If you had a million dollars to spend, what would you buy?

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Discussion Overview

The thread explores hypothetical spending choices if participants had a million dollars. The scope includes personal desires, practical investments, and whimsical purchases, reflecting a range of financial priorities and lifestyle aspirations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express a desire to buy homes, with preferences for locations such as near the beach or in the mountains.
  • Others mention purchasing vehicles, including classic cars and practical options like Subarus.
  • A few participants suggest investing in mutual funds or saving for future needs rather than immediate purchases.
  • Some express a desire to share their wealth with family or friends, indicating a preference for collective benefit over personal gain.
  • Whimsical purchases are also mentioned, such as a "death ray" or humorous items like an electric dog polisher.
  • Several participants engage in light-hearted banter about their choices, including references to pop culture and humorous misunderstandings.
  • There are mentions of wanting to upgrade personal spaces, such as laboratories or storage for books.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on how to spend the hypothetical million dollars, with a variety of competing views and preferences expressed throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Some participants' suggestions depend on personal circumstances, such as location, family needs, and financial goals, which are not universally applicable.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in personal finance, lifestyle choices, or humorous takes on wealth may find the varied perspectives engaging.

  • #31
arildno said:
not where it counts anyway..

LOLOL :smile:
 
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  • #32
A $300 pair of socks, a fur sink, an electric dog polisher, a gasoline powered turtleneck sweater, and of course, some dumb stuff too.

-Steve Martin (paraphrased)
 
  • #33
Jimmy Snyder said:
A $300 pair of socks, a fur sink, an electric dog polisher, a gasoline powered turtleneck sweater, and of course, some dumb stuff too.

-Steve Martin (paraphrased)
I have most of that stuff already. I need more toys.
 
  • #34
Upgrade my private laboratory; and purchase the necessary research materials, parts and instrumentation for the creation of my army of mayhem-bots.
 
  • #35
collinsmark said:
Upgrade my private laboratory; and purchase the necessary research materials, parts and instrumentation for the creation of my army of mayhem-bots.
Would you like my prototype? I have to keep it in a safe with no available power.
 
  • #36
I would go around the world and change my career to national geographic explorer or researcher.
 
  • #37
turbo-1 said:
Would you like my prototype? I have to keep it in a safe with no available power.
[PLAIN]http://abstrusegoose.com/strips/ignorance.PNG

From http://www.abstrusegoose.com/a/205.htm"
 
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  • #38
I'd buy one of these and some track, wire, and a power substation to run it with. Hmm, I might also need a new place with a bigger yard.
 

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  • #39
Since I live in california, after getting taxed, I would buy a small 2 bedroom house 3 miles from the beach and spend whatever I have left over on a used car.
 
  • #40
Some cheap beer.
 
  • #41
Pengwuino said:
Since I live in california, after getting taxed, I would buy a small 2 bedroom house 3 miles from the beach and spend whatever I have left over on a used car.
What? No herring?
 
  • #42
jtbell said:
I'd buy one of these and some track, wire, and a power substation to run it with:

[URL]http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/images/FtSmith/GarlandCrossing.jpg[/URL]

Hmm, I might also need a new place with a bigger yard.

You’re going to put electricity in 2010 PF Cosmo Award winner https://www.physicsforums.com/member.php?u=66"??

[PLAIN]https://www.physicsforums.com/customavatars/avatar66_8.gif

(:biggrin:)
 
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  • #43
bp_psy said:
Some cheap beer.

Go to Brazil, I figure you’ll get approx 6 million liter.
 
  • #44
A million dollars isn't much these days. Right now, if I had a $million to risk, I would invest in real estate.

...after I take a few flights on Migs and an SU-30.
 
  • #45
turbo-1 said:
Not if you banked it in the US. The Fed has made access to money so cheap for the banks that the banks pay almost nothing on your deposits.
Really, I can still get 3.0-4.5% interest, depending on how long the money is put away.
A bigger problem would be converting the dollars into euros, nothing would be left :cry:
 
  • #46
I'd go to las vegas and put it all on red.
 
  • #47
You are all such optimists. I would use it to go to ground in Australia where kings big and small are far away. Does anyone here put their imagination to work on the coming decade. Either I am completely insane or the rest of you are. I'd be betting my 10^6 on the second.
 
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  • #48
DanP said:
This is the best post yet this year on this section of the board :P I would pay to see the scene. :devil:

:biggrin:

The scene would be me, weeping with some limb dislocated, and arildno looking surprised and disgusted. Just a guess, but I find it important to remember: Israeli = Superb Military Experience.

