What would you do with £110,000,000?

Does money equal more happiness?

A couple of people over the past week have spoken to me about playing the Euromillions lottery and asking me what I would do if I won. The answer may surprise you…but I”ll come onto that.

For those of you who don”t know, the Euromillions Lottery combines the lotteries of nine European countries and has created a number of multi-millionaires. This Friday (today) the estimated rollover jackpot is £110,000,000!

I used to dream


Back when I was 20 years old, I worked in London on a low wage. It used to put a smile on my face as, walking to the bus stop, I disappeared into my thoughts imagining how my life would be if I won the lottery. I’d daydream about buying one of the penthouse apartments that had been built recently nearby, buying a sports car and numerous different ways of spending the lottery win. However, as you may have guessed (and despite only buying a ticket on rare occasions) I never won money on the lottery and my life went on.

Funnily enough, looking back at that one year in London, I had a great time. My needs were being met even though I didn”t earn a lot of money. I never felt like I went without. I would eat out, meet up with friends and could afford the train home to see my folks, I even went on a holiday to Amsterdam. As I look back at that time in my life it reminds me that money isn’t the source of my happiness. Now money is useful in buying nice things and experiences. However, the money or the things and experiences it can buy do not equate to happiness. They never can.

So what has changed?

Well, when asked the question this week, I was very clear. I would give some money to my parents and then I would put the rest of the money in the bank. I would not use the money for anything. It kind of struck me how apart from being useful in a few situations and the thoughts it could aid me in moving forward with some of my plans a bit quicker, it really wouldn’t change where I was heading. I then had a realisation that I really don’t have any need for £110m. My source of happiness, well-being or anything else cannot come from money. We have all heard of stories of people who have won the lottery and ended up bankrupt and/or divorced a year or two down the line, complaining that it was the worst thing that happened to them.

So what about you?

Now having said that, I think it’s a great question to ask yourself – what would you do if you won £110m? I once heard that whatever you would do once you won the lottery is what you really want to do deep down. So once you get past the spending bit and giving money away, what is left? What would you do then, and what is stopping you from doing that now?

I’d love to hear your comments below.

What would you do

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4 thoughts on “What would you do with £110,000,000?”

  1. I would put all the money into a bank account(s) and live off the interest which would be enormous and split the monthly interest between all my family, then invest in whatever I like and just buy stuff on finance and let the interest pay the interest and keep quite about it.

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  2. Meh. It’s not that difficult to invest the money and produce a nice income forever, thus enabling you to do whatever you truly want to do, without fear of being homeless or something. And you’ll have plenty of money to donate or help out family as well. You can easily earn £3-5M/yr from stock dividends or rent from real estate.

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  3. “Whatever you would do once you won the lottery is what you really want to do deep down.”Absolutely. For me in particular it would be just means to obtain something easier.

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  4. In your case Ankush, that much money would probably cause you a lot of trouble. It won’t just lay there quietly. Just having that much money is full time job. Most folks would quit ‘working’. I’ve heard this lottery scenario discussed at truckstop cafes and none of the truck drivers are going to quit and go to the house. All they talk about is what shiny new fast truck they would buy first. lol And I suppose I would do the same thing. Of course, set up a trust to take care of family and friends. Let someone else administer it. This much money sounds like a lot of work. I do need a ’53 Studebaker for daily transportation. (A matter of style.) I also have that little need for speed so an upgrade to a VR-4 would be in order. That kind of money floating around, I would probably take a look at a McLaren. I have two charities that I would focus on. There is a small college on an Indian reservation that I have contributed to their library for years. That would certainly step up a notch. Or two. Being a produce hauler, I have been to a lot of food banks. The small ones are limited in what perishable foods they can accept because they cannot store or distribute truckload quantities. I would buy a truck and trailer to pick up produce on the west coast and meat from the midwest to distribute to smaller regional food banks. Unfortunately, I doubt that the lottery is going to do that for me. I’ll probably have to work for it.

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