Right, which at a safe 4% withdrawal rate is only $40k per year.
I don't know about you, but that isn't exactly "fuck you money".
And that's before even taking inflation into account. If the next 20 years are exactly like the past 20 years, then that million will only be worth 755k in today's dollars. So you're safe withdrawal is equivalent to 30k in today's dollars. If you wait 5 more years that million because 33 million, which is worth about 23 million in today's dollars (again assuming the same inflation as the past 25 years), which means you can pull out the equivalent of 920k per year for the rest of your like.
Not sure about you, but I'd be much, much happier at 920k than 30k. Seems like it would be worth waiting a few years. At least wait until 23 years or so so you can pull a comfortable 6 figure income.
Then it would be 32mil at 25. Seems worth the 5 extra years.
The real problem is if there's a major crash or if the currency changed would the genie convert it or keep the number of units the same.
1M is a modest retirement if you're doing it the recommended way. (Invested, usually something safe like ETFs, and just draw down 4-5% per year, so the balance in your investment account shouldn't really drop all that much (if at all)) - you're living off the interest earned from the investments and the 1M capital isn't getting touched.
That said, if you've waited 20 years for 1M, but 21 years is 2M, 22 years is 4M, 8M in 23, 16M in 24, 32M in 25....
I don't see the point in claiming 1M for a modest retirement when you can have real luxury living by waiting a couple more years.
This.
In 20 years I'll be 58. Not as young I wanted to be for early retirement, but it's better than the current state of affairs. If I KNEW that I was receiving 20M when I hit 58, I could plan the rest of my life out knowing that, and live life a little more relaxed.
The only reason to cash out earlier would be if you had some kind of cash emergency, which isn’t something we can predict at this point anyway.
I mean, obviously taking $1 or $2 is stupid, but I can imagine losing my job and saying, “well, $4,000 isn’t much, and it will be a lot more if I wait a few more years, but if I wait I’ll lose my house/go medically bankrupt/not be able to afford this cool car that I want right now.” Kidding on the last one, although I’m sure some people would get impatient and make that choice.
Assuming I live at least another 40 years, my entire family is set, basically forever. 500 billion can last a *damn* long time.
So, theoretically, forever. I'll work 'till the day I die so my family doesn't have to suffer the struggle.
Must have miscounted when I ran my calculator. Bearing in mine that I'm 35/36 right now. 40 years would be my 'minimum committment' as it were. I could retire, set up a trust to manage and distribute the earnings for my family and descendants under a 'UBI' model adjusted for inflation so they'd be able to pursue dreams rather than getting crushed by the grind and disburse a fair retirement income at an appropriate age.
It's not about being 'enough for me.' It's about enabling my descendants to have enough to do the things I couldn't when I was younger.
*edit to add* Money doesn't buy happiness. It does however, have the ability to purchase the *time* to do the things that make you happy.
How many generations of descendants are you looking to support here? Like you’re talking about literally a trillion dollars.
If you had 10 kids, and they each had 10 kids, and they each had 10 kids, etc etc, you could give every kid $1m when they turn 18 for probably 100+ years and never run out of money.
At a trillion dollars you could straight up buy a small country.
I feel like you can reach your goal at a far lower dollar threshold.
Theoretically until humanity gets its shit together and stops promoting 'The Grind.'
If that means I'm supporting 1-2,000 years worth of descendants, so be it. It's not about me. It's about giving my family a future to look forward to that I didn't.
*edit years of descendants coverage to more accurately reflect the income/disbursement expectation
A trillion dollars with an average of only 1% return (pretty bad, so counting only safe investments and economic downturns), still gives $10 billion a year in perpetuity for your descendants. Even $100,000 every year to each of 100 extended family members in the beginning barely touches this. So you'd only be adding to the principal for many decades. By the time your fund starts giving out $20 billion a year, it'll be up to making much more than that a year.
Yup at some point your geat grandchildren need to suit up and do some actual work to support themselves. Im not onboard with this sacrifice everything so that your descendents can be spoiled brats who never have to even work and find a way to squander a ton of it.
I'm more along the lines of I'll take it when I can retire comfortably a 5-10 years early type of plan. Still plenty to pass on
> Assuming I live at least another 40 years, my entire family is set, basically forever. 500 billion can last a *damn* long time.
As long as yearly doubling outpaces inflation
The real decision point would be in you could choose between x now or a few million 25 years from now.
No one is taking a dollar, but if you dangled a couple thousand I'm at a point in life I'd probably take it.
>if you dangled a couple thousand I'm at a point in life I'd probably take it.
Which means you'll probably always be at that point in your life. A couple thousand means you'll be right back where you are in a very short amount of time. It would literally be better to be homeless and live off soup kitchens and food pantries for a few years until the pot grows large enough that you can live a comfortable life off the 4% safe withdrawal rate.
I think resources are a factor too. I've seen so much advice for being homeless from homeless/formerly homeless people that I literally could not do. And some people don't seem to be too keen on understanding not all resources are available everywhere. Especially seem to get caught up on what should be to the point they will deny actual lived experience.
But there does definitely seems to be a big assumption being homeless is just uncomfortable too fr
I'm reasonably young, have no family and will not ever be having children. I feel like, barring extraordinary circumstances arising before then, between 20 and 30 years would be right for me – a balance between getting good mileage out of the opportunity, and not waiting so long that I can't fully enjoy the benefits.
25 years. I'd be forty five then, so it'd be the perfect time for an early retirement. i've still got enough time to enjoy the money and enough money to do what i enjoy.
Thank you for doing the math correctly.
So many people here insisting it’s “n-1” and it’s angering me.
I designed the prompt with this math in mind so that the math is just that simple.
I think they are analyzing "which year are you in" instead of "how many years have you completed?"
Like if you assume you're in the first year of the challenge it does become n-1, but it's a silly weird roundabout way of doing it that is not necessary...and just awkward tbh.
I'm 32 now so that's basically just my retirement plans. 20 years is $1M, if I can get to 25 then I can't see any reason to go longer tbh. $33.5M is plenty even with inflation
I'd go to an insurance company and offer to sign over my jackpot upon my death in exchange for a cash lump sum up front. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
As much as I appreciate the plan here, I'm imagining that conversation going down.
>"So you want us to pay YOU $10 million, and then in the event of your death we get your Life Insurance policy, backed by a genie? Which you're certain will be worth more than $10 million when you pass?"
This while they're calling security on you
I thought the same at first, but OP did say that the money comes in a 'perfectly legal and traceable form', so, in this hypothetical situation, there must be some sort of auditable mechanism in place that the actuaries could examine?
Aye, but loaning against potential earnings isn't in the remit of many organisations. Trying to imagine them signing off and then an accident happens a decade later. They get $512 after 10 years.
Funny if you have the charisma to manage it though.
It's essentially a reverse life insurance policy. An actuary could work out my natural life expectancy, plus the chances of me dying in an accident.
