How to spend it

[Caddyshack]

TheJimi said:

raceboy said:

Caddyshack said:

A lottery win of £2-3m would not allow many people to retire and continue spending at their normal rate.

And this just highlights the different ends of the financial spectrum, I'd give myself another 30 years life left if I'm lucky, so £2m again just left in a binbag in the spare room would allow me over £66k a year, comfortably more than my households combined annual income, so yes, I could very easily retire tomorrow with a £2m nest egg and see an UPGRADE to my financial position, and don't consider myself to be anywhere near the poverty line.

You and the vast, vast majority of people in Britain.

It's the same every time we get a thread on the topic, you get PH'ers wading in, taking about how £x million wouldn't even touch the sides. The reality is that there's a very small number of people for whom £2-3m wouldn't be a massive life changer.

I am sure it is the same every time as PH contains a massive split of different pockets of life, I have no doubt at all that 2-3m would not touch the sides for quite a few of the posters, just look at the likes of Flemke and Toomanycars....£2m would barely run their lives for a year.

I am not rich based on what I see around me and I could not give up my income in exchange for £2m, I would burn it far too quickly...more is the pity.

[raceboy]

Caddyshack said:

I am based near Guildford in surrey which I appreciate is an expensive place to live.

Not entirely sure what relevance that has, because, now I am just guessing here, you live there because it's handy for work. with the cheeky £2m in your binbag you can jack the day job in and you can relocate where ever in the WORLD you like.
Obviously the math becomes a little different based how how much longer you think you're going to live, if you're in your 20's you need a bit more but if you are over 50 it's looking rosy.
Yes you aren't buying a super yacht to make Lance Stroll envious, or rocketing into The Time rich list but you can have a very nice standard of living for the last bit you have left.

[TheJimi]

Caddyshack said:

TheJimi said:

raceboy said:

Caddyshack said:

A lottery win of £2-3m would not allow many people to retire and continue spending at their normal rate.

And this just highlights the different ends of the financial spectrum, I'd give myself another 30 years life left if I'm lucky, so £2m again just left in a binbag in the spare room would allow me over £66k a year, comfortably more than my households combined annual income, so yes, I could very easily retire tomorrow with a £2m nest egg and see an UPGRADE to my financial position, and don't consider myself to be anywhere near the poverty line.

You and the vast, vast majority of people in Britain.

It's the same every time we get a thread on the topic, you get PH'ers wading in, taking about how £x million wouldn't even touch the sides. The reality is that there's a very small number of people for whom £2-3m wouldn't be a massive life changer.

I am sure it is the same every time as PH contains a massive split of different pockets of life, I have no doubt at all that 2-3m would not touch the sides for quite a few of the posters, just look at the likes of Flemke and Toomanycars....£2m would barely run their lives for a year.

I am not rich based on what I see around me and I could not give up my income in exchange for £2m, I would burn it far too quickly...more is the pity.

It was your statement - "A lottery win of £2-3m would not allow many people to retire and continue spending at their normal rate."

I disagree, I think many could retire on that, it's the few who couldn't.

[GT3Manthey]

TheJimi said:

It was your statement - "A lottery win of £2-3m would not allow many people to retire and continue spending at their normal rate."

I disagree, I think many could retire on that, it's the few who couldn't.

I agree.

In reality everyone thinks they need more than they really do

[CrunkleFloop]

Buy a Unimog Expedition and travel the world, write a book about your adventures and the people you meet.

Meet local people and listed to their stories and share yours with them.

You'll have friends in every corner of the world and some fantastic memories; immortalised in print.

[Caddyshack]

TheJimi said:

Caddyshack said:

TheJimi said:

raceboy said:

Caddyshack said:

A lottery win of £2-3m would not allow many people to retire and continue spending at their normal rate.

And this just highlights the different ends of the financial spectrum, I'd give myself another 30 years life left if I'm lucky, so £2m again just left in a binbag in the spare room would allow me over £66k a year, comfortably more than my households combined annual income, so yes, I could very easily retire tomorrow with a £2m nest egg and see an UPGRADE to my financial position, and don't consider myself to be anywhere near the poverty line.

You and the vast, vast majority of people in Britain.

It's the same every time we get a thread on the topic, you get PH'ers wading in, taking about how £x million wouldn't even touch the sides. The reality is that there's a very small number of people for whom £2-3m wouldn't be a massive life changer.

