I just hope it wasn’t the syndicate at work that I left this Jan after making a loss for 2 years…

This is a good read.
I think I’d be doing something similar; making people I love secure for life then helping others.
A job for life doing good.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/11/lottery-winners-giving-millions-away-lessons-ceos?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

EDIT:apart from the bit about moving to Hartlepool. I wouldn’t do that.

Thanks for the ideas – I’ll take some of them on board…

Given that I struggle to work out what id do with a premium bond million prize, this poses all sorts of problems. Nothing wrong with charities, as has been pointed out they have objectives, plans and the means to deliver. It might not meet your own ideals, and can appear admin heavy, but generally they know what they are doing. Spread on social, environmental, medical and global causes.
Move out of current house, get it done up properly, refurnish, move back in. Keep enough to retire and travel. A lot. Treat friends but do that as discreetly as possible, maybe anonymously. Couple of new bikes. No second homes, I would buy a wee plot of land on the edge of town for a garden. Wouldn’t see the need to keep much more than a million. Sorry, bit dull me!

I’d buy a great big turnip in the country

https://images.app.goo.gl/MmQRS7bQS9D3oYUV7

I look like Baldrick, might as well act like him.

Wouldn’t see the need to keep much more than a million. Sorry, bit dull me!

More like come to the realisation of what you actually need and what makes you happy rather than dull and that is a good state to be in against mass consumerism and materialism.
I don’t need millions to spend on things as I am happy with what I have. Be nice to never have to think about money but I don’t need millions for that either.

Id really like to do an archaeology degree if I had the time & money so, after helping out friends and family Id enroll next september

One of my sons schoolmates lives on a semi-permanent traveler camp, so Id really like to help them out in some way, its a tough life for those kids.
I dunno how Id do it but being involved in some sort of charity to reverse inequality

Also, lots of bikes and pay someone to do decorate for me, that would be so nice, how big a TV can I get?
Ultimately some land on a hillside somewhere warm near the sea, so I can build a bike park

Probably buy a load of riparian rights in rivers round here and tell the fishermen to gtf if they have any issues with swimmers and paddlers.

I would also be looking to buy land for rewilding in areas where the land is not that productive (grouse moors etc)

Do a Mikey Carroll and see just how fast it’s possible to burn through that much cash and end up with nothing to show for it.

Your parents suing you for more after helping them out certainly helps.

A lot of what you saw in the (tabloid) newspapers was done specifically for them or staged by them.

A few political assassinations.
Lego.
A bigger shed.

The stats on large lottery wins leading to divorce and unhappiness probably says more about the type of person who buys lottery tickets than anything else.

Let’s not forget this tale of woe…

I’ve thought about this way too much. After spending a chunk, probably no more than a couple of million on a house and doing it up very nicely, few million sorting family and friends, I’d turn spending the rest of it into a job. I think rather than spaff it to the big charities (although some may go that way) I’d spend the rest on local projects, pump track here, trail centre there, community hub, grant for the local theatre group. That sort of money could go a long way and touch a lot of people.

I’d finish (or even start!) our house here in the Pyrenees, but instead of running it as a B&B, I’d let people I know use it for self catering cycling hols. I’d just lock our personal stuff up in one room, pay our nice neighbour to handle the keys/cleaning and people could come here to ride for free.

I’d have a house back in the UK near my grand daughter and a house in Colorado, with plenty space to store bikes, near to where Mrs Spekkies daughter has just moved. A couple of nice cars at each house – just something that isn’t likely to break down would be good . . . .

I’d help the kids – there are 4 in total – all grown up, but we’d have to be very careful. Not all of them are up to sensibly handling large sums of “free money”.

I’d help those I care about, not sure whether it would be via registered charities or personally – I suspect I’d be too busy doing all the things we enjoy in life to be able to dedicate myself to full time helping others, and I imagine it could easily become a full time job if you let it.

We’re very happy with our day to day lives as they are now, so hopefully we’d just keep that happiness, remove the odd worries that not always having enough money brings, and enjoy it all.

Healthcare/surgery for Mrs P and I. Two part time carers for Mrs P. Escape current rent trap by repurchasing the marital home that we lost two decades ago due to unforeseen illness, subsequent unemployment and poor healthcare insurance.