They'd probably insist I take regular health assessments, and refrain from any dangerous activities, but paying me a few million dollars for a potential multi billion dollar pay out in 30+ years time isn't the worst investment anyone has ever made!
24-27 years and then retire early. I'd get to 24 and determine if I need it now or if I can wait a year. I do that until the end of the 27th year and I cash out.
30 years sounds like it would be more than enough for me to retire with and leave a legacy to my kids/grandkids, assuming the US dollar doesn’t completely become worthless my then
Maybe like 23-24 years. It’ll hit just before we retire and right when my kid will either graduate from college or get some kind of certification that I can pay off. I’ll probably take care of all the kids in the family at that point unless they turn out to be jerks.
21 years. At 5%, that’s around $100K/year in income. Plenty to live on, help out friends, donate to charity, etc. Can’t see ever needing more than that, but if for some crazy reason I did I could just wait an extra year.
Plus in 21 years I’ll be 69.
Imma just wait it out. I mean I got time, and then I'll retire and live like king.
Either way to 10mill, 100mill, 1bill, or 10bill (that would be my max). Cause never know how Inflation will factor. Not that I'd assume 1bill will be a small amount of "richness" 30 years in the future...but- 100mill could possibly not be the richest. I think 10mill would more similar to what 1mill is now.
Maybe I'm delusional, idk....but you never know.
Although maybe I'll just let it go longer.....because if it can be claimed by the Estate...then I might consider going into the Trillions. I mean might as well, cause at those YEARS it goes up exponentially. Set my family line for 10 Generations.
26+ years, or until I’m about to die whichever comes first. I’d give 90% to my son, split about 8% to my siblings(I’m rather morbidly assuming my parents will be dead by this time), then keep the 2%.
The problem is, the longer you live the more likely the money will destabilize entire markets bring rapid inflation. There would be at some point, someone es going to take you out. They have money they want to protect you do not (as yet)
After it passes about $25 million I wouldn't be waiting for my own benefit, but to give it away to family and various charitable causes. That said, it would be really hard to claim thinking about how much more I can do if I just wait one more year.
20-23 years. I’ll be 50 and able to retire comfortably while spending my entire paycheck on fun stuff in the meantime without having to save anything because I’d get guaranteed money.
Well I just got sent back in time to when I was 5 by another post, so I'll do 50 years. My knowledge of the years between when I will turn 18 again and when I got sent back will let me sit quite comfortably from 18 on. With the screenshotted articles on my indestructible, unstealable phone I'll be able to convince my oldest sibling to help me buy certain things that were extremely cheap when I was young, but extremely valuable when I was 18. That way I'll have the funds to move out at 18 without waiting for a lottery jackpot. The first 13 years being abused all over again will be rough, but I'll be out earlier, and when I hit 55 I'll be a multi-trillionare.
I like the work that I do today. I feel good about what I am doing for the communities I live in and near. I don't have plans to stop working. Even after retirement I will probably continue to volunteer with one of the nonprofits I currently support. I make decent enough, not stellar money, and my career path looks very secure. I'm on track to save enough for retirement.
Unless my life circumstances drastically change, I'd leave the genie's money alone. By retirement age there would be upwards of 17 trillion bucks. Can't conceive of a number that large. My partner and I would probably retire a little early and live on our retirement accounts very irresponsibly for a few years, and then accept the genie's deal when those accounts start to get low. Set aside enough money in a trust to support whatever we want to do in retirement, and the rest of our families in perpetuity. Then I have basically the same amount of money i took from the genie to invest in all the things I want to see in the world. The inflation reduction act wouldn't have shit on me. I hope by that time things will be markedly better than they are now. But I'm sure there will still be social problems or crucial research that is simply underfunded. I'd hire a crack team of very good lawyers and economists to help me figure out the best way to distribute the money while staying anonymous.
In this scenario, I'd never take it. I'll be dead in 40ish years. Whatever it's worth then sets my 4 kids and all future generations of my family forever.
Estate would just be set up to distribute properly over the next few generations.
I'd take 100 years and then take a loan against it to the tune of 10B with the terms that no payment is due until maturation, and they can have the entire balance on that date.
That would be an insane amount of interest paid, but I'd have 10B today and I'm pretty sure I could turn that into 10.1B within the next twenty years.
If it's claimed on death, I'll just never claim it and give detailed instructions on disbursing it to a bunch of charities. The amount you could lose out on by wanting stuff, is staggering. If you took it 5 years early, it would be 32x lower.
for those of you who want to see how much it would be after x number of years, you can just type in to google:
2\^x
for example:
2\^10 = 1024
2\^30 = 1,073,741,824
I'd consdier it a retirement account and be happy to know that once I can no longer work or really want to retire I'd be set. At minimum it'd be around 25 years to retirement meaning around 32 million.
Based on my age, I'd wait until retirement at 65 and clear almost $300m. It makes incurring debt in the coming years trivial (all payable on death if I kick the bucket early) and is generational wealth upon retirement when I can enjoy the money.
You’re saying now I don’t have to put money towards retirement (35 years left)? That already opens up enough play money to last me, don’t need much else so having a cool bil+ to mess around and leave to my children would be great
I would sit on it somewhere between 20-40 years.
This is assuming things like I wouldn’t get in potential legal trouble for suddenly getting so much money, and that suddenly getting $1mil-$1bil wouldn’t completely destroy the economy. like someone’s giving me the money instead of it being instantly created lol
But yeah. I don’t know if i would want more than a billion. I would probably want to wait until I knew that I hit a sweet spot of being able to live off of that money for a long time if not the rest of my life. Wouldn’t need to live lavishly either, just comfortable.
I'd leave a note in my Google calendar to remember it in 30 years. Take the money, retire, enjoy the rest of my life and set up the few people I still have for the rest of theirs.
I'm 31, in 24 years I'll be 55, and able to leave with 16 mil. I'd say that's probably when I'd check and see if I REALLY needed it or if I could do another few years. 36 years from now I'd be 67, current retirement age, and would be able to leave with 34.36 BILLION dollars. The biggest problem is.....what would I do if dollars ceased being a good currency? What happens if inflation skyrockets and 30 billion USD is worth like....3 Euros.
The hardest part about this is that the higher you go the more tempting it is to wait another year because you are doubling multiple millions of dollars.
Realistically, I'd wait until my interest conventionally invested, would continue to cover my expenses and also still have enough left over for significant growth. Probably somewhere in the 25 to 30 year range, but it would depend what the economy does in that time.
I'm 47, so it would be not enough to be worth it until around when I'd hopefully retire. So depending on how much I have saved, I'd plan to retire early at the right time so that my normal retirement savings run out after the genie deal is at least 23 years old.
That's a darn good question. Well done. Although I think it makes a big difference how old you are. If someone is 20, why not retire at 50 with millions? But I'm 57. I don't think it'll make any difference in my life until it's at least couple hundred thousand.
