• by mixmastamyk on 5/30/24, 6:39 PM

  Income investments, into safe, medium, and high-yield risky thirds. Avoid big purchases.

  Then work on projects of my own and others, and put profits into the funds above.

  This was the Dominguez/Robin strategy in "Your Money or Your Life" which I learned about after a PBS special many years ago. The return to higher interest rates makes the strategy feasible again:

  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12299024

  (I'd still invest in stocks if I came across a sure thing, however somehow I missed the NVDA rocket right under my nose. So can't count on those.)

• by codegeek on 5/30/24, 5:37 PM

  Personally, I would buy a business that does about 250k-300K in yearly profits. A business I can run with a small team as needed. Now I am generating a 25-30% yearly return (yes, I am working on the business too and not totally passive but there are businesses like these you can spend may be 15-20 hours a week).

• by throwaway192890 on 5/30/24, 6:44 PM

  I have ~$1.5M after ~10yrs in software w/ ~5yrs being in big tech. Live in the US.

  Almost all is in S&P500 index. It doesn't feel much different than when I had ~$100k in the bank. It is nice to have some safety net and know I can weather most any storm and get back on my feet. I took a few months off a few years ago. I did an expensive masters for fun. Otherwise no big changes.

  It isn't enough money to stop working or buy anything crazy. And you realize that no matter how much you have, the instinctual fear of not having enough is still there. Still stuck in the corporate world and no clear way out. You just keep working and seeing the numbers go up slowly.

  It is like that famous quote:

  “When most people say they want to be a millionaire, what they might actually mean is “I’d like to spend a million dollars.” And that is literally the opposite of being a millionaire.”

• by JohnFen on 5/30/24, 5:12 PM

  I'd start my next software business today rather than in a couple of years.

• by screye on 5/30/24, 6:04 PM

  500k in safe indexes. 200k for stock picking. 200k for well-considered bets/gambles. 100k emergency in a 5% HYSA.

  Unless you're a certified misanthrope, you won't need 'fuck-you' money for life. Why are you saying 'fuck-you' to so many people to begin with ? Most people only need enough 'fuck you' money, to say fuck you to those who exploit them under threat of retaliation. You don't need that much money to do that.

  I'm assuming you're a decent person. Then yeah, at $200k gambling money, you can start living like you have fuck you money, and your relationships are likelier to improve than degrade. You won't have ulterior motives, you will have time for those you love and a stress-free person is more pleasant to be around. Sometimes you're your own gamble. So, set aside part of the $200k to take a break or start a startup. A fresh mind is a productive mind. Having bootstrap funding allows you to protect more equity in future funding rounds. The possibilities are endless !

  Yes, one day, your fuck you money may run out. But the world doesn't end. You can always re-enter the work force. If anything, this time you'll have better relationships, fewer regrets and anwered what-ifs.

  Fuck you money can be seen 2 ways. It's either the ability to find time to pursure what you want, now freed from the rat race. Or, it is the ability to do nothing, now that the rat race expects nothing off you. The former will pays off in dividends, either monetarily or spiritually. The latter leads to lethargy, cognitive decline and an early demise.

  _________

  edit: I think someone with kids is unlikely to ask this kind of question. So my response is phrased towards someone without such responsibilities.

• by levn11 on 5/30/24, 6:55 PM

  I would make food shelters and start a school, a dream of mine.

• by desperatecuban on 5/30/24, 4:51 PM

  Buy a house to get out of this crumbling building (15-30k).

  Equip it with solar and a nice home office (maybe 10k tops).

  Buy house nearby for parents.

  Find struggling friends and help them.

  Donate to some FOSS projects.

• by world2vec on 5/30/24, 4:16 PM

  Buy a house, the rest into "vanilla" ETFs.

• by helpfulmandrill on 5/30/24, 2:30 PM

  Pay off my mortgage, do a masters, have a nice holiday. Probably not the most financially sensible thing, but its what I would like to do.

• by BizarroLand on 5/31/24, 10:17 PM

  Pay off everything I owe on everything I own. Take the remaining $400k and take 4 very fun years off from work.

• by jarsin on 5/30/24, 7:02 PM

  Hire 3d artist and make my dream game. Try to make it last 5 years with me doing all the coding and designing.

• by mac3n on 5/30/24, 7:19 PM

  fund a startup to forever change the way people buy cheese graters

  https://www.theonion.com/bankrupt-dot-com-proud-to-have-brie...

• by sjducb on 5/30/24, 7:10 PM

  If you put $1M into a globally diversified stock market index fund then you can withdraw 3%-4% for the rest of your life. That’s an annual salary of $30,000 - $40,000. Alternatively you could leave it invested and let it double every 10 years. In 40 years it’ll be 16 Million.

  Read about the financial independence movement and boggleheads.

  What I said is simplified, but it captures the big picture.

  If you’ve just received this 1M suddenly then the best thing to do is to put it in a normal bank account for a year and not touch it. This is because money is very psychological, you need to get used to having 1M before you can safely invest/spend it. If you start trying to spend or invest this money immediately then you’ll be broke within a year.

• by hi-v-rocknroll on 5/30/24, 10:51 PM

  I never had an answer. I guess that's why I'm working at Initech.

• by tpnCC on 5/30/24, 6:55 PM

  Start field trials of my Carbon dioxide Removal Startup RIGHT AWAY.

• by warpspin on 6/2/24, 9:26 AM

  Pay off my mortgage and get a small pool house.

• by stop50 on 5/30/24, 2:30 PM

  A substancial amount would go to charity. Then i would invest most of it in futureproof investments, the rest would stay in my account for unexpected costs.

• by ldjkfkdsjnv on 5/30/24, 4:44 PM

  100% into TQQQ

  Throw away the login, come back in 15 years!

• by manuelmoreale on 5/30/24, 7:09 PM

  Buy a house. Invest the rest.

• by sickofparadox on 5/30/24, 2:55 PM

  Dump it into Boeing, Nvidia and $SPY.

• by throwitaway222 on 5/30/24, 2:53 PM

  finish my damn house