I am sure it is the same every time as PH contains a massive split of different pockets of life, I have no doubt at all that 2-3m would not touch the sides for quite a few of the posters, just look at the likes of Flemke and Toomanycars....£2m would barely run their lives for a year.

I am not rich based on what I see around me and I could not give up my income in exchange for £2m, I would burn it far too quickly...more is the pity.

It was your statement - "A lottery win of £2-3m would not allow many people to retire and continue spending at their normal rate."

I disagree, I think many could retire on that, it's the few who couldn't.

Maybe so. I arrange mortgages for people so I guess I see a certain level of affluence or they would not be buying a house in S. England. Perhaps I would have been more accurate to have said "most of the people that I meet and see their current financial position intimately could not retire if I gave them £2-3m if they expected to continue with the same lifestyle and spend at the current rate"

Just the term millionaire for the majority of it's use in history would suggest someone who did not work and had a lavish lifestyle, now millionaire in that sense is probably only a trainee millionaire until they are well in to multiples of millions.

[TheJimi]

Caddyshack said:

TheJimi said:

Caddyshack said:

TheJimi said:

raceboy said:

Caddyshack said:

A lottery win of £2-3m would not allow many people to retire and continue spending at their normal rate.

And this just highlights the different ends of the financial spectrum, I'd give myself another 30 years life left if I'm lucky, so £2m again just left in a binbag in the spare room would allow me over £66k a year, comfortably more than my households combined annual income, so yes, I could very easily retire tomorrow with a £2m nest egg and see an UPGRADE to my financial position, and don't consider myself to be anywhere near the poverty line.

You and the vast, vast majority of people in Britain.

It's the same every time we get a thread on the topic, you get PH'ers wading in, taking about how £x million wouldn't even touch the sides. The reality is that there's a very small number of people for whom £2-3m wouldn't be a massive life changer.

I am sure it is the same every time as PH contains a massive split of different pockets of life, I have no doubt at all that 2-3m would not touch the sides for quite a few of the posters, just look at the likes of Flemke and Toomanycars....£2m would barely run their lives for a year.

I am not rich based on what I see around me and I could not give up my income in exchange for £2m, I would burn it far too quickly...more is the pity.

It was your statement - "A lottery win of £2-3m would not allow many people to retire and continue spending at their normal rate."

I disagree, I think many could retire on that, it's the few who couldn't.

Maybe so. I arrange mortgages for people so I guess I see a certain level of affluence or they would not be buying a house in S. England. Perhaps I would have been more accurate to have said "most of the people that I meet and see their current financial position intimately could not retire if I gave them £2-3m if they expected to continue with the same lifestyle and spend at the current rate"

That would be a much more appropriate statement, yes.

[Caddyshack]

raceboy said:

Caddyshack said:

I am based near Guildford in surrey which I appreciate is an expensive place to live.

Not entirely sure what relevance that has, because, now I am just guessing here, you live there because it's handy for work. with the cheeky £2m in your binbag you can jack the day job in and you can relocate where ever in the WORLD you like.
Obviously the math becomes a little different based how how much longer you think you're going to live, if you're in your 20's you need a bit more but if you are over 50 it's looking rosy.
Yes you aren't buying a super yacht to make Lance Stroll envious, or rocketing into The Time rich list but you can have a very nice standard of living for the last bit you have left.

I can work pretty remotely now but I have 2 elderly relatives near by who need my help regularly so cannot bail out of the area or country yet. I am Aged 47. When they are gone and my daughter has left school and does not need to be around us as much we will certainly consider relocation to a cheaper area...part of my retirement will demand that unless I get £10m in a divorce settlement.

One friend went to Bali as it is much cheaper to live there, I am not sure it would be for me though.

[Bonefish Blues]

Caddyshack said:

I can work pretty remotely now but I have 2 elderly relatives near by who need my help regularly so cannot bail out of the area or country yet. I am Aged 47. When they are gone and my daughter has left school and does not need to be around us as much we will certainly consider relocation to a cheaper area...part of my retirement will demand that unless I get £10m in a divorce settlement.

One friend went to Bali as it is much cheaper to live there, I am not sure it would be for me though.