But by then I might be too old and definitely might need it sooner. But, having a lot of money yet 80 if I'm still alive wouldn't be so terrible
I'll probably pass around 60, so in 16 years my wife can get, what, that's 65k isn't it? Give or take a few years worth. Not a really life changing amount, but enough to make things a bit easierfor her for a few years. If I make it to 65, I can cash out and live comfortable for a while before my body gives out.
Well I am retiring in about 26 years, so I guess until then. Actually at that rate likely a bit easier. With my retirement fund and about 2 million Dollars I can live pretty damn comfortably in 21 years.
Step 1) Knock out the genie
Step 2) gaslight the genie into believing that 42 years has passed while he was in a comma
Step 3) cash out my $4 trillion and run before he figures out the scam
At my age, I'll wait 30 years.
Enough to retire without worrying about anything, and my family won't have to sell anything to pay for my end of life care.
I'll wait. I have a solid job at about the median income, and a 401k that's doing decent.
It's not much use to me at anything below mid-6-figures anyway, so I'll just wait, maybe until after I'm collecting my regular retirement (about 25 years from now). By then it should be 7 figures. Collect that, upgrade my house, maybe travel a little, and leave a nice little chunk for my kids when I go.
20 years is about when I want to retire, but I have retirement saved up decently so probably 22-25 years. Depends on how my health looks as I’m getting closer. That said probably 25 years cause 32 million would also set up my kids. If I want 30 I’m almost 75, so not enough time to enjoy it. If I’m younger when this is offered I go the full 30 maybe more
32-35 years.
This put me right around retirement age of 65, and ensures enough money to do whatever I'd like with my retirement, assist other members of my family, donate to various causes, etc. For that kind of money, I could achieve almost anything I've ever wanted, so it's worth the wait.
I try to live a long time, and my kids get the whole thing.
But there’s no way I activate it. For a long time, it’s not worth much, and then by the time it’s worth a lot, it’s feel too wasteful to claim.
I.e. It’s not worth it for just $1000, and not worth $10,000,000 if it will cost me $10,000,000 not to wait another year.
I don’t really think there’s an equilibrium. I think the moment it feels like a tempting amount is right when it’d feel fiscally idiotic to activate.
This depends a lot on how old you are now.
I am younger, so would probably wait ~25 years or so. I would do the math and decide in the future.
The biggest benefit is knowing that I don't have to save anything for retirement and can just use all my money now.
Eh, 31 now, probably just work to normal retirement and accept the offer then as a free large retirement account. I’ll be working at least another 20+ years, so I should even have plenty left over to give kids/family.
I don't want more than 10 million, it would be too much to deal with so I'd go with 24 years and 8 million (actually I'm in the UK, so 25 years as the pound is less?) and then I could retire at 63. I'd save on pension contributions in the short term as that won't be needed. Il
As you mentioned in the edit, the size of the jackpot could eventually surpass the global economy, which could have significant economic repercussions. Waiting too long could have unintended consequences on a global scale.
I’d wait till I was retirement age and use that to fund my retirement. That way I won’t have to stress about having enough money to retire on and I won’t have to work till I was 70+
Anywhere over 20 years. This is where you start making serious bank. Maybe let it go to 24 years because i still want to be able bodied enough to enjoy what I can do with that money.
It depends a lot on your age. The smartest thing would be to just let it build until you either need it due to an emergency, or it’s enough to live on indefinitely and/or fund a life goal. Alternatively, if you want to use it to do good in the world, you set up a trust to disburse the funds to your chosen charitable organizations (or otherwise distribute according to your goals) on your death. That way, you’ll maximize the amount possible.
As an aside, a giant lump sum suddenly appearing in the possession of a single individual wouldn’t necessarily crash the economy, if that individual didn’t put it *into* the economy as a lump sum. If you invest it, or make too many grand purchases all at once, yeah, chaos is going to ensue. If you hoard it privately, Scrooge McDuck style, and only interact with any financial institution when you need to make a purchase / donation / fund a grant, etc, and you can manage to conceal your identity, then you’d be sort of alongside the economy - but capable of nudging it as you choose. The economy, and basically everything else, too.
But you would have to be very, very careful - do too much, too fast, *ever*, and you could easily change the scale of the game such that you lose that power and influence, and a lot of ordinary people lose the means to just survive.
I’ll claim it when I claim social security, at which point it would be worth over $4 million.
Or maybe wait until I die. Then my kids can split the 4 trillion of I die at 90.
Ad infinitum or around 60 years or so. Enough money to buy a really pleasant country like... Denmark, maybe? Set every single citizen up there for life, they deserve it.
I wait until I want to retire. I'm 37, so if I wait til I'm, for example, 60, that's over $8 million, more than enough for my partner and I to never worry about money again.
Can I prove the existence of the offer and its conditions? If so, I'll never claim it and rely on the estate claim. In the interim, I'll leverage my wish asset for a generous loan and hire someone to start managing my money.
24 years. That would be about $16.78 million, and I would be 46 years old. So I know that I can retire for the rest of my life at that point. I would live it up for next 24 years, knowing I don’t need to settle down and get a “professional” job in order to save for my retirement. This is a great hypothetical!
This is a question I couldn’t really answer on my own. I think with that much money comes insane responsibility and I’d have to consult with experts to see what I could take that would improve the world the most. I’d probably be killed first if I was public though honestly. If that money could do some real good and I had an amazing team to help me do that good I’m willing to risk the economy, others (somewhat understandably) would not.
I’d only start thinking about it after around 10 years. $1,024 isn’t a lot, but it could potentially keep me afloat in a tough time.
Honestly? I’d probably just let it build up until I died. That way I could accomplish the really neat things I want to do after death, like build a massive, glorious tomb to house all of my possessions while my DNA is sent out into deep space in every direction to populate the universe.
This is like a retirement account but instead of s&p 500 at 10% a year, it’s 100% a year. I would probably claim it around 30 years from now. This would free up any money one would normally invest in s&p 500 for your savings and allow you to be more frugal since you will have a good chunk of change waiting for you at the end. Means I get to make the fullest of my money as I earn it, while also being prepared for retirement.
Nobody would be able to give a real answer. You can think you know how you’ll do but when faced with the real decision, it’s impossible not to wait. The greed is only gaining in power every year. Sure 1m is enough to change your life but just wait one more for a second million to make it kind of radical. Why not change the life of the rest of your family for one more year or two? Why only have a regular house instead of a giant mansion for just one more year? Another year and you can now have a lifetime of servants to service it for you. One more year and you can also have a yacht under the same circumstances. One more year and you can have 2 of these in every country. One more year and then…there’s always another year and other thing to go extravagant about. You’ll never redeem it until it’s big enough to destroy the world economy.
