If you suddenly came into enough money to be "super rich" how would you live your life?

1. I would buy a volcano.
2. I would build a lair inside it.
3. ???
4. Profit!

@ragingloli Yes I would do that.

Or if I can not do that then I would start my own YouTube account and have fun making the world a better place. I would never go hungry again. I would start my own science foundation that lets people like me play with the science toys.
I would put some money into my time travel and how to control it.
I would still Fluther.
I would buy the Telus World of Science and make admission by donation, and make an endowment fund for fun science toys.

@ragingloli some guy actually did it. Hawaiian island Larry Ellison bought for $300 million

I’d invest to make more money and also play secret Santa and anonymously give good people money they badly need to get through a rough patch.

I would take €100.000, ish, and give the rest back.
Build a small house from it and continue living like I do now, the main difference being it would be somewhere else, and together with my love.
And since it will never happen (the billion), I’ll do the same thing, without the dough though.

I’d travel for the rest of my life seeking adventure and unique experiences, and when I got tired of that, I’d retreat to my cabin in the woods. Maybe a bit like the Kindness Diaries on Netflix.

I think it’s really hard to speculate about something that’s unimaginable.

I don’t think I’d want that much money, as it would mean a drastic change in my life. My daughter would be a kidnapping threat, etc.

If I did have that much money, I’d first make some relatives who are in the financial field my advisors. I’d also give them a big chunk each. Maybe two million each.

I’d create (with my financial advisor team) some type of fund so the money would be out of my hands, personally. I wouldn’t want to be threatened with lawsuits, as does happen with wealthy people, so the money would be tied up, legally, in some other way. I’d of course give big chunks of money to those that are close to me – several really good friends.

After that, I’d probably plan to travel and have a house or two, and do some philanthropy and other charity work. I am really into animals (stray cats, animal rescue) so I’d do some volunteering in some way with that, and donation of money to those types of places.

The problem for me with that kind of money would be with the decisions on how to put it to best use. Just the prudent securing of the reasonable comfort of my relatives and friends would be a formidable and exhaustive undertaking. There is the additional trap in the work involved in putting most of the bulk of the money to productive work, in order to generate the funds to achieve loftier goals into the future. And to accomplish such ambitions while minimizing the negative repercussions of capitalism would be damned hard work indeed. In the end, there is no greater truth than that evident in the great maxim “Behind every great fortune, lies a great crime.” Only that little slogan ignores the fact that great crimes are unavoidable in the mere maintenance of such fortunes. For a brief few years, I had what I thought at the time the great luck to earn what I considered (for me) an enormous amount of money. The experience now creeps me out when I think back on it, because I am convinced that the only reason I was allowed those years of “opportunity” was to teach me a lesson. When I caught on, the lesson both frightened and depressed me. If there us a God, he was laughing his ass off at me.

I’d buy the field across the street from my son’s house and build a nice cottage on it. I’d also have out buildings to stash grand kids in when they stay the night. I’d build a nature trail and a waterfall. I’d payoff all the kid’s houses. I’d buy a double decker pontoon.

A billion dollars? Yikes. I’d get rid of it as fast as I could, funding research, scholarships, endowments, foundations. Anything to get my name off of it. I do like the idea of being able to target the donations to things I care about, but that much money under one person’s control is obscene.

I would have multiple homes. The first would be near Bethesda, so I could have access to this country’s leading neurological specialist in the area of SPS. I would have homes in places that help me feel better by seasons. I would buy a sweet ride in cinnamon apple red and hire a fine specimen to drive.
Maybe I would have a fleet, and get Jay Leno to care for them. I would hire my own nursing staff, so I could have round the clock medical team handy for those bad days. I picture Queen Latifa in the Bone Collector.
I would do some charitable stuff, but I have had a damn hard life and I would not feel at all guilty about pampering myself every minute for the rest of my existence.
I would finally have the tools I need to write, store, and publish my work, so I would be e writing like mad whenever I could. Maybe I would buy a publishing company. Then @mimi could have a guaranteed outlet for her works too. Ooooooo, and I could have Prince Charming scripted for the movie version. I so want to see it come to life.
I have places I want to travel to. I want to mine opals out Winnemucca way. I would like to visit Jamaica mon, and the Bahamas, and Bali, and a few other islands. I would like to mine trilobite fossils in Utah. I would like to ride one of those Icelandic horses with the many gaits.
I would like to spend some time hanging out with some gorillas. I got a silverback to accept me in a zoo I used to visit. I followed proper gorilla etiquette, and he
came to the window and sat next to me. He did not look directly at me, because that is usually a reprimand, and I did not look directly at him, because that would be defiance. We both were aware of each other, and it was a half hour well spent. I think he felt protective toward me because of the wheelchair. He was also partial to babies. He loved little ones, and would gesture to them.
Lastly, I would have at least one chocolate truffle every day.
Yes, this is long, but a $billion goes a long way.

I’d be a completely myopic, self-indulgent libertine given primarily to debauchery and indulging my every whim in the endless pursuit of pleasure and sexual gratification.

@Darth_Algar So you would be like one of those teenagers on the Dr. Phil show?

@Darth_Algar We don’t agree on much, but that doesn’t sound terrible. :)

Quit working.
Buy a HUGE house.
Get a newer vehicle, like a full size pick-up with extended cab, powerful V-8, and a 8’ bed.
Get some REALLY good health insurance.

Why on earth do you want a HUGE house?

@RedDeerGuy1

No clue what you’re referencing, as I never watch “Dr.” Phil.