Sort out other immediate family needs/surgeries/care.

Then I’d start a charitable foundation/fund/project to improve Certain Areas Of Concern.

Then I’d buy me a 2009 Orange P7 frame to resurrect sick hardtail. And a Van Moof S3 for gadding aboot toon.

And a few woodland/river//acres nr the Celtic Sea for to build cabin for retreat/hanging up clogs.

Probably buy a load of riparian rights in rivers round here and tell the fishermen to gtf if they have any issues with swimmers and paddlers.

I would also be looking to buy land for rewilding in areas where the land is not that productive (grouse moors etc)

There’d be a lot of enjoyment to be had from buying a massive chunk of Lake District / Peak District land and replanting / rewilding it while also incorporating a bike trail or similar. It’d enrage the gamekeepers!

Sort out family and friends first but then I think I’d just spend the rest of my life travelling. Buy what I needed as and when (even a house if I wanted to stay somewhere for a while) and then just give it to a worthy cause afterwards. You could easily just cruise through life giving anonymous donations to charities, individuals, projects and so on while still enjoying things like first class travel. You could almost turn it into a sort of game – the travelling Secret Millionaire.

If you spent £2000 per day every day, it’d be 250 years before your bank account was empty (discounting the effects of interest, stocks & shares that you’d bought and investments made).

I’d start a World Tour-level cycling team, that amount should get me a MVDP or WVA for a couple of years. The pros would all have to pretend to be dropped by me on a training ride at least once a year.

My neighbour won big, like 25mn +. Pissed it away on the usual supercars and a stupid house which has been empty since build. The cars were nice but you can only drive one at a time, the house was just stupid, looks like a corporate hq in Surrey.

The cars all went, the house has been used for filming a few times, the chap kept his old car from pre win days and just drives that around.

A friend of my mother’s won big too, they bought 2 adjacent houses and built a footballer style mansion in a quiet uk village. They complain No one talks to them, I went to look at the house out of interest, you really don’t have to ask which one it is.

So be careful what you wish for, that’s my sample of 2 lottery winners which hasn’t really worked out.

Pay for a load of improvements to the local shared use paths and pavements, plus lodge some money in a fund for them to be maintained properly 👍

Oh and definitely no super cars or fancy houses, a few track days / experiences for sure

Starting place for me would be clearing off mortgages of friends and family, then a couple of million in trust for the kids.
I suppose I’d like to see my family set for at least the next three generations?

After that travel, maybe buy some oversea properties? Not really bothered about yachts or hypercars TBH…

But even all if that would probably only burn through less than a quarter of it.

Someone mentioned investment in affordable housing and I think I’d actually be interested in putting a fair bit towards that. Much like with wiping out the mortgages of my loved ones would really free them up, being able to give more people the stability and security that comes with a decent home they can actually afford would probably be the thing I’d be keenest to do…
Not “charity” as such, just building homes at cost with no expectation of profit? Dunno how far say £100m would go with such a scheme…

It is really a disgusting amount of wealth isn’t it.

Also

craft ale socialist

^^Phrase of the day for me…

I guess we’d buy a small farm with a couple of outbuildings in the Southeast (Ashdown forest?) as I know my wife and youngest daughter would like horses.
I’d indulge my passions for cycling, woodwork and cooking by getting better at all of them, we’d try and travel as much as possible – African Safari, Alaska Road trip, etc.
We love Italy so a small holiday home would be nice.

I would buy a few cars but I’m more into 1990s Landrovers than plastic hypercars.
I’d sort out our friends and families with clearing mortgages and helping with their kids uni fees.

I’d build low risk investment portfolios for my 2 kids so they never had to worry about money, but build in safeguards so they couldn’t blow the lot in a few months.

As for charitable giving – id like to get involved in smaller projects where I could make a huge difference – animal sanctuaries and kids mental health stuff, maybe.

I’d want to enjoy life and do some good.. not spend it on helicopters and flats in Dubai.

Start negotiating with landowners to buy MTB access rights on interesting footpaths (or sheep tracks or whatever looks interesting that we can’t presently ride – don’t want the land just the access)

Employ someone to catalogue all the decent trails.