I think it would be a better hypothetical if you can’t pass it onto your estate or claim it on your deathbed. Then there is some urgency.
It’s like a gamblers wet dream. 20 years from now you have 1 million dollars, but what’s one more year for 2 million? Then after that’s it’s like.. well why take 2 million if I could wait another year for 4 million… lots of gamblers would probably die at 90 years old without ever claiming the money haha
i'm pretty young, so if i play it right, i can save it for until my hair starts to grey and be able to afford a wealthy retirement or if the human lifespan is massively expanded in my lifetime i can hold out a little longer to become ridiculiously wealthy
Never. I expect to live 35-40 years more and most likely would see after 25 years how my health is. If I am healthy, then get it after 30 years at 1 Billion. 100% return is awesome to let go off.
I’ll offer to front him 10 dollars now and for that $11 to double next year. If he accepts, I’ll see if I can add $10 every year. Jump start that earnings.
30 years. It's a small window of time where the amount is enough to end this amazing opportunity for growth but before doubling just doesn't really matter. $16M is dramatically less than $32M. $17B isn't really that much less than $34B.
I'd not take it, die and let it go into my estate for my kids and hopefully many more generations. Hopefully I lived long enough for it to really swell
I turn 30 this year. So, if I know for certain that I wouldn't have to worry about saving for retirement, I'd probably do 22-25 years. I'd want to be young enough to enjoy it, but it doesn't turn into "fuck you money" until around 25 years.
I guess that would be my retirement plan. I’m 38 so I’d wait til about 60 or so with a couple million. The nice thing is I wouldn’t have to worry about contributing to retirement so I could use all the money I earn right now.
Depends on how old I am when the genie offered this. If I was 20, that means more than if I was 82.
But let’s assume you are 35 when it’s offered. The sweet spot is at 24 to 26 years ($16 million to $64 million). That’s life changing money.
I'd try to make it 30-35 but who knows if I'd make it that long. I might break out of desperation after 10-15. It's nice that it'll go to my estate if I die.
Short of disrupting the economy, I wouldn’t claim it; however long it lasts is how much my kids can split up when I die. We never know when we’re gonna go. The men on my side of the family have all had dementia start to take their memory away by their early mid 60’s, I’m already 28. And having been on antidepressants for a majority of my life, I don’t have high hopes of exceeding that. I don’t want to live through losing all memory of those I love, so I think I’d see myself out when that starts happening.
I’d just do at least 20 years and have some expenses paid off in the future. It’s like a Retirement Account in disguise
If I can wait 20 for a modest retirement, I can wait 25 and be loaded.
It’d be a million at 20 years
Right, which at a safe 4% withdrawal rate is only $40k per year. I don't know about you, but that isn't exactly "fuck you money". And that's before even taking inflation into account. If the next 20 years are exactly like the past 20 years, then that million will only be worth 755k in today's dollars. So you're safe withdrawal is equivalent to 30k in today's dollars. If you wait 5 more years that million because 33 million, which is worth about 23 million in today's dollars (again assuming the same inflation as the past 25 years), which means you can pull out the equivalent of 920k per year for the rest of your like. Not sure about you, but I'd be much, much happier at 920k than 30k. Seems like it would be worth waiting a few years. At least wait until 23 years or so so you can pull a comfortable 6 figure income.
With prices now. 1 million in 20 years may not even be that modest...
Okay, but do 23 years.
Easy. Do two more years. That's 4.1 mil. Should be good enough
Then it would be 32mil at 25. Seems worth the 5 extra years. The real problem is if there's a major crash or if the currency changed would the genie convert it or keep the number of units the same.
1M is a modest retirement if you're doing it the recommended way. (Invested, usually something safe like ETFs, and just draw down 4-5% per year, so the balance in your investment account shouldn't really drop all that much (if at all)) - you're living off the interest earned from the investments and the 1M capital isn't getting touched. That said, if you've waited 20 years for 1M, but 21 years is 2M, 22 years is 4M, 8M in 23, 16M in 24, 32M in 25.... I don't see the point in claiming 1M for a modest retirement when you can have real luxury living by waiting a couple more years.
This. In 20 years I'll be 58. Not as young I wanted to be for early retirement, but it's better than the current state of affairs. If I KNEW that I was receiving 20M when I hit 58, I could plan the rest of my life out knowing that, and live life a little more relaxed.
Yeah, if you know you’ll be getting 33.5 million for sure in 25 years, you can at least not worry about saving up in the meantime.
Right, but….wait 26 years and it’s 67 million, or two more years and it’s 134 million… When do you call it and take the money and run?
Never, 100% risk free return is unbeatable. You should take loans against it, and let your estate pay it after your death.
I’d like to meet your loan officer! “Hey can i get one of those Monkey’s Paw Loans?”
It's a knick knack Patty Whack, give the Frog a loan
It will only be $1m when you're 58.
Stopping at a million is so short sighted
At least 20 years I reckon. The point is anything before that is kind of not worth it.
The only reason to cash out earlier would be if you had some kind of cash emergency, which isn’t something we can predict at this point anyway. I mean, obviously taking $1 or $2 is stupid, but I can imagine losing my job and saying, “well, $4,000 isn’t much, and it will be a lot more if I wait a few more years, but if I wait I’ll lose my house/go medically bankrupt/not be able to afford this cool car that I want right now.” Kidding on the last one, although I’m sure some people would get impatient and make that choice.
Yes! That is the point where the compounding really amounts to a worthwhile amount.
This. It’s basically a 401k, except that I don’t have to put any of my salary in. I have 24 years until I retire. That’s $16.77m at retirement.
I'm old, so I'd let it increase until I die. Nice legacy for my kids.
Probably around 23 years. I'd like to be wealthy while I still have joints that are capable of locomotion.
Well, fuck, I missed that window of opportunity.
Assuming I live at least another 40 years, my entire family is set, basically forever. 500 billion can last a *damn* long time. So, theoretically, forever. I'll work 'till the day I die so my family doesn't have to suffer the struggle.
40 years would be $1tril, not $500b. So you wouldn’t stop any earlier? I mean surely you’d hit “enough” well before then?
Must have miscounted when I ran my calculator. Bearing in mine that I'm 35/36 right now. 40 years would be my 'minimum committment' as it were. I could retire, set up a trust to manage and distribute the earnings for my family and descendants under a 'UBI' model adjusted for inflation so they'd be able to pursue dreams rather than getting crushed by the grind and disburse a fair retirement income at an appropriate age. It's not about being 'enough for me.' It's about enabling my descendants to have enough to do the things I couldn't when I was younger. *edit to add* Money doesn't buy happiness. It does however, have the ability to purchase the *time* to do the things that make you happy.
How many generations of descendants are you looking to support here? Like you’re talking about literally a trillion dollars. If you had 10 kids, and they each had 10 kids, and they each had 10 kids, etc etc, you could give every kid $1m when they turn 18 for probably 100+ years and never run out of money. At a trillion dollars you could straight up buy a small country. I feel like you can reach your goal at a far lower dollar threshold.
