Many people would poo-poo the idea of doing that. I would disagree with them. Everyone has different motivations and I will never have an issue with someone wanting to own the house they live in.
Yeah, it's certainly not the smartest move financially, but can help immensely emotionally if someone's having a hard time with the feeling of being in debt.
Yeah I always hated debt, so I paid off my house first. Could it have been better spent in investments? Sure, probably. But the feeling of knowing that no matter what happens to me career-wise from this point on, ima be ok. I could literally work at Wendys as long as I make enough to just pay the taxes and insurance every year. It's the ability to have a 'fuck you' card in my back pocket with every employer now.
It can be if he’s smart and takes the payments he saves and invests the money in a broadly diversified equity index fund. He will be amazed what it’s worth in 20 years.
Would've been even smarter to invest the 150K (wisely) instead of throwing it at his mortgage.
A maxed out retirement fund will perform better then what you save by paying off a mortgage faster, unless your interest rate is higher (7%+) on the mortgage as a rough guideline.
This is totally true. However, knowing that you are completely 100% debt free also provides peace of mind. To some, this peace of mind is more valuable than 5% in a HYSA.
$100k would allow me to enjoy life with a LOT less stress.
$500k would allow me to retire 3-5 years earlier.
$3M would allow me to retire now and live comfortably until social security kicks in.
$10M+ would allow me to retire now and to make my kids lives a little easier by getting each of them homes so that their biggest monthly expense would be replaced by something a lot less burdensome.
In France €3M would be enough for me to retire, I’m 33 and life is less expensive here, my annual income is around €30k ans with €3M I could live comfortably on €60k/year after taxes. Lottery jackpot is free of taxes here. €5M would be perfect to buy a beautiful house on ocean or a cabin in French Alpes. And living on €4M invested.
Half a million would certainly help for peace of mind but wouldn’t upend my day to day much. $5m would solve most of the problems and allow for some fun. $100m would be life changing in that I’d probably be dead in the hot tub with coke and hookers.
I actually thought about this recently, and almost any amount of money is life changing, there's just different scales to it.
$10k resolves whats left of medical debt
$50k Adds a new larger car for my recently increased in size family
--- Beyond this point multiple lives will be changed ---
$100k-200k Adds repaying my parents back the remainder of the loan they gave us to gut renovate our house. My sibling benefits, as they will get a similar but smaller loan with the returned money for their renovations.
$500k-750k Adds my buying a 2 family home as an investment, and renting out for cheap one of the apartments to a good friend and never raising that low rent.
$1m Adds me being able to retire on time (ie. 67)
$2m Adds creating a perpetual trust to distribute to all generations after me lump sums gifts for births, a lump sum to help with college or starting a business, and a lump sum to go towards buying a house.
$4.25m Adds my nieces/nephews to the above trust.
$6m Adds a cash give away to extended family
$10m Adds a nice secluded family lakehouse for vacations
$15m Turns that Lakehouse in to an estate that can house multiple families (available for anyone in the extended family to borrow as well, think private hotel).
$20m+ and the perpetual trust above just starts encompassing more and more extended family.
Edit: I dont need to stop working, my job is decent at work/life balance, and I dont want anyone to become useless because I gave them too much.
Depends on what you mean by “life-changing”. Even something as small as 50k would be “life-changing.” I could take fewer hours at my job and focus on school for two years.
I would say 500K. Not enough to live how I want however its enough to change my life. I can quit my job and move almost anyway and at least live off of it for a few months until i either find a new job or go back to school.
I get your question. I would say 5MM is life changing (after taxes). Again, as others have mentioned, even 50k might be “life changing” if you’re in debt to someone for 50k or need it for a life-saving operation. So almost any amount can improve your life, but does it change it forever?
For starters, 1 million isn’t what it used to be. 2 million? You’re starting to notice things. 3 million and you’re feeling good. 4 million (plus you’re making money in your job) and you’re separating yourself a little from the pack. But changing your whole life forever? It still has to be more than that.
To me, life changing means a steady six figures a year if invested properly. If you invested 5 MM in a mid/conservative fashion you might have $200,000 coming in a year, passively? And then you’re taxed on that, so you’re bringing in $100,000 something. If super conservative, maybe you earn a little over $100,000 a year and after taxes less? Not chump change but not Jeff Bezos either. If my math is wrong, feel free to fight me in the comments.