My wife wants to continue to live where we are (near Oxford), she now informs me (having previously said we would move - oh, and is keen to have something small by the sea somewhere. FFS, she's now totally lost any grip on reality...), so that's buggered up my planning on that basis.

[raceboy]

Bonefish Blues said:

My wife wants to continue to live where we are (near Oxford), she now informs me (having previously said we would move - oh, and is keen to have something small by the sea somewhere. FFS, she's now totally lost any grip on reality...), so that's buggered up my planning on that basis.

Just follow the OP's lead, the wife can do whatever she likes, no concern of yours, and sounds like you have sufficient grounds.

[Bonefish Blues]

raceboy said:

Bonefish Blues said:

My wife wants to continue to live where we are (near Oxford), she now informs me (having previously said we would move - oh, and is keen to have something small by the sea somewhere. FFS, she's now totally lost any grip on reality...), so that's buggered up my planning on that basis.

Just follow the OP's lead, the wife can do whatever she likes, no concern of yours, and sounds like you have sufficient grounds.

Merits serious consideration.

[NickCQ]

GT3Manthey said:

In reality everyone thinks they need more than they really do

There's some truth in that.. but then again the mindset change from accumulation during your earning years to decumulation is a hard one to get comfortable with. Same as accepting one's own mortality I suppose.

I guess those with kids also want to leave >0 behind when they are gone.

[poo at Paul's]

Trouble is, with sudden ready access to cash like that, you it's a balancing act between doing what you like with no worries, and getting a stack of new worries.
Get youself some land in the middle of nowhere, and a few trick cars and toys? All well and good, but how about the security side of things.....middle of nowhere, lots of cash...
How do you look after all these cars, who arranges all the service work and repairs, MOTs etc, oh, you employ someone, great, how many...suddenly you are not on your own in middle of nowhere and managing a full time businees, ie You INC!

As I say i am sure it is possible, but not as easy as you may think. Retiring with cash is a full time job i reckon!

[raceboy]

My ideal scenario would be dying owing millions
The plan is to up sticks and burn through the accumulated equity somewhere nice and hopefully not live too long so it runs out.
Either a gruesome end at the hands of Serbian drug lords who I owe the money too or see out the last few years at Her Majesty's pleasure, although it'll probably be 'his' by then due to said dealings with above dodgy characters, probably be nicer than a nursing home anyway.
The kid will not know where I've been living for last 10 years never mind get any inheritance, if he's unlucky he'll just be getting an invoice for my cremation.

[J4CKO]

Caddyshack said:

A few of my mates have cashed out of businesses, some under and some over £10m

One who got £2m and left a £150k job was surprised how quickly he burned through it and after some nice holidays, watches, cars and a house soon found he needed a job...within about 3 years.


One who did around £10m spent about £3m on a farm, bought some nice cars, a holiday home plus a couple of buy to lets. He too got quite scared by how fast the money pot was dwindling.

The thing is that most people who make £10m from a business sale etc. already have a lifestyle that involves a decent house, decent holidays, expensive area and often things like school fees so if you are used to outgoings with a burn rate of something like £5-6k net a month it does take some prudence not to be wasteful but they also expect to treat themselves to something significant like some cars or a bigger house.

Speak to any wealth manager and they will tell you that £40k per yr is about what you can expect per £1m invested in a safe place so you would need maybe £4m invested to retain a decent level of income, if you then do say £2m on a house(s) plus stamp duty then some cars and some £20k holidays it does not leave a huge amount to just spend willy nilly.

A lottery win of £2-3m would not allow many people to retire and continue spending at their normal rate.

Amazing how folk manage to have the wherewithal to end up with millions, yet still manage to burn through it and be surprised by that ?

Do you lose the power of basic maths when you come into a substantial amount, would sort of expect it of some dumb arse scratter winning the lottery and going mental but I would manage my cash like I do now, it would just be bigger numbers.

[Bill]

SpartacusF said:

Sure, I have hobbies, including PH, that lapsed for the past 20 years which I'll take up again, but I'd be interested in leftfield responses to the question of how to spend it when time and money are no longer limited.

I've spent far too long contemplating this considering I'm happily married and have no chance of being in your financial situation. IMO there are too many variables to give sensible answers. What makes you tick? What hobbies - are they something you can make a lifestyle around? How attached to the UK, and your kids, are you? How many of your current friends have the time and cash to keep up?