And some other stuff. Probably more worthy and more (tamely) hedonistic stuff. The latter probably involves bikes, boards, skis, travel, good food and better wine rather than anything the tabloids might want to write up. Just think of it as a lot of good holidays.

Don’t think I’d quit my job though.

Buy my anonymity.
Set up family and friends for life.
Invest in research / treatments for conditions that affect my loved ones.
Learn to fly, buy a seaplane.
Buy islands in Scotland / Med for Summer / Winter retreats.
Build some bothies for use by walkers and bikers. Improve the road and cycle network across the Highlands and Islands. Construct a network of Aires while I’m at it.
Fund sustainable energy projects, tidal is getting there but needs help.
Huge F/off luxury catamaran but make it sail and solar powered to ease my conscience.
2nd hand Skoda Superb sleeper with RS6 oily bits for weekdays, Alfaholics GT Junior for weekends.
200 million ain’t enough to change the law and make politicians truly accountable. Cheaper to hire snipers to see off numerous newspaper owners and politicians whose views I disagree with. “Kill the few, not the many” seems entirely reasonable. If caught, buy the jury.
No Coke and Hookers unless jailed for conspiracy to murder and jury nobbling.

tomhoward
Full Member

I’d genuinely give a big chunk of that to charities

So would I, in my will. I wouldn’t want the publicity.

I agree, there must be a way to get a third party to handle it though? It would be a nightmare otherwise. I’m a pretty private person and would be horrified to see my name/face all over the media. I’d find that hellish.

I would like to see the money given away whilst I’m alive though, I must admit. I’d love to actually live to see the (hopefully) positive effects.

A Lancia Stradale pair – electric Stratos and classic 037. Might get an S4 for when it comes to dignitas o’clock.

I’d get my mother’s eyes sorted for her, and my hand. Get my folks house totally made over for them. Sort out my uncles house – full redecoration and upgrade it to make it better for him to spend his last few years in (though he’d fight against it!). Sort out his garden too so he’d have some nice views from his bedroom. Pay off my brothers mortgage for him. Give my tenants notice and move back home. Give my nieces large lump sums. Pay off the house, pay off the business and sell it.

That’s it for the mo – think I’d have a fair chunk left so upgrade the Touran, give some to charity.

There’s a house with a private beach and 40 hectares on the south coast of Sardinia, that’s where we’d live – convert it to green energy, an EV for pottering about and a resto-modded HF Integrale for the weekends, couple of road bikes (RCV, I’m looking at you), I’d have a sailing boat and spend lots of time in and on the sea, and I would buy a shit-ton of books. I’d love to fly, nice little TBM940 looks fun, maybe a Spitfire to show off in. Spend maybe six months there, the other six months travelling. Friends and family have their mortgages paid and comfy sums of money, and we would all have massive, raucous Christmas parties on the beach. The rest of the cash goes to work to help the homeless and the hungry, and supporting public services and charities.

I used to think the amount of time I spent dreaming about a lottery win was proportional to how over my job I was – now I think it’s more broadly linked to my mental health, as work is great and still I want the mountain of cash.

Don’t think I’d quit my job though.

What do you do?

My thought exactly. Some years ago I reckoned £25M would be about what would be needed to make it a full time job to become a benevolent landlord to nice people. That was pre climate emergency so I reckon £210M should do it now.

Buying my local hill, putting in some more trails, and then, when I get ramblers moaning that I’m on a footpath, have fun telling them I own the bloody place. 🙂

One can dream, I suppose.

Mrs mac and I have discussed this, we both say normal ish house, nice car, probably move to Canada, but nothing ostentatious. Certainly no supercars or any of that crap.
I’d make it my aim that nobody apart from close friends and immediate family would even know.
I would also aim to give most of that amount away to charity/worthy causes.
I am quite heartened to read that plenty of others feel the same.

As others have said, it can actually be quite problematic having such money. A friend of mine received a very substantial amount of money (life-changing but nowhere near that Euro Millions win) from the sale of shares in a business he invested heavily in. He did the things you would expect (nice house, cars etc) but then found that many of his friends started asking questions, expecting hand-outs etc. Three years on and things have started to settle down a bit for him, but he certainly found out very quickly who his real friends were.

