Would you be content if you had one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000)?

[AX10]

If you chose response #2, "Who would you give the money to?" Would you consider investing in a media machine for the Democratic party/progressive movement?

[Birthmark]

1. I'd give almost all of it away

to friends, family, strangers, whomever asked. Hell, I'd probably forget what I did with what I kept.

[DinahMoeHum]

2. I'd create my own foundation.

n/t

[AX10]

3. Sounds good to me!

Where would the money go to though?

[MN ChimpH8R]

43. Same here

If I had that kind of moolah I would give plenty of cash to worthies like

NARAL/Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood and other pro-choice groups
Arts organizations
Peace groups
Environmental groups
the wonderful Feline Rescue, where I found my lovable cat

I think I'd like to establish a school in my hometown Twin Cities for Aspergers/High Functioning Autism kids specifically tailored to the way they think and learn here in my hometown. Tuition would be on a sliding scale with the poorest kids getting in for free.

But I would damned well move myself and the $10-20 million I'd keep for myself to somewhere like New Zealand until sanity returns to this country, even though my charitable activities would all operate in the US. I would travel a lot and maybe keep a beach house in Puhket, Thailand or Vung Tau, Vietnam. When I shuffle off this mortal coil, what's left would be rolled back into the foundation.

Would I be happy? You're damned right I would be, because all of the stress and misery that has dominated my adult life has been caused by the lack of money. Like getting served with foreclosure papers on my house a week ago.

[EstimatedProphet]

59. My thoughts exactly

And I would invest in alternative energy companies which would also pay an honest living wage and explore future technologies.

[Bluzmann57]

4. Well since I've never had much money in my life

$100,000,000 is an enormous amout of money and if I had it all at once, there is a likelihood that I'd be dead within 10 years or less from over consumption. And I think I'd feel better about myself by donating some of it anyway. A certain percentage to the American Cancer Society for personal reasons, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a politician or two who caught my fancy, and some sort of relief fund for those people in the Sudan. That is a horrible situation and a couple of million dollars or more could ease a lot of suffering. My parents would be set for life as well. Ah...to dream...

[hobbit709]

5. I might keep $5 mill

I'd give the rest away. $5 mill would keep me in comfort for the rest of my life so what would I need the rest of it for? We have no kids to support-just our dogs, and we've made arrangements to have them taken care of if anything should happen to us.

[supernova]

6. I'd keep some and give some away

First thing I'd do is call my money manager. She is one of the best in the country. And I'd get the money on my accounts as soon as possible.

Secondly, I'd take a really nice vacation one month.. two months... whatever I felt like. Go places I've only ever been able to see on the Travel Channel.

Third, I'd come back and plan to set up a foundation that focuses on things that have meant a great deal to me:

- Money for the arts. Arts funding has been way down sinc the Reagan Admin. I'd like to stop that slide. To me the arts are as important as bread, water, clothing, and shelter.
- Money for indigent health care. I have seen way too many people have to get care they couldn't pay for. Should you really have to choose between chemo and rent? :cry:
- Money for peacemaking. Lots of organizations provide avenues for peacemaking and crosscultural exchanges that don't get the attention they deserve. The more we make these kinds of connections, the less likely war is a possiblity.

That's the most of what I'd do with all that money. I'm sure I'd think of other things but those are on my mind the most when this question comes up.

[mnhtnbb]

11. Nice plan. I think I'd add a percentage for attempting to alleviate

poverty--starting right here in the U.S. and following suggestions
from the UNC Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity that John Edwards set up
(UNC Chapel Hill)

[supernova]

15. Certainly an option

what else would you do with that kind of money? :D

[UrbScotty]

7. Perhaps - I was thinking Oxfam or other groups which aim to end hunger/poverty

...then of course I'd give to progressive candidates and the Democratic Party.

[Warpy]

8. I inherited far less than that, but it's still a pain in the ass

to deal with. It provides me with more than enough income to live on, give away, and lend out via Kiva, but keeping track of it all requires a brokerage VP and CPA.

Rich may provide a certain amount of security, but poor is a helluva lot less complicated.

I'd much rather be healthy enough to work for my own living.