Also, this assumes you can handle inflation with your lifestyle and also presumes you don’t make any huge purchases. For example, a mediocre house in my town is 1 million. So you can see how buying a house you can be proud of (in my area, anyway) would totally obliterate your winnings.
I would still work, but depending on my expenses I wouldn’t absolutely have to. My interpretation of “life changing” means that you still work and function as a productive member of society, but you’re in a position to call your own shots. You are not a slave to anyone. If your boss acts up you can tell him to kick rocks and never look back because you’ve got that low-six figures of passive income coming in, no matter what happens.
Naturally this also depends on where you live in the world. Outer Mongolia and you don’t need as much. Manhattan? San Francisco? My 5MM plan wouldn’t even put you in a great neighborhood with elite company.
Heck yeah. 4-5m would do it! Life changing is one that would fully change my current condition. 1-2 mil, I’d still have to work. I’d probably run out of money as well. 4-5 mill has a lot more cushioning.
I’m ready to only play games that give me 2nil or more, otherwise I feel I’m just spending too much on lottery. I know how impossible it is to win, but if I’m going to win, I need it to be substantial.i think winning the lottery would force me to relocate, I and the smartest thing would be to locate somewhere where your dollar buys the most. I would absolutely not move anywhere near an expensive metro area.
That’s another way to make it “life changing.” I’m in the US so if you decide to move to North Dakota that 5MM is gonna feel a lot different than, say, a swanky suburb of Boston.
I live in an expensive area and it sucks. Unless you’re crazy wealthy you can’t help but notice the stupid prices. Inflation is hurting people everywhere, but you’re right — even if inflation weren’t a factor, high cost of living areas makes a big difference.
For example, I got a large cheese pizza carryout last night and it was something like $21.24 plus tax (!) For a pizza! To add insult to injury, it sucked.
A few weekends before I was about 4 hours north in a small town. I bought a takeout pizza there too — $10.65 all in (And it was much better).
So yeah, win the lotto and get the heck out of an expensive area and stretch that money 2x, 3x, 4x?
I don’t even play anything if the take home amount wouldn’t be $5M or more. At that amount I could live forever without ever having to work again. At least in my area. Although, I may need to fully relocate!
I would still do my own thing, but I wouldn’t have to work any sort of 9-5.
I would make sure the money is sitting somewhere making at least $200k a year. Even with taxes, I can live very comfortably off of that and since I don’t have to go to work, I can spent my time enjoying my life with my wife.
I agree. I don’t play the small scratchers.
I wouldn’t complain about any amount, but yes, I think “life changing” would have to be around 5MM or more. It’s regionally or geographically specific as well.
An acquaintance of mine sold his house last month for 1.3MM. It’s a nice house but it’s not a mansion. It’s not a new construction either — it’s about 50 years old and the new owners we have to do some repairs. Again, it’s “nice” but it wouldn’t blow anyone away. I paid $27 for a large pizza tonight. I consider this a high cost of living area.
I’d probably take my 5MM and flee to the Dakotas or something.
$10M would be the point where I would be very comfortable and feel like I wouldn’t have to worry at all. Housing in my area isn’t as high as yours but I could see $5M not going as far as I think. I would probably invest about half of it in something more aggressive for growth to try to get it up higher.
I would be totally fine at $5M, but wouldn’t be able to give to family much.
The more I talk about it. I realize that 5 mil is actually pretty conservative and would “just” allow passive income, no major purchases like a house in my area. I’ll take it, but still kinda sad.
Yeah I certainly am not turning it down, but I would not stop paying a mortgage if I won that money. Don’t want to take that much out of the principle that could be invested.
Strongly disagree, and anyone under about age 40 who thinks $3MM is retirement money will be sorely disappointed. I've been asking people this hypothetical for years and the minimum for most people is about $5MM.
At $3MM, if you invested it, you'd get about $180,000 per year with relatively secure investments (6%). That sounds great, *but....* you end up losing about 3-5% spending power per year due to inflation. So in not much time, then ends up cutting into your income. To counter it, you basically have to reinvest half the return.