It's not for me, but RDMcG on here seems to have a great lifestyle. Summer and winter houses and travels working in his own terms helping start ups (AIUI). Similarly I had a snowboard instructor who'd apparently sold his tech startup and spent his time doing a bit of instructing as the mood took him.

Personally I'd get a 3 or 4 bed chalet in Chamonix and spent the first year or two (or more) getting fit as and brush up on my mountain skills. Keep an open house for friends and family and do trips and courses when no one's visiting.

[GT3Manthey]

NickCQ said:

There's some truth in that.. but then again the mindset change from accumulation during your earning years to decumulation is a hard one to get comfortable with. Same as accepting one's own mortality I suppose.

I guess those with kids also want to leave >0 behind when they are gone.

Yes this is very true.

I’ve been having regular meeting with my wealth manager and scrutinising his figures and trying to get my head around actually not adding but draining.

Figure a part time job might just help keep me solvent and sane too !

[Caddyshack]

J4CKO said:

Caddyshack said:

A few of my mates have cashed out of businesses, some under and some over £10m

One who got £2m and left a £150k job was surprised how quickly he burned through it and after some nice holidays, watches, cars and a house soon found he needed a job...within about 3 years.


One who did around £10m spent about £3m on a farm, bought some nice cars, a holiday home plus a couple of buy to lets. He too got quite scared by how fast the money pot was dwindling.

The thing is that most people who make £10m from a business sale etc. already have a lifestyle that involves a decent house, decent holidays, expensive area and often things like school fees so if you are used to outgoings with a burn rate of something like £5-6k net a month it does take some prudence not to be wasteful but they also expect to treat themselves to something significant like some cars or a bigger house.

Speak to any wealth manager and they will tell you that £40k per yr is about what you can expect per £1m invested in a safe place so you would need maybe £4m invested to retain a decent level of income, if you then do say £2m on a house(s) plus stamp duty then some cars and some £20k holidays it does not leave a huge amount to just spend willy nilly.

A lottery win of £2-3m would not allow many people to retire and continue spending at their normal rate.

Amazing how folk manage to have the wherewithal to end up with millions, yet still manage to burn through it and be surprised by that ?

Do you lose the power of basic maths when you come into a substantial amount, would sort of expect it of some dumb arse scratter winning the lottery and going mental but I would manage my cash like I do now, it would just be bigger numbers.

I think there are other psychological things at work.

When my mum retired she was very scared of her savings running out so when it got down to something like £30-£50k she got scared by it, when you have a fixed pension left it makes you not want to run out. When the bank account looks like £2m all is well and people continue to spend as if they have £x pm still coming in but every £ of the £2m spent erodes the capital so that the £ spent no longer earns more, it takes a while for that to sink in…..people feel they should be able to afford more when they have a few mil…..one was a financial director before he sold out….it just did not compute for a while???

[red_slr]

Flight on Virgin Galactic would be smack bang at the top of my list. Maybe not your thing, but I would be on that like a fat lad on chips.

Next I would be speaking to the people at the Four Seasons. Arrange one of their special packages where you get your own jet and then fly around a few of their really nice hotels for a few months - of course including a couple of weeks on their yacht the FS Explorer which is based out of Landaa Giraavaru in the Maldives. If it were me I would bring a few mates along - just for a laugh.

After that, probably buy a few Ferraris. Toe them round Europe for a bit. Some long weekends at the 'ring burning tyres and brakes. I would also do the F1 car drive at Paul Ricard - private day (or 3) of course. No riff raff or w@nker youtubers.

Once I was bored of all that, probably head off to Japan. Take one of the rarris with me - because I can. That should keep me entertained for a year or two. Lots to do, most of weird.

I reckon the above - with a smattering of F1 races, weekends with straight 10s (not the same one of course), a few nice holidays and what not would take me 5 years and a couple of mil.

I am just £1.99M short now

[MrJuice]

I need a business mentor for a start up OP. I was speaking to my business partner about this and how much value someone who had been through it all would add to us.

It's techie expertise/experience we're looking for. Do PM me if you think you can help! Thank you.

With respect to your how to spend it. I'd go and see the world and pay for others to see things they wouldn't otherwise see. I'm thinking the deprived. I benefitted from that as a kid and try to offer kids today the same.