[Roland99]

9. I'd keep no more than about $5 million for myself. That's $250,000/yr in interest income

If I couldn't live comfortable on $250k/yr I might as well commit suicide by changing my voter registration to Republican.

[slampoet]

24. This is the exact thing that i tell everyone. ALL of your Decendants could live off the interest....

....from 100 million for the next 200 years at just 5% interest.


e.g.

You have five kids (quintuplets) and live $500,000 per year (interest 250k for husband 250k for wife) and reinvest the rest.

The 100 million grows by 4.5 mil every year until the kids get their inheritance at say.....age 30.

Without doing all the compounding of interest that is a little beyond me, You will have an extra 135 million in unspent interest for a grand total of 235 million dollars when the Quintuplets turn 30.

You can see how a little careful planning can result in a family that stays wealthy for 7-8 generations and puts out a huge amount of kids too.


If you re-figure this formula with compound interest and only 2.5 children, this money lasts FOREVER.

[Roland99]

28. The only thing my descendents would get is a fund setup to cover education

and basic living expenses during college.


They will have to EARN their own living after that.

[slampoet]

32. That's unfortunate since the earning power of every generation shrinks as we go on.

The fact is that I will NEVER be able to earn as much money as my parents for the same work education etc.

The children of America are inheriting a lot less than your generation did.


PLEASE remember that.

[Roland99]

35. I didn't inherit squat. Besides...

after the coming Great Depression 2.0, everyone will be starting off from the same point. :P

[slampoet]

45. You inherited a lot

Safer and better food and cleaner water
A better school system
Actual federal funding for after school
The right to be left alone at school
less debt
You didn't have the minimum wage frozen for ten years (that's happened TWICE in my lifetime and I'm not even 40)
less energy cost, mostly
more grants
cheaper college
you probably were able to get a job with a 4 year degree
cheaper real estate
If you're white you got left alone by the cops in a way this generation isn't
New Orleans existed when you were young
no mandatory drug testing to join the chess club
no institutionalization for routine behavior
no Mandatory drugging of kids with things like Cylert and Ridlin.


I could go on displaying what this generation has to face.


So please don't display your ignorance about what young people go through just because you see the word inheritance meaning Mom and Dad.

Have some respect for others.

[wryter2000]

10. Hell

I'd be content if someone paid off my mortgage. :)

[Wwagsthedog]

12. Yea to that but add in a short cruise vacation to celebrate. nt

[Alexander]

13. I'd give 25% of it away.

25% I'd invest.

The rest I would use to live it up and PARTY!!!

:party: :toast: :party:

[Little Star]

14. I would take care of

my extended family and friends (all are in need). Then I would do something to help Katrina victims!

[KamaAina]

16. Yeah you rite!

Then I would do something to help Katrina victims!

$100 mill (well, most of it, anyway) would go an awfully long way in "that part of the world"!

P.S. Many in the region prefer the term "survivors" to "victims"; similarly, "evacuee", not "refugee".

[jhrobbins]

20. There you go - proof positive that no good deed goes unpunished

Then I would do something to help Katrina victims!

$100 mill (well, most of it, anyway) would go an awfully long way in "that part of the world"!

P.S. Many in the region prefer the term "survivors" to "victims"; similarly, "evacuee", not "refugee".


you are being castigated for an imaginary deed that you would do if you could. There are lots of places inthe world that this type of money would help

and boy are you an insensitive a....le for using the wrong word. Victims, indeed! :sarcasm:

[jwirr]

23. Now that sounds like my plan. But I would be satisfied with a lot less.

Say $30,000. It would get me out of debt and set me up in a small home. It would still leave me enough to give some away.

[greenbriar]

17. I would build a quality football/track field for my school and give some to family memebers

then enjoy life

[NightWatcher]

18. Not only would I be content, but I'd be content on another continent

after setting up a foundation or donating a shitload to Habitat for Humanity since they already have the infrastructure in place and they know how to get it done. I would also donate to Warrick Dunn's foundation for providing homes.

[MedleyMisty]

19. Who would I give the money to?

I don't know. I would have to do a lot of research and a lot of thinking. It would go to whoever seemed to need it the most, after a long deliberative process.