I’d buy this….

and restore it to this…

I’d make it my aim that nobody apart from close friends and immediate family would even know.

^^Definitely this^^

You’d have to be a maniac to take the publicity that goes with a lottery win…

I’d probably tell my wife, but that’s it. Anyone else and it would definitely get out.

It was a US centric YT video, but I think it’s probably true in the UK too.

There’s a huge amount of Lottery winners who end up bankrupt more than half, and winning a big jackpot massively increases your changes of Divorce, being Murdered, being a Murder, committing suicide or serious mental illness.

I think the greatest risk would be my relationship with my Wife. We’ve talked about winning like so many people do. I was a bit surprised how far apart we were. I worked out in our current jobs we’ll likely earn about £1.6m between now and retirement. The last time we played I think the jackpot was £6m, she didn’t think it was enough to retire. Not by the time we’ve got the 8 bedroom house with Pool, the cars and all the other stuff.

Honestly, if I ‘only’ won £6m, I’d probably end up separating within a few weeks, I’m more than happy to keep the lifestyle I have now, which is actually pretty comfortable. I’m almost certain I’d end up single again with £3m in the bank and missing my Family, I’d probably move somewhere quieter, but I doubt I’d want some ghastly spivs Mansion, yes more bikes, yes probably a flash car, but probably not that flash, but the feeling of utter invincibility because I own everything I have or will ever need and the rat race is ‘other peoples problems’. The idea of having all that money and still working seems insane, just to have more stuff or give your something to do all day. Madness.

€210m is a whole other prospect though isn’t it, I still couldn’t guarantee my wife couldn’t spend it all, but I think she’d get bored after €100m. I’d travel a lot, do ‘good works’, help people, build wells and homes. I’d probably still cut about the place in jeans, t-shirt and daps, but at least I’d never have to wear a jacket. I hate the cold and that sort of money means I’d never have to see Winter again.

Buy the land in the town centre that’s been deralict since 08, build some nice affordable housing with a plaza, cafes and a secure bike park. Try to get it to pay for itself whilst giving a lovely hub to the town.

Pay off the mortgages of friends and family.

Buy a 5 pot polestar, strip it and swap the bits onto my car.

Buy a place in Portugal between the hills and the sea.

Tour Europe in the car with the missus, have all the gubbins follow in a van so I can enjoy myself whenever I want.

Get a dietician, PT etc to get me down 3 stone in a sustainable fashion.

Overall plan would be to use 100mill to set things up, live off the interest of 100mil and blow the other 20mill on silly stuff.

Interesting Thread – and agree with the concept that it can be the worst thing that happens to some people.
My Dad had a mate (he died a couple of years ago – early 70s) who sold has shares in an IT company in his early 50s for something like £10m – he was divorced within months, moved in a girl half his age and spent the last 20+ years of his life drinking/smoking himself to death whilst his girlfriend and Son helped him spend the money.

Whereas my mates Chris’ Dad ‘retired’ at a similar age from the music industry with a similar pay out – he divides his time between the Bahamas and Dublin, and kills time doing those classic car ‘London to Calcutta’ style rally events – with his adult kids taking it in turns to ride along as navigators.

I’d want to be more like Chris’ Dad…

Live out the remainder of my days in a constant holiday.
Bike, ski, mountain climb, sightsee. Maybe a yacht on the Med for a relaxed week.
And pay for all my friends and family to come with me on rotation.
Become some sort of secret angel investor for the small companies (eg. independent bike guides) that make me happy.
Create a UK bike park with a chairlift, subsidised so its cheap for all users.

Invest (as in contribute to, not attempt to make money from) in sustainable energy to offset all the above, and make the world a better place.

Small farm somewhere Devon or Monmouthshire.
Holiday home somewhere in western Europe.
Those two would be ~ £2million total.
Sort out various family members with houses ~ £3mill

invest the rest in a diversified portfolio drawing off an expected 3% return
= 6.3 million.
300k a year to live off (lets say after tax ~ 180k?).

remaining 6 million a year invest in combination of charities, social enterprises, start-ups of my choice.