So DanP... are you saying I CAN'T own women like goats and land? You're telling me basically, that since I last checked on our slavery laws... the terrorists WON?! It certainly can't be that I'm not supposed to keep my dozen wives chained to a single radiator...

Hmmmm...
 
  • #49
Monique said:
Really, I can still get 3.0-4.5% interest, depending on how long the money is put away.
A bigger problem would be converting the dollars into euros, nothing would be left :cry:

Maybe someone can explain to me, why the Euro is so strong? I realize the dollar is relatively weak next to it, but hell, look at what's going on with EU economies! Greece and Ireland stand out for now, but we all know more is coming.
 
  • #50
Ivan Seeking said:
A million dollars isn't much these days.

Indeed, it would be just enough to buy a regular 3 bedroom house in the part of London where I live (a house on of the more expensive street would be $1.5M or so; but that would still be a regular 3 bedroom house; "nice" houses start at about $3M).

So I guess that is what I would do...
 
  • #51
Come on people... haven't you learned ANYTHING from our lord and savior, Sir Glenn of Beck? BUY GOLD. Just... raw, unprocessed, gold ore. Buy it, and shove it your pants, then run around screaming, "I have million-dollar golden babies in my pants, want to SEE?!?!"

Then you spend the gold on legal fees.
 
  • #52
nismaratwork said:
Come on people... haven't you learned ANYTHING from our lord and savior, Sir Glenn of Beck?

Have you learned nothing from history that you can apply to today, young man?
 
  • #53
Phrak said:
Have you learned nothing from history that you can apply to today, young man?

Well, if I were to look at the history of commodities and other micro-economies, I'd say gold is probably going to keep rising in value forever. AFAIK, gold is the sure bet the TV-men say it is, and I think it has something to do with patriotism and jesus too...

So yeah, buy gold because magic doesn't have peaks and troughs... and this is magic. *jazz hands*
 
  • #54
DevilsAvocado said:
You’re going to put electricity in 2010 PF Cosmo Award winner https://www.physicsforums.com/member.php?u=66"??

[PLAIN]https://www.physicsforums.com/customavatars/avatar66_8.gif

(:biggrin:)

Oops, I forgot about my Web server's anti-hotlinking protection. But it looked OK at home right after I posted it. :confused: Maybe it's because I had just accessed the picture in the normal way, via its "containing" page, and it was in my browser cache. Anyway, I've re-done it as an attachment. It's my picture, so I'm not breaking any copyright restrictions.
 
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  • #55
Monique said:
Really, I can still get 3.0-4.5% interest, depending on how long the money is put away.

Just a few days ago, I renewed a one-year certificate of deposit at one of my banks. The previous interest rate was 1.55%. The new interest rate is 0.65%. If I had renewed for a three-year term, I could have gotten about 1.5%, but I didn't want to lock up the money for that long.
 
  • #56
nismaratwork said:
Well, if I were to look at the history of commodities and other micro-economies, I'd say gold is probably going to keep rising in value forever. AFAIK, gold is the sure bet the TV-men say it is, and I think it has something to do with patriotism and jesus too...

So yeah, buy gold because magic doesn't have peaks and troughs... and this is magic. *jazz hands*

Who is Sir Glenn of Beck, and what should I have learn from his high vantage?
 
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  • #57
I want to move to the highlands of Scotland, i keep getting letters from the tv license authority, telling me i have not got a licence, i know i don't, i don't have a tv, i have asked, pleaded and begged them to send a man around or a detector van but they haven't, this is like a year now, so if they are stupid enough to follow me i will set the rams on them
 
  • #58
jtbell said:
Oops, ... I've re-done it as an attachment.

Okay! Looks great!

* At first, I was terrified this was some really weird "snuff movie project"... :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: *
 
  • #59
nismaratwork said:
Come on people... haven't you learned ANYTHING from our lord and savior, Sir Glenn of Beck? BUY GOLD. Just... raw, unprocessed, gold ore. Buy it, and shove it your pants, then run around screaming, "I have million-dollar golden babies in my pants, want to SEE?!?!"

Then you spend the gold on legal fees.

Back around 2000, I was listening to the Art Bell show. Given that Bell was about as nutty as they come, I pain no attention to his incessant rantings about buying gold.

gold_all_data_o_usd.png

http://www.goldprice.org/gold-price-history.html
 
  • #60
nismaratwork said:
BUY GOLD.

Just found out that the Zimbabwean dollar is dead... so now I’m in your team. Banks are basically mad-off-rip-off:

– Welcome Mr. Loser! We are going to blow your head off, and of course we are obligated to charge you a small fee. Please sit down...

[PLAIN]http://www.dickipedia.org/images/Madoff2.jpg[/INDENT]​
 
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