[Little Wing]

21. I'd give 50% of the post-tax leftovers away

100,000,000 bucks is an obscene amount no matter who you are, what you did, or what you do.

[terrya]

22. I'd give 75% away.

Mostly AIDS and cancer charities.

I could easily maintain a very nice lifestyle at $25 million.

[calimary]

25. I'd give some away but keep most of it to buy radio stations.

Broker deals for as many of 'em as I could afford.

Then I'd put together a progressive network.

Or, I'd fund a foundation/think tank that could do it, nonprofit.

Then we'd get OUR message out. And everybody else who needed the help, and all the worthy people/causes shoved off to the side in Neglect-land would start getting a LOT more attention. If you can get the word out, you can change the agenda, and laws, and people's minds. You can promote enlightenment. And that benefits EVERYBODY.

[bigwillq]

26. I would give some to my family

and make sure that my family and I were all taken care of. Then I would give some to charity, various ones and then travel the world.

on edit: I thought it said 1 million...I would give much more away then...now that I read it again 100 million!

[gravity]

27. I don't like the idea of just giving money away

but I would invest it in projects that would help out the less fortunate so they will have opportunities to improve their situation and help others in a future.

It's the whole give a man a fish vs teaching a man to fish idea.

[qdemn7]

29. I would keep half, and give the other half away

And MOST of the half I give away I would use to set up a Foundation that funds stem-cell research.

[LoneDriver]

30. 10 mil for me and my family

And the rest to MSF http://www.msf.org/

I wouldn't give a dime to politicians.

Then I would be content.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

31. I'd Go Ape Shits With It. Would Give A Bunch To Charitable Causes Too Though.

Not sure how much, but definitely something significant. Would make sure I still had enough to get all the shit I wanted though.

[momster]

33. Remember "The Millionaire"?

He'd arrange for people who really, really needed the money to get it. I'd stay anonymous too while I did things like give houses to teachers/cops/nurses who can't afford to live near where they work, cars to moms with small kids who have to take buses (in this area, it can mean taking your life in your hands to catch a Metro bus), scholarships to kids who can't otherwise manage college...just generally make life a bit easier for those who have it hard. I've been in bad situations myself (hmmm...food or rent this week?) and though I'm living pretty soft these days, I still remember. Maybe I couldn't help a lot of people but I could help a few hundred or thousand really improve their futures.

$100,000,000 sounds like a lot but it doesn't go far solving global problems. You still couldn't do everything you wanted in terms of solving the biggest of the big. Heck, our government throws Billions around and people still suffer.

[AX10]

61. True.

It's not enough to change the world, but it's a start.

[Rosemary2205]

34. I would never be happy because of $100 Million.

I'm either emotioanlly happy in this life or I'm not. Wealth has nothing to do with it either way. A feeling of happiness or frustration, or sadness or madness all come from inside me, not outside me.


But if I had that kind of dollaroonies I'd keep it all, create a business geared to serving the forgotten and hire people at a REAL living wage with paid healthcare. I'd still work hard to make a profit, give every penny of profits that didn't need to be reinvested to decent local charities and let the principle earn megabucks so some future generation can keep on giving and serving with the same money.

[demgurl]

36. I would be happy that I could start doing some real good.

I talked to an old high school friend today and found out that the cerebral palsy she has now has her confined to a wheelchair. If she could afford the braces then she could walk and even wash her own hair but she is working two jobs trying to get an extra $12,000 by December so she can get the braces! I am in awe of her trying to do that just so she can feel whole again (her words not mine) She talked about how the public prejudges her based on the wheelchair and they decide what her abilities are (when she applies for a job) before she even tells them!

I would start with her and even set her up with a company where she could help others like her afford what they can not get. Since she has a wheelchair the insurance will not get her braces!

I am not sure I would invest in a media machine for Dems. Quite honestly I think they are like a dog who chases a car. Whatever would they do with it if they caught it? I despise the RW media machine and I think it would grow the divide to then have a LW media machine. I think this country needs one media who stand for the country as a whole rather than a political side. Otherwise the differences grow deeper and deeper until we are not sure we could ever even get back. I would start looking at a lot of the poverty in this country and then move on to other parts of the world that really need it where I could make a huge difference.