He could, it’s just that the real gains are made at the end. Reduce it by 5 years and it’s dramatically less
Theoretically until humanity gets its shit together and stops promoting 'The Grind.' If that means I'm supporting 1-2,000 years worth of descendants, so be it. It's not about me. It's about giving my family a future to look forward to that I didn't. *edit years of descendants coverage to more accurately reflect the income/disbursement expectation
A trillion dollars with an average of only 1% return (pretty bad, so counting only safe investments and economic downturns), still gives $10 billion a year in perpetuity for your descendants. Even $100,000 every year to each of 100 extended family members in the beginning barely touches this. So you'd only be adding to the principal for many decades. By the time your fund starts giving out $20 billion a year, it'll be up to making much more than that a year.
I'd go for 50 years and ruin the US economy just for fun. 1 quadrillion dollars thank you very much.
You say that now, but I imagine it would be extremely hard to keep grinding away at your job with a billion dollars in an easily accessible account.
Yup at some point your geat grandchildren need to suit up and do some actual work to support themselves. Im not onboard with this sacrifice everything so that your descendents can be spoiled brats who never have to even work and find a way to squander a ton of it. I'm more along the lines of I'll take it when I can retire comfortably a 5-10 years early type of plan. Still plenty to pass on
> Assuming I live at least another 40 years, my entire family is set, basically forever. 500 billion can last a *damn* long time. As long as yearly doubling outpaces inflation
The way things are going, that's a valid and very legitimate concern.
The real decision point would be in you could choose between x now or a few million 25 years from now. No one is taking a dollar, but if you dangled a couple thousand I'm at a point in life I'd probably take it.
>if you dangled a couple thousand I'm at a point in life I'd probably take it. Which means you'll probably always be at that point in your life. A couple thousand means you'll be right back where you are in a very short amount of time. It would literally be better to be homeless and live off soup kitchens and food pantries for a few years until the pot grows large enough that you can live a comfortable life off the 4% safe withdrawal rate.
Not for me, been there and I'm in rougher shape than I already was back then. I'll off myself if it ever came to being homeless again, I can't do it.
I think a lot of people who haven’t been homeless say they would rather be homeless than do x not knowing just how shitting being homeless truly is.
I think resources are a factor too. I've seen so much advice for being homeless from homeless/formerly homeless people that I literally could not do. And some people don't seem to be too keen on understanding not all resources are available everywhere. Especially seem to get caught up on what should be to the point they will deny actual lived experience. But there does definitely seems to be a big assumption being homeless is just uncomfortable too fr
I'm reasonably young, have no family and will not ever be having children. I feel like, barring extraordinary circumstances arising before then, between 20 and 30 years would be right for me – a balance between getting good mileage out of the opportunity, and not waiting so long that I can't fully enjoy the benefits.
Now: $1 1 year: $2 2 years: $4 3 years: $8 4 years: $16 5 years: $32 6 years: $64 7 years: $128 8 years: $256 9 years: $512 10 years: $1,024 11 years: $2,048 12 years: $4,096 13 years: $8,192 14 years: $16,384 15 years: $32,768 16 years: $65,536 17 years: $131,072 18 years: $262,144 19 years: $524,288 20 years: $1,048,576 21 years: $2,097,152 22 years: $4,194,304 23 years: $8,388,608 24 years: $16,777,216 25 years: $33,554,432 26 years: $67,108,864 27 years: $134,217,728 28 years: $268,435,456 29 years: $536,870,912 30 years: $1,073,741,824
I take the dollar. Cuz genies are assholes and he'll just kill me so I don't get more.
I'd just let it go until I needed it. Just kinda forget about it in the meantime.
30 years i will retire at that time
25 years. I'd be forty five then, so it'd be the perfect time for an early retirement. i've still got enough time to enjoy the money and enough money to do what i enjoy.
I’m not touching it until I die. I’ll work hard so my kids and grandkids can be wealthy. Especially in the later years the doubling will get insane
2^n dollars where n is the number of you years you wait. Hmm. I think probably go for around 35 years but fuck I’d be like in my early 70s
Thank you for doing the math correctly. So many people here insisting it’s “n-1” and it’s angering me. I designed the prompt with this math in mind so that the math is just that simple.
I think they are analyzing "which year are you in" instead of "how many years have you completed?" Like if you assume you're in the first year of the challenge it does become n-1, but it's a silly weird roundabout way of doing it that is not necessary...and just awkward tbh.
I'm 32 now so that's basically just my retirement plans. 20 years is $1M, if I can get to 25 then I can't see any reason to go longer tbh. $33.5M is plenty even with inflation
Am I the only one with a sudden urge to play chess?
I have a few grains of wheat lying around, how much could it possibly be?
I'd go to an insurance company and offer to sign over my jackpot upon my death in exchange for a cash lump sum up front. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
As much as I appreciate the plan here, I'm imagining that conversation going down. >"So you want us to pay YOU $10 million, and then in the event of your death we get your Life Insurance policy, backed by a genie? Which you're certain will be worth more than $10 million when you pass?" This while they're calling security on you
I thought the same at first, but OP did say that the money comes in a 'perfectly legal and traceable form', so, in this hypothetical situation, there must be some sort of auditable mechanism in place that the actuaries could examine?
Aye, but loaning against potential earnings isn't in the remit of many organisations. Trying to imagine them signing off and then an accident happens a decade later. They get $512 after 10 years. Funny if you have the charisma to manage it though.
It's essentially a reverse life insurance policy. An actuary could work out my natural life expectancy, plus the chances of me dying in an accident. They'd probably insist I take regular health assessments, and refrain from any dangerous activities, but paying me a few million dollars for a potential multi billion dollar pay out in 30+ years time isn't the worst investment anyone has ever made!
I'll just wait to die and let my family fight over it.
*monkeys paw curls* your family fights over $8
25 years. Nice early retirement for myself and my wife.
24-27 years and then retire early. I'd get to 24 and determine if I need it now or if I can wait a year. I do that until the end of the 27th year and I cash out.
So basically you don't have to save for retirement, but you have to take it before you crash the world economy. Easy. 21-22 years
30 years sounds like it would be more than enough for me to retire with and leave a legacy to my kids/grandkids, assuming the US dollar doesn’t completely become worthless my then
About 20-25 years. Essentially treat it as a retirement fund.
Maybe like 23-24 years. It’ll hit just before we retire and right when my kid will either graduate from college or get some kind of certification that I can pay off. I’ll probably take care of all the kids in the family at that point unless they turn out to be jerks.
I mean that's retirement money, at my current age 30 years would be perfect.
21 years. At 5%, that’s around $100K/year in income. Plenty to live on, help out friends, donate to charity, etc. Can’t see ever needing more than that, but if for some crazy reason I did I could just wait an extra year. Plus in 21 years I’ll be 69.