@Darth_Algar Lucky you. Just YouTube search teenage idiot on dr. phil.
to see what I was talking about.

That axiom of be careful what you wish for has a particularly reliable relevance with money

I’d be EXACTLY like I am now!!! I love my house, the street I live on, & I have good neighbors who mind their own business; so I wouldn’t want to move!!! When I was younger & living in DC, I dreamed of getting rich & buying a top of a mountain so I could build my dream house, put a fence around it with 50 guard dogs so no one could come near me. I’m living in my dream home & my neighbors are ALL like me & enjoy their privacy. My yard is fenced in & I keep the gates locked. Te neighbors are too old to jump the fence so they know to call first IF they plan to visit. We all do short visits when we end up outside at the same time & get together then to catch up on what’s happening. Each of us has our own code for when we’re in distress & need help so the rest know to call 911. I own 2 cars & I love them both so they wouldn’t be replaced UNLESS one of them died.

I’m NOT the type to flaunt my money; so I doubt that anybody else would notice anything other than I “might” hire somebody to do my yard work rather than do it myself. Then again, I still enjoy doing my yard work & hope to die while working in my yard!!!

I might do my best to help the needy more but that would be on an anonymous basis so I’d be one of the few who knew. I already volunteer a lot of my time to the downtrodden so that the average person wouldn’t see much of a difference because NOBODY knows my finances but me & my bank!!!

Oh, and everything you can think of under the sun, I’ll have staff for that. :-D
:-D
:-D
:-D

Opulently. :)

A billion dollars is more than I would ever know what to do with, so realistically, I would give a lot away to various causes. Not just saying that to virtue signal; I really would want to use it to make some visible changes. But I’d save plenty to live comfortably for the rest of my life. I’d want to be able to travel frequently and stay in nice places, I’d want to own a few different homes in different locations, I’d want a lot of space for books, and I’d want to wear designer clothing with frequency.

As Oscar Wilde said: “I have the simplest tastes; I’m always satisfied with the best”.

@Dutchess_III I have always wanted a house I could get lost in. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a large family. And the house I live in now is small, only 720 square feet.

Oh, that is really small!

Not too much different than I do now.

Hey! Welcome home @lucillelucillelucille!

If I won a billion dollars I’d build @kritiper a 90,000 square foot house.

@RedDeerGuy1

No. The kind of opiate-fueled, paraphilic debasement that I have in mind would unnerve most people, including namby-pamby teens who go on the Dr. Hog Head show.

@Darth_Algar Lol. Am I in the presence of the master?

Hey, @lucillelucillelucille, nice to see you!

I apologize for saying the following so, if you’re not interested in wealth and what it can and cant do for you then stop reading now.
My stepson mom, my husband’s ex, gave a million bucks to her five grandsons last year and she’s far from dead. She’s in good health. This year her other son died at fifty. I won’t get into that only to say my stepson adored him. So my remaining son in law, a successful, funny, popular, attractive man of 47 works hard and has been having his big home enlarged and remodeled. He has two sweet boys and the most adorable, sweet, ladylike, pretty, wife imaginable. So all looked great for his future. A few months ago she began losing some control of her leg. She’d even fall down. After his brother’s funeral his mom told him he would be inheriting 7 million from her but we know there’s more to come. Last month his wife was diagnosed with spinal cancer. It was removed successfully but found to be malignant. They were frequent travelers and often left their boys with her parents. Now their future is uncertain and he is so nervous, upset and doesn’t know what to do with his job with an international automobile company.I know he’d trade all that money back to mom if his wife could regain her health now that she has multiple myeloma. Chemo and radiation may come soon but as a size two I don’t know how much she can take of that poison. Just wanted to put wealth into perspective. He thought he had it all. She has been in the hospital for three or four weeks so far.

@Aster I don’t imagine that anyone here thinks that extreme wealth can replace the lives of our loved ones.

I’d buy Greenland.

That sounds like a nightmare. I’m with @canidmajor. Get rid of it as soon as possible and as quietly as possible.

Getting rid of it is chicken shit. What you do is own it and use it to make the world a better place. There is no greater power than a pile of wealth. Either you have it inside you to proceed with it or hide. Again, all wealth does is make you more of who you are.

Did you bother to read how I would get rid of it, @ARE_you_kidding_me? No chicken shit about it.

you would relinquish control of it, you lose your say in how it’s used. You can pick charity or endow the money but in doing so you transfer the responsibility to someone else. I don’t trust someone else.

Money changes people. And it changes the people around you. I don’t presume to be above this somehow.

I also don’t presume to know how to invest money or how to make a billion dollars have the largest impact. There are people who are much better qualified to do that.

@ARE_you_kidding_me what a load of crap.

Eh, I was not signaling you out in particular and sorry that the language was a bit harsh.

I personally would not give large sums away without retaining control over it. I would not want it used on ways other than advertised.
I would not retire to the woods or beach either. I would target something specific like renewable energy and go after it as my life mission.

Are you actually qualified to manage such a large amount of money, even for such a laudable enterprise? That kind of money requires really careful and educated handling. Rather than try to do such a thing myself, I would vet a number of possible groups to deal with it.

I’d would hire staff and advisors.

I would certainly move from where I am to somewhere secluded and private. Not because I don’t like my house or my neighbors or the neighborhood, but because I believe there would be a ton of people looking to find some way to scam me.

I would do more for the community.
I would fund research into all sorts of recycling and energy efficient ideas.
I wouldn’t worry about money ever again.