[Selatius]

37. I'd use the money to establish a cooperative corporation.

I'll open up several stores, restaurants, small farms, repair shops, etc. Then I'll start a credit union to provide financial assistance to them. All of these firms would operate under the umbrella of a parent corporation where invested workers each get one vote. Each firm would have a fair degree of autonomy, but issues of health care and pensions would be dealt with at the corporate office; this is to ensure health care and pension plans are uniform throughout the several firms.

The rest of the money would be put into some kind of trust fund to benefit the workers or used to establish a trade school teaching workers not just the skills necessary to do well in the work place but also the theory behind worker co-ops and mutualism.

[WinkyDink]

38. Damn straight. I'd help my extended family, church, and hospital; and I'd buy me an X-KE!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

44. I had the same thought when I clicked on this thread - Old Cars!

With me, I probably wouldn't change my lifestyle at all even with that incredible amount of money and would be content to live in a one bedroom apartment. But I wouldn't be able to control my out-of-control urges to buy up every great old car I can think of and would probably eventually need a 50 car garage or more. Like this 1961 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint:

[GoneOffShore]

39. I'd give it to a foundation for the advancement of critical thought

and skeptical thinking, so we'd have fewer folks around who actually believed in crap like this!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/travel/29spirituality.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&8td&emc=td

[MrSlayer]

40. More than content, I'd be thrilled.

I'd never stop smiling. You'd never have to touch it at all. That kind of cash generates many thousands in interest a week. You bet I'd be content.

[ToeBot]

41. After paying off my student loans, there wouldn't be much left anyway n/t

[SayWhatYo]

57. Hey, don't complain. You're the one who wanted to be DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR. DR.DR.DR. DR.DR.DR.ToeBot

Or maybe DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR. DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.
DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.DR.ToeBot ?

[AnnieBW]

42. I'd set up scholarships

I'd set up scholarships for underprivileged kids to go to college. Education is VERY important to me. I also think that I'd go into movie producing - sort of like Philip Anschutz did, only as a Goddess-worshipping leftie. Oh, and of course help out the Katrina survivors. I don't know if I'd invest in a "media machine" for the Dems like George Soros did. If I did, it would be more of a "Pagan Coalition" type of PAC that would help to encourage Pagan folks to run for office. I wouldn't run myself. I'm not the type.

[camero]

46. Would I be content? No

Would I give the vast majority of it away? Yes.

[JVS]

47. I'd trade it all for just a little more

[Nikki Stone1]

48. I'd buy enough members of Congress to get this impeachment started.

Can't think of a better use at the moment.

[Sanctified]

49. Nope...

Because I know I have a Government who wants to take my money from me to fund Wars in Foreign countries.

[Richard Steele]

50. Content? No, but I'd sure as hell be "well-entertained" for a good long while.

My brain doesn't actually manufacture the delicate chemical compounds
necessary for what you all know as "contentment".

Ain't no amount of money can change that- we just don't have the technology.

[NuttyFluffers]

51. i'd use it mostly on KIVA, help microloans all over the world

and i'd love to start a foundation to systematically replace regular roofing with photovoltaic roofing tiles. just keep doing it until a community here, a town there, are less than 30% energy dependent on power plants for energy.

... oh, and i'd build a skyscraper in a town shaped like a giant pink phallus, just because i can.

[AX10]

52. kick so that others can see this thread and give a response.

Also, feel free to reccomend this thread.
:kick:

:thanks:

[maxrandb]

53. I'm 45 years old

If I had just $1 Million, I think I could invest it wisely enough, and be frugal enough, that I could live comfortably for the rest of my life.

The other $99 Million I would use to start a liberal radio network with real talent, and I wouldn't stop pounding on the Repukes and the wing-nut talkers until their party was nothing but a festering mass of bloody sores, only powerful enough to crawl over to the margins of power where it belongs.

[SmokingJacket]

54. Ugh, too much money.

I would pay off my mortgage, put enough aside for my kids' college and some for my parents' old age, then get rid of it.

I would not give any of it to politicians or media organizations or anything like that. They seem to have plenty without me.

I'd start a free school for kids who are struggling in regular schools.