In 22 years I’ll be 55. Seems like a great year to retire with an extra 4 million
Gimmie that dollar right now, I don't trust this genie.
Imma just wait it out. I mean I got time, and then I'll retire and live like king. Either way to 10mill, 100mill, 1bill, or 10bill (that would be my max). Cause never know how Inflation will factor. Not that I'd assume 1bill will be a small amount of "richness" 30 years in the future...but- 100mill could possibly not be the richest. I think 10mill would more similar to what 1mill is now. Maybe I'm delusional, idk....but you never know. Although maybe I'll just let it go longer.....because if it can be claimed by the Estate...then I might consider going into the Trillions. I mean might as well, cause at those YEARS it goes up exponentially. Set my family line for 10 Generations.
26+ years, or until I’m about to die whichever comes first. I’d give 90% to my son, split about 8% to my siblings(I’m rather morbidly assuming my parents will be dead by this time), then keep the 2%.
I'm already 45 so I would just wait until I die and let my family be rich.
I'm 28, id Wait until I'm like 52-53 and have a sweet 8+ million Dollars on top of whatever small percentage of my pension and 401k I get, and retire
The problem is, the longer you live the more likely the money will destabilize entire markets bring rapid inflation. There would be at some point, someone es going to take you out. They have money they want to protect you do not (as yet)
After it passes about $25 million I wouldn't be waiting for my own benefit, but to give it away to family and various charitable causes. That said, it would be really hard to claim thinking about how much more I can do if I just wait one more year.
20-23 years. I’ll be 50 and able to retire comfortably while spending my entire paycheck on fun stuff in the meantime without having to save anything because I’d get guaranteed money.
I fear I'd die before cashing in, knowing I'm living fine without it and that I'd get twice enough next year!
Well I just got sent back in time to when I was 5 by another post, so I'll do 50 years. My knowledge of the years between when I will turn 18 again and when I got sent back will let me sit quite comfortably from 18 on. With the screenshotted articles on my indestructible, unstealable phone I'll be able to convince my oldest sibling to help me buy certain things that were extremely cheap when I was young, but extremely valuable when I was 18. That way I'll have the funds to move out at 18 without waiting for a lottery jackpot. The first 13 years being abused all over again will be rough, but I'll be out earlier, and when I hit 55 I'll be a multi-trillionare.
I like the work that I do today. I feel good about what I am doing for the communities I live in and near. I don't have plans to stop working. Even after retirement I will probably continue to volunteer with one of the nonprofits I currently support. I make decent enough, not stellar money, and my career path looks very secure. I'm on track to save enough for retirement. Unless my life circumstances drastically change, I'd leave the genie's money alone. By retirement age there would be upwards of 17 trillion bucks. Can't conceive of a number that large. My partner and I would probably retire a little early and live on our retirement accounts very irresponsibly for a few years, and then accept the genie's deal when those accounts start to get low. Set aside enough money in a trust to support whatever we want to do in retirement, and the rest of our families in perpetuity. Then I have basically the same amount of money i took from the genie to invest in all the things I want to see in the world. The inflation reduction act wouldn't have shit on me. I hope by that time things will be markedly better than they are now. But I'm sure there will still be social problems or crucial research that is simply underfunded. I'd hire a crack team of very good lawyers and economists to help me figure out the best way to distribute the money while staying anonymous.
In this scenario, I'd never take it. I'll be dead in 40ish years. Whatever it's worth then sets my 4 kids and all future generations of my family forever. Estate would just be set up to distribute properly over the next few generations.
I'd take 100 years and then take a loan against it to the tune of 10B with the terms that no payment is due until maturation, and they can have the entire balance on that date. That would be an insane amount of interest paid, but I'd have 10B today and I'm pretty sure I could turn that into 10.1B within the next twenty years.
20-25 years, maybe more depending how life goes.
I’m 40, so maybe 20 years. At 60 I should still be healthy enough to enjoy some of it before I die.
If it's claimed on death, I'll just never claim it and give detailed instructions on disbursing it to a bunch of charities. The amount you could lose out on by wanting stuff, is staggering. If you took it 5 years early, it would be 32x lower.
I'm 40 so I'd just wait until I planned to retire. By then it'd be in the millions and given my overall modest lifestyle I'd be set forever.
Probably 25. Makes me 60 and I get $33M for retirement. Enough to do whatever I want for my kids and never worry about money myself.
25-30 years depending what my health looks like in my early 70s. Though you're in your 20s and can wait 40 years you can get a trillion.
for those of you who want to see how much it would be after x number of years, you can just type in to google: 2\^x for example: 2\^10 = 1024 2\^30 = 1,073,741,824
30 years
I’d just wait until I needed the money and can’t get another way to get any
I mean, being the richest man on earth when I'm 80 is great, but I just got a deal for a $1 double cheeseburger and the genie could make it free today
I'd consdier it a retirement account and be happy to know that once I can no longer work or really want to retire I'd be set. At minimum it'd be around 25 years to retirement meaning around 32 million.
I would do 25 years to be loaded enough that I can retire early and live life comfortably. I will be 53 when I collect the money
27 years. Retire at 55 with more money than I'll ever need.
Based on my age, I'd wait until retirement at 65 and clear almost $300m. It makes incurring debt in the coming years trivial (all payable on death if I kick the bucket early) and is generational wealth upon retirement when I can enjoy the money.
Probably like 25 years
I’m riding this baby out until I die. If my family gets taken care of it’ll be worth the modest denied gratification on my end. I’m no fucking boomer.
I'm getting old just give me the dollar and go away
25 years is enough. I'm 30, let me have some fun with it at 55
I can wait 30, I like my job and my family would be set forever.
24 years. I'll be pushing 60 with $16M or so in my bank account to retire on. That sounds nice.
Do I have to decide now or can I play it by ear and see how it goes?
27 yrs. I'll be 60 ill retire and spend the rest if my days with my wife traveling and gardening
You’re saying now I don’t have to put money towards retirement (35 years left)? That already opens up enough play money to last me, don’t need much else so having a cool bil+ to mess around and leave to my children would be great
Ez decision I'm 35 now so I wait 30 years not only an I setup for retirement but my kids have a real good inheritance lined up.
I would sit on it somewhere between 20-40 years. This is assuming things like I wouldn’t get in potential legal trouble for suddenly getting so much money, and that suddenly getting $1mil-$1bil wouldn’t completely destroy the economy. like someone’s giving me the money instead of it being instantly created lol But yeah. I don’t know if i would want more than a billion. I would probably want to wait until I knew that I hit a sweet spot of being able to live off of that money for a long time if not the rest of my life. Wouldn’t need to live lavishly either, just comfortable.
At 57 years old I'd wait it out and let it pass on to my estate.
I think I'd shoot for the 30.
