Letters to the Editor
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Move to Mexico and get a job
Get a job. Seriously. Something you like. Or volunteer. Or move to Mexico and get a job. I live and teach in Mexico City and I love it despite all the horrible things (some true) you hear about it. Sure, you could go to the beach and drink (and you should, for a week or two at a time, two or three times a year), but you will soon find that boring. Sitting on the beach and drinking is enjoyable in direct proportion to the sweat and accomplishments it took to get you there. Surely you´ve read about all those miserable bastards who won the lottery only to find themselves completely lost and broke.
The choices are yours.
Enjoy!
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Share it with me!
hee hee....just wanted to get the first letter...
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Led astray by luxury is right
This part of Cary's response is what I was thinking, but it's perfect the way it is and deserves a reprint:
" We long for a way out, don't we? But why do we assume that the way out is to cultivate a sudden and unaccustomed indolence? Is luxury our only model of serenity? If so, we have been led astray. (I had a feeling we had been led astray!) The way out often is only a way deeper in. Conversely, a deeper way in is often the only way out. And meanwhile and forever, the fervent pursuit of leisure is a sure route only to continuing anxiety." -CT
Yep, that about covers the escape to Mexico query for you, LW. Now about that 3 million: After taxes, and settling your living situation (including payment of any debts), you'll have something to work with. You could be in a position to make big changes in your life if it's invested wisely. Depending on where you live though, I'd be careful not to get too "we're covered for the rest of our lives and can just drink" comfy.
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Here's a suggestion
Click on my signature for the link, or google "broken tampon memorial fountain." For more detailed info, check out tsoa25DOThtml at the same web site.
The president of Proctor and Gamble goes on TV these days (he's written a book) talking about "disruptive innovations." The broken tampon memorial fountain (and accompanying museum) IS a disruptive innovation, and IS in need of funding...Proctor and Gamble is a bit slow in embracing it, since it has to do with menstruation and a little thing called tampon-related toxic shock syndrome.
But your $3 million is as good as Proctor and Gamble's is, I'm sure...
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as I read this I am contemplating my next bowel movement
also my need to mail a bill, buy some food, and appease a coworker tomorrow...but nothing about spending 3 million dollars with my lover.
Thank god for Salon.
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3 things:
Buy some land (with a house) somewhere relatively immune to the ravages of climate change or revolution.
Put at least 1.5 million of it OFF LIMITS. Invest it diversely, in things you like, and leave it alone. You can keep the dividends and interest, or reinvest. But seriously, leave the principal alone. When you die, you can have a redwood forest or orphanage or animal shelter or whatever named after you.
Get a life! Paint or sculpt or write or volunteer at the animal or human shelter 40 hours a week, or however much you have to so you don't have time to drink much.
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$3mil isn't that much
Don't squander it. Put $500K each into 401Ks for both of you. Or can you pay $1 mil each for a decent annuity that gives you a nice annual income? Will insurance companies let you purchase $1mil annuities if you are in your twenties?
Oh, to have such problems.
With the leftover million, buy a nice modest four bedroom home on the West Coast, then get some jobs doing something you love for whatever salary it happens to pay. Something you would pay someone else to let you do.
Why not work? Bill Gates works, doesn't he? Surely he doesn't have to.
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What I would do...
Put a bunch of it in bonds or a CD and let it sit, accruing interest for some years. Then, when your parents are old or your kids need to go to college, you don't have to worry about it.
With the rest, put it in a savings account--one with a high yield, not a normal one. You'll get nice interest payments.
Now. Live well. Take nice vacations. Get the tab when you go out with friends (but don't be obnoxious about it). Enjoy yourself. Three million won't buy you the stars and the sky but if you manage it wisely it can help you to have a great life.
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Real Estate
Maybe not for a few months or a year due to the wacky market, but buy property, A few duplex's perhaps, or, maybe a small building. To maximize your investment if you need to do work on the places before they rent out, do it yourself. Heck, for a few years you two may even want to manage a small building yourself. Your young, and no matter what your major was or how little you know about this sort of thing you can do it. (My brother and I installed new fixtures, laid down new floors, painted etc etc, in his rentals and we are not what one would refer to as "handy men")Do your homework, do a lot of homework. But if you do it right, you could basically ensure you and your (possible future) children will be in good shape.
Oh, and buy a few shares of Berkshire B to get their shareholders reports which contain some of the best economic analysis out there.
And this in no way need stop you from starting some sort of other venture that you are passionate about.
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Work for a living
Cary's idea of a publishing house will part separate you and your money quickly. Apparently there is at least one reason he's not rich.
I agree that 3 mil is not that much in the scheme of things. A house (a great one in a modest city or a modest one in a great city) and a great nest egg for your kids education and your retirement, but not a fly-to-the-south-of-France amount.
You should go find a career and work hard at it just like everyone else you know, with the comfort of knowing that you've got a great safety net if things don't work out. So take some risk trying to find something you love to do, but don't kid yourself that you will never have to work, or shouldn't even if you don't have to.
If you are smart, however, you can turn that nest egg into a great early retirement, or a second career teaching high school to underprivileged kids.