[HeeBGBz]

55. Damn, a $1000 would improve my life

I couldn't even imagine spending a million. Let alone $100,000,000.

[SayWhatYo]

56. I'd put it in a pile and burn it...

Then I'd get naked and rub grease all over my body, while running around the smoldering pile of cash.

What can I say, I'm an attention whore and that would for sure get me on the teeveeeee.

Nahh, actually I would probably take a certain amount that I could live off of. Then the rest I would burn. Nahh, maybe it's not 'right' but I would actually invest the rest into things that would hopefully make money(100 million doesn't go far when dealing with world domination) I would also probably put money into movements/projects/whatever that I feel actually work, or more likely I would want to play god and put my own ideas into motion.

[AX10]

63. You would seriously burn so much money?

:shrug:

[SayWhatYo]

68. heh, worried about global warming?

Nahh, I wouldn't burn any money.

[Zywiec]

58. Money doesn't buy you happiness

but it sure buys a better level of depression. I'd only need part of the money to spend the rest of my days traveling the world.

[Gold Metal Flake]

60. "I would invest it for myself."

Meaning I would use a large chunk of it to buy natural, undeveloped land and build nothing but maintain it in it's wild state while seeking out ways to protect it for future generations. Preferably, I would want to buy land next to existing protected areas to effectively increase the size of the protected, wild area. This I do for myself, until I turn control over to a conservational managing structure or whatever it's called (duh). Clearly, some portion would go for self edjumication.

The rest would go to the purchase of land for myself for subsistence farming large enough for several homes to be an estate for myself and future generations. It would be powered by renewables (hey, boss, I'm quitting but can you sell me a shitload of those new 40% efficiency concentrator solar cells?). I would want to maintain enough liquid assets to help keep the local empirical forces at bay. Some resources would be used to enter, support and grow the local progressive movement by use of the local Democratic political structures and to localize and grow the local economy.

Then perhaps I could start a company manufacturing and installing CPV panels using exclusively local manpower and manufacturing resources.

[AX10]

62. I would invest alot of it and make that investment go a long way.

I would invest in a business(s), among other things, to make more money. These business would create viable jobs and careers for many people. A sizable part of the leftover profit would go to the ACLU, Northwest Univerity's "Innocence Project", and other liberty fighting causes. I would also give money to help build our thinktanks.

[Jamastiene]

64. I would be sure to donate a lot to Wildlife Warriors

and the Southern Poverty Law Center. I would also donate a good amount to the local Humane Society here hopefully to build a special room for the cats to play and run. I would ask if they would do that though.

Otherwise, I could live easily on the rest. I can't see why anyone would need more than that. It's plenty and then some.

[karlrschneider]

65. Money can't buy love...

but it can sure rent the hell out of it.
:evilgrin:

[Greyhound]

66. I'd spend the rest of my life traveling and giving it away directly to

people. That is my dream career. With that sum of money I could give away about $20,000 every day and never touch the capital.

Ted Turner had a great idea about 10 years ago, when he donated $1,000,000,000 to the UN, about celebrating who gives the most away instead of who gets the most. It obviously didn't catch on.

[otherlander]

67. Money alone wouldn't make me happy, but

I think I would be happy. I could buy a small house on an acre or so of property, lots of trees. I could use some of the money to buy land in the rainforest to prevent it from being used for logging.

[ecstatic]

69. I'd give away 10 to 20%

But since I would immediately retire and begin travelling the world, I would need a nice sized nest egg to support me and my entire family for life. By the way, I wouldn't be one of those folks who go out and buy a 10 million dollar home and 500k car. I would keep it simple, just step it up maybe a couple notches but nothing higher than upper middle class.

[rasputin1952]

70. If I had that kind of money, I'd give most of it away...

but I would be very quiet about it. I'd find people who needed help, and have a third party take care of the bills/help get people back on their feet. I would not do any of this for the "fame" or any kind of "gratutity"; this would be strictly personal needs to enable people to get it back together.

I might start a company that helps others by hiring people at a decent wage and bennies. I'd have to give that some thought though, because I'd want to produce something useful that is environmentally friendly.

There is a lot of good that can come from $100 mil...:D