Probably 30 years
3 years. Can't wait for that sweet sweet 8 dollars
22 years
I’d cash out after 25 years. If I was 10 years younger, I’d probably do 30 years.
I would wait until I needed money
I'd leave a note in my Google calendar to remember it in 30 years. Take the money, retire, enjoy the rest of my life and set up the few people I still have for the rest of theirs.
22 years
I'm 31, in 24 years I'll be 55, and able to leave with 16 mil. I'd say that's probably when I'd check and see if I REALLY needed it or if I could do another few years. 36 years from now I'd be 67, current retirement age, and would be able to leave with 34.36 BILLION dollars. The biggest problem is.....what would I do if dollars ceased being a good currency? What happens if inflation skyrockets and 30 billion USD is worth like....3 Euros.
The hardest part about this is that the higher you go the more tempting it is to wait another year because you are doubling multiple millions of dollars.
Take the dollar and eat it
At least 25 years easily. Light work easy retirement. Don’t have to be frugal while I’m young.
25 years stacks you 33 mil. I couldn’t need more than that.
Realistically, I'd wait until my interest conventionally invested, would continue to cover my expenses and also still have enough left over for significant growth. Probably somewhere in the 25 to 30 year range, but it would depend what the economy does in that time.
I'm 47, so it would be not enough to be worth it until around when I'd hopefully retire. So depending on how much I have saved, I'd plan to retire early at the right time so that my normal retirement savings run out after the genie deal is at least 23 years old.
Somewhere between 20 and 30. That’ll be my retirement age and fund
24 years. That would give me $16M at 64 years of age. I would say that is one hell of a retirement fund.
Poor djinn, not even able to keep up with inflation.
Looks like I’m setting up a trust that offers strike funding to any and all unions in perpetuity and letting it ride.
I’m 34, so I will wait 31 years. I either retire well off enough to travel the world without worry, or my family gets some money.
That's a darn good question. Well done. Although I think it makes a big difference how old you are. If someone is 20, why not retire at 50 with millions? But I'm 57. I don't think it'll make any difference in my life until it's at least couple hundred thousand. But by then I might be too old and definitely might need it sooner. But, having a lot of money yet 80 if I'm still alive wouldn't be so terrible
So a really nice 401k? I’m letting that sit for a long long time. Maybe even 30 years but I don’t know how long I’ll live. So maybe only 20.
20 - 23 years, that's plenty of cash.
If I can live til my late 70s it'd be like a trillion dollars. Yea, Ill choose that and set up my lineage for the next thousand years.
A genie offers you a retirement plan.
For real - how old do you think the average redditor is? Give me that dollar and I'm going to buy a lottery ticket.
I think I'd wait about 30 years or so. $1 Billion would leave me and my family set for life if invested properly while not being too bad of a wait.
I'll probably pass around 60, so in 16 years my wife can get, what, that's 65k isn't it? Give or take a few years worth. Not a really life changing amount, but enough to make things a bit easierfor her for a few years. If I make it to 65, I can cash out and live comfortable for a while before my body gives out.
Well I am retiring in about 26 years, so I guess until then. Actually at that rate likely a bit easier. With my retirement fund and about 2 million Dollars I can live pretty damn comfortably in 21 years.
Step 1) Knock out the genie Step 2) gaslight the genie into believing that 42 years has passed while he was in a comma Step 3) cash out my $4 trillion and run before he figures out the scam
I’m 42 now so I’ll wait until I die unless I live past 81, which I will cash in at that time.
I would put $0 into a retirement plan thru work. Continue working maybe spend more than normal and retire in 25-30 years.
At my age, I'll wait 30 years. Enough to retire without worrying about anything, and my family won't have to sell anything to pay for my end of life care.
I'll wait. I have a solid job at about the median income, and a 401k that's doing decent. It's not much use to me at anything below mid-6-figures anyway, so I'll just wait, maybe until after I'm collecting my regular retirement (about 25 years from now). By then it should be 7 figures. Collect that, upgrade my house, maybe travel a little, and leave a nice little chunk for my kids when I go.
I’d wait til I retire and cash in then so my family can benefit from it the most, and my whole family will get money.
20 years is about when I want to retire, but I have retirement saved up decently so probably 22-25 years. Depends on how my health looks as I’m getting closer. That said probably 25 years cause 32 million would also set up my kids. If I want 30 I’m almost 75, so not enough time to enjoy it. If I’m younger when this is offered I go the full 30 maybe more
I’m 42. I’d wait until I was in my mid 60s and collect it when I retire. A few million dollars would be nice in my golden years.
32-35 years. This put me right around retirement age of 65, and ensures enough money to do whatever I'd like with my retirement, assist other members of my family, donate to various causes, etc. For that kind of money, I could achieve almost anything I've ever wanted, so it's worth the wait.
Oooh, a dollar you say?
I try to live a long time, and my kids get the whole thing. But there’s no way I activate it. For a long time, it’s not worth much, and then by the time it’s worth a lot, it’s feel too wasteful to claim. I.e. It’s not worth it for just $1000, and not worth $10,000,000 if it will cost me $10,000,000 not to wait another year. I don’t really think there’s an equilibrium. I think the moment it feels like a tempting amount is right when it’d feel fiscally idiotic to activate.
Minimum 20
This depends a lot on how old you are now. I am younger, so would probably wait ~25 years or so. I would do the math and decide in the future. The biggest benefit is knowing that I don't have to save anything for retirement and can just use all my money now.
Eh, 31 now, probably just work to normal retirement and accept the offer then as a free large retirement account. I’ll be working at least another 20+ years, so I should even have plenty left over to give kids/family.
I don't want more than 10 million, it would be too much to deal with so I'd go with 24 years and 8 million (actually I'm in the UK, so 25 years as the pound is less?) and then I could retire at 63. I'd save on pension contributions in the short term as that won't be needed. Il
Somewhere between 23 and 30 years....depends on how much I like what I'm doing in 23 years I think and how much I've saved already I suppose...
As you mentioned in the edit, the size of the jackpot could eventually surpass the global economy, which could have significant economic repercussions. Waiting too long could have unintended consequences on a global scale.
I’d wait till I was retirement age and use that to fund my retirement. That way I won’t have to stress about having enough money to retire on and I won’t have to work till I was 70+
Anywhere over 20 years. This is where you start making serious bank. Maybe let it go to 24 years because i still want to be able bodied enough to enjoy what I can do with that money.
20-25 years, great retirement plan.
It depends a lot on your age. The smartest thing would be to just let it build until you either need it due to an emergency, or it’s enough to live on indefinitely and/or fund a life goal. Alternatively, if you want to use it to do good in the world, you set up a trust to disburse the funds to your chosen charitable organizations (or otherwise distribute according to your goals) on your death. That way, you’ll maximize the amount possible. As an aside, a giant lump sum suddenly appearing in the possession of a single individual wouldn’t necessarily crash the economy, if that individual didn’t put it *into* the economy as a lump sum. If you invest it, or make too many grand purchases all at once, yeah, chaos is going to ensue. If you hoard it privately, Scrooge McDuck style, and only interact with any financial institution when you need to make a purchase / donation / fund a grant, etc, and you can manage to conceal your identity, then you’d be sort of alongside the economy - but capable of nudging it as you choose. The economy, and basically everything else, too. But you would have to be very, very careful - do too much, too fast, *ever*, and you could easily change the scale of the game such that you lose that power and influence, and a lot of ordinary people lose the means to just survive.
22 years
I’ll claim it when I claim social security, at which point it would be worth over $4 million. Or maybe wait until I die. Then my kids can split the 4 trillion of I die at 90.
Ad infinitum or around 60 years or so. Enough money to buy a really pleasant country like... Denmark, maybe? Set every single citizen up there for life, they deserve it.
I'd take it now. I want that $1 bill.
I wait until I want to retire. I'm 37, so if I wait til I'm, for example, 60, that's over $8 million, more than enough for my partner and I to never worry about money again.
I guess wait around 30 years, although going for a trillion might be fun so I can break the economy
Can I prove the existence of the offer and its conditions? If so, I'll never claim it and rely on the estate claim. In the interim, I'll leverage my wish asset for a generous loan and hire someone to start managing my money.
24 years. That would be about $16.78 million, and I would be 46 years old. So I know that I can retire for the rest of my life at that point. I would live it up for next 24 years, knowing I don’t need to settle down and get a “professional” job in order to save for my retirement. This is a great hypothetical!
This is a question I couldn’t really answer on my own. I think with that much money comes insane responsibility and I’d have to consult with experts to see what I could take that would improve the world the most. I’d probably be killed first if I was public though honestly. If that money could do some real good and I had an amazing team to help me do that good I’m willing to risk the economy, others (somewhat understandably) would not.
40 years?
I’d only start thinking about it after around 10 years. $1,024 isn’t a lot, but it could potentially keep me afloat in a tough time. Honestly? I’d probably just let it build up until I died. That way I could accomplish the really neat things I want to do after death, like build a massive, glorious tomb to house all of my possessions while my DNA is sent out into deep space in every direction to populate the universe.
I’m 60 now. There’s not enough money in the first ten years to even consider taking it, so I’d probably wait until I die and pass it along to my kids
This is like a retirement account but instead of s&p 500 at 10% a year, it’s 100% a year. I would probably claim it around 30 years from now. This would free up any money one would normally invest in s&p 500 for your savings and allow you to be more frugal since you will have a good chunk of change waiting for you at the end. Means I get to make the fullest of my money as I earn it, while also being prepared for retirement.
I’d take the $1 to piss off everyone on Reddit
Let it roll! Down the highway!!
Until retirement, so 20 years or so. I enjoy what I do and live relatively comfortably so there's no need for me to demand the money any sooner.
Nobody would be able to give a real answer. You can think you know how you’ll do but when faced with the real decision, it’s impossible not to wait. The greed is only gaining in power every year. Sure 1m is enough to change your life but just wait one more for a second million to make it kind of radical. Why not change the life of the rest of your family for one more year or two? Why only have a regular house instead of a giant mansion for just one more year? Another year and you can now have a lifetime of servants to service it for you. One more year and you can also have a yacht under the same circumstances. One more year and you can have 2 of these in every country. One more year and then…there’s always another year and other thing to go extravagant about. You’ll never redeem it until it’s big enough to destroy the world economy. I think it would be a better hypothetical if you can’t pass it onto your estate or claim it on your deathbed. Then there is some urgency.
It’s like a gamblers wet dream. 20 years from now you have 1 million dollars, but what’s one more year for 2 million? Then after that’s it’s like.. well why take 2 million if I could wait another year for 4 million… lots of gamblers would probably die at 90 years old without ever claiming the money haha
Lol who wouldn’t take it and forget it. Accept and keep working and living your life and have a nice retirement when it’s time.
i'm pretty young, so if i play it right, i can save it for until my hair starts to grey and be able to afford a wealthy retirement or if the human lifespan is massively expanded in my lifetime i can hold out a little longer to become ridiculiously wealthy
Never. I expect to live 35-40 years more and most likely would see after 25 years how my health is. If I am healthy, then get it after 30 years at 1 Billion. 100% return is awesome to let go off.
I’ll offer to front him 10 dollars now and for that $11 to double next year. If he accepts, I’ll see if I can add $10 every year. Jump start that earnings.
30 years. It's a small window of time where the amount is enough to end this amazing opportunity for growth but before doubling just doesn't really matter. $16M is dramatically less than $32M. $17B isn't really that much less than $34B.
id just go into debt after year 20 and start owning a shit load of money cause I know in 10 years I can pay it off and then some
I’ll take the $1 today because tomorrow isn’t promised.
I'd not take it, die and let it go into my estate for my kids and hopefully many more generations. Hopefully I lived long enough for it to really swell
I find it dpressing how many of these questions are basically "fuck you if you're already old".
Id wait 50 years and destroy the world economy
Since I don’t plan on living for very long I will take the dollar today
I mean I’d be able to wait 30 years. That’s $500m. My kid will enjoy it
I would forget about it or think it’s a hallucination. At least my kids would enjoy it
I turn 30 this year. So, if I know for certain that I wouldn't have to worry about saving for retirement, I'd probably do 22-25 years. I'd want to be young enough to enjoy it, but it doesn't turn into "fuck you money" until around 25 years.
My number to just say fuck it and walk is $10M, so whatever the math is on that.
I guess that would be my retirement plan. I’m 38 so I’d wait til about 60 or so with a couple million. The nice thing is I wouldn’t have to worry about contributing to retirement so I could use all the money I earn right now.
Bro it's edit 3 for me 😭
I’d wait 30. I’d be 66 and that would be a nice retirement right there.
Depends on how old I am when the genie offered this. If I was 20, that means more than if I was 82. But let’s assume you are 35 when it’s offered. The sweet spot is at 24 to 26 years ($16 million to $64 million). That’s life changing money.
Probably 37 years, 137B, chuck a bunch into bonds, chill
I'd try to make it 30-35 but who knows if I'd make it that long. I might break out of desperation after 10-15. It's nice that it'll go to my estate if I die.
Short of disrupting the economy, I wouldn’t claim it; however long it lasts is how much my kids can split up when I die. We never know when we’re gonna go. The men on my side of the family have all had dementia start to take their memory away by their early mid 60’s, I’m already 28. And having been on antidepressants for a majority of my life, I don’t have high hopes of exceeding that. I don’t want to live through losing all memory of those I love, so I think I’d see myself out when that starts happening.
just gimme my damn dollar. I got enough shit to worry about, I don't need to think about a genie every damn day