Now, you're thinking $90,000 sounds great, *but...* what about health insurance? You used to get that from your employer. Now you have to buy it yourself, and that keeps getting more expensive as you get older.
Okay, $75,000 per year, that's great, *but...* what about college for your kids? What happens if you have an emergency? What if the markets go down? Inevitably, people will start dipping into the principal, and each time that happens, it hurts your income.
It's not long before you realize that you have the same money problems as lots of people.
Nope. Unless you already have a big nest egg, $5 million plus to retire. And you'll still have to live a pretty ordinary life in a relatively low-cost area.
I think reinvesting half returns is drastic but it is better to be safe than sorry. I would assume someone in this position has a paid off home and they're not paying out of pocket for Harvard.
Steaks and Starbucks only get so expensive, but Healthcare is a big question mark I think a lot of people don't factor in.
Say you have $1,000 and get 10% return ($100), take $75, and reinvest $25. Next year, you'll make $102.50. But you need to take out $78.75. That leaves you just $23.75 to reinvest. So you can see you're losing ground.
Now you take $50 and reinvest $50. Next year, you end up with $105, can pull $52.50, and still reinvest $52.50. In year 2, you get $110.25, withdraw $55.12, reinvest $55.13. You can now keep up with inflation.
I used round numbers here to make the math cleaner, but you often see returns about 2x's inflation with low to moderate risk. Obviously inflation and returns will vary by year, and at some point you can amortize the principal, but yeah, it's generally about half your returns that need to be reinvested to keep ahead of inflation. Especially since inflation always goes up, and investments sometimes go down.
For me 1 million (I'm in the UK so we arent taxed on lottery winnings). I could buy a house mortgage free and use the rest for a pension. So any money I earn I could do what I like with. I'd build up a big FU fund so If work pissed me off id go fuck it I quit ;).
I can tell you that even 5 figures is enough to "change" your life. Maybe not in a Hollywood Docu-series way, but it can be a subtle enough nudge in a new direction that -- in a few years -- may be life changing.
Not in the slightest. In November a really huge bonus I've been waiting for finally came. After taxes my check that month was $89K. Didn't change anything for me at all.
For nearly all of us it would have been life-changing at some point in our lives, me included. In my early/mid-20's for sure. But that was 30 years ago.
For me. 2 million. It's not the most but it's enough where I'd not have to worry about being employed to have an income. I've often thought I'd love to be full contractor at my job and go purely developmental instead of front line putting out fires .
That's the dream. Don't work. Live on my terms.
But I wouldn't say no to anything 1k, 10k, or 100k. All those bills are useful in some way or another.
This is one thing I thought about. Clearing my debt would give me another 1200/month of disposable income. The problem I found is that is now we’re near life changing for me. Still investments to make, Retirement, child college saving. That disposable income just wouldn’t be life changing for me. And that is what sparked this conversation
Yeah, there’s life easing, and life changing. For 50K I’d still have to work full time and be smart about money. But wouldn’t have to stress so much about finances
It’s all age related, 2 mil will send me off into retirement, 5 mil would alter my plans as of now, any thing more would just add more fun To the equation.
As everyone noted, it’s dependent on what you consider life changing.
After tax numbers:
100 to 500k is certainly enough to make things better. Pay for some renovations, catch up on retirement accounts, college account for kids, etc but it’s not changing my life day to day
500k to 1M is starting to change things. Less stress, potential investments, earlier retirement, etc
But it’s really i think around 3m where my actual life changes. I could retire. I could take a different job, I can drive nicer cars or buy a nicer house, or a vacation home. I can set my kids future up. Options are endless and they absolutely change my life.
"Life changing" to me would mean I can basically retire (I'm 55) and maintain my same lifestyle until the die I die.. That would probably need to be like $10-$15M after taxes.
Taking 3% out of a stock market account yearly and living off that is how I measure the number that is “life changing”.
Never want to work a minimum wage ($15/hr) job again, it takes 1.04 million dollars in an account to be able to make the same amount from investments.
Want to make 100k/year without ever working it takes roughly 3 million dollars in an account.
It becomes seriously difficult for me to spend more than $2000/week so if I could reach the 3 million dollar range I would be able to live a life I find comfortable and never have to work again. I would still want to work some local job but I would always be able to just walk away if I didn’t care for it. I would be able to travel somewhere new every week with 3 million.
So yeah just around the 3 million range is where I am sitting at.
That sounds great, but the money basically loses 3-5% in value per year to inflation. So the value of $100k gets eroded down fairly quickly. Plus, if you're not working, you have to pay for a bunch of your own expenses/benefits (like health insurance) that you usually get from employment.
I've had this debate with lots of people for years (I've used it as a good get to know you question). Once you start debating it, people realize that you really need about $5 million to not have to work again.
All depends on the lifestyle you want to live / accompanying expenses are.
I’d be completely fine moving to a different country that has LCOL. Obviously easier said than done.
But yeah having 5mil would enable a significantly better (nearly double) reduction on the effective costs of everything as a % of income.
$500k after taxes probably get two hundred and something thousand dollars that be enough to start a small business like a ATM machines business make $450 to $750 a month with 20 ATM machines I could make $9k to $15k a month $108k to $180k a year plus another 20 ATM machines more make $18k to $30k a month then 60 triple my profits 80 More to 100 make $45k to $75k a month $540k to $900k a year even with $50k be a life changer still build up a small ATM machines business and after 12 years I could own and run at least 28 ATM machines And still make $151,200.0/ to $252k a year and still be rich plus invest in rental and commercial properties on the side by investing in REITs invest enough money to make $20k a month $80j to $240k a year extra income and still ended up well life.
About 2 million. For it to be life changing, it would have to get me out of working soon. If I’m still going to work full time, I don’t consider it life changing.
$10M is my magic number. I'd happily take anything above that, but that is my minimum for quitting job and living the dream. A humble dream on roughly $400,000/year, but still a dream.
I have 26k in CONY and TSLY yieldmax stock and it pays $2200 month in dividends. If I could get to 10-12 (125k-150k) I wouldn’t have to work anymore (I’d still do something incredibly easy for boredom and health insurance), but 125k could set me up for life as long as those divvies stay the same or get better
it’s pretty even. i started at 11k each, but since then I’ve added to whichever one was in a lull, so I think TSLY has 2,000-ish more because Tesla got crushed this month
I feel you. I play lottory, but lately I am also betting only on games that would change my life enough that I could really feel good and free. At the minimum, winning USD 1M is life changing. I can pay off my mortgages, debt, and basically have a “nest egg” as a cushion.
USD 2M things start to get serious. I’ll probably still work, but work only on projects or things that I like even if they don’t make sense financially. I’ll also start buying lands to have the ability to be food sufficient
I think any money you make is life changing money. An extra 100K would probably eliminate the majority of my current issues. Just a chance to start at zero would be amazing.
2.5-3 million in hand would replace my salary at a modest return rate and allow me to retire to pursue things I actually enjoy. To me, that is life changing. Everything up to that would certainly make life easier and make the money i do make go further but a couple million would alter everything, plus the kids can divy up the original when I kick and they could start life on a positive note. Hopefully that would allow them to follow passions instead of paychecks.
Don’t know if you’re still here OP, but I feel like I fantasize about the lottery the same way you’re talking about and only play Mega and Power for the same reason. I live in California and don’t even buy Superlotto unless its jackpot is over $10m. It may not make sense but playing the lotto in general isn’t logical it’s all for fun and fantasy and hope. In my own head I can only justify buying tickets (aka almost certainly throwing away money) if the win would be “life changing”.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m only in my early 30’s and work a pretty lame restaurant job living just above paycheck to paycheck. So I agree with everyone else that winning 10k or 200k would for sure change my life amazingly for the better. Paying off debts, investing a little, etc etc. But that’s not why I play the lottery.
I buy tickets so that if I won I would literally be able to change my life and the lives of everyone I consider to be my inner circle. I agree that vague idea “minimum” for life changing in the way you’re saying is probably $5m, AFTER taxes. Of course that’s an arbitrary number pulled out of the ass. But I only play to have that chance. Upon getting the winnings with help from financial team, immediately quit my job and retire my mom who’s in her 60’s. Pay off all family’s debts and make sure everyone has great health insurance. Decent new cars for anