I admit it, I’m a lottery player. It’s not really that I think I’m going to win. What I’m actually doing, is paying $2 per week so I can daydream about what I would do with the money. Basically, whenever I pass a Powerball billboard, I take the jackpot value, multiply by 60% (cash option), and then multiply again by 40% (taxes.) I then compute how much a month I would be making at 4%/year interest. It’s funny when they ask lottery winners what they are going to buy with their money. I’ve never heard a single one say “I’m going to put the money in the bank and live off the interest!” (That’s what I would say.)
I personally think it’s good to dream about what you would do if you had $100 million in the bank. Why? Because I think in most cases, your dreams are not as expensive as you think, and can be actualized simply by saving.
The following dreams have gone through my head at one time or another. The “realities” are what I eventually told myself.
dream #1: Live on the beach. Wake up to surf sounds.
reality #1: Do you really want to have sand tracked in your house, beach combers walking by your house, hurricanes threatening your house, etc? If not, then renting a beach house makes sense, and is affordable. Especially in off season.
dream #2: I hate my job.
reality #2: This requires very little money. Either figure out what you don’t like about your job and change it without quitting, or start taking real estate seminars as a new career path. (I did both.) Retiring takes money in the bank. Not as much money as you think, if you are willing to live in a foreign country. But, if you lack the nest egg, you need to find a job you like, and start socking away 10% a year minimum. Working at a job you hate is a major mistake of which I am quilty as charged. I think it is justifiable, if you are using it as a springboard to a new career.
dream #3: Buy a sailboat and sail the south seas. Live on a boat.
reality #3: Do you like being out on the water? yes! Do you like being on the water 24/7? probably not. In rough water, do you get seasick? Yes. Would you know what to do, if a boat full of pirates decided they liked your boat? No. Would you like living with the natives of Vanuatu? Probably would be interesting for a few days, but I would probably start wanting some thai food. This “living on a boat” thing, no doubt, came from my reading John D Macdonald’s Travis Magee series which I loved. Travis lives on a house boat (The Busted Flush, won in a private poker game), and takes his retirement in chunks, as long as his money holds out.
dream #4: Take a round the world cruise.
reality #4: This is still on the “active” list. $100 per person per day. 56 to 90 days. You and your S.O. would thus cost less than $20 G’s.
dream #5: Own a lear jet/helicopter/yacht/mansion.
reality #5: Ownership is for the birds. Ownership means you have money tied up in something that could be damaged. (Money that could otherwise be making interest.) It also means you have to store it, insure it, keep it in good repair. You can rent pretty much anything you want. You don’t have to own the Picasso. Just go to the museum look at it for an hour, and PRETEND you own it.
We all need to be living our dreams, if possible. Most dreams are unrealistic. Others are entirely doable and affordable. So what would YOU do if you had $333,333 dollars coming into your checking account each month ($100,000,000 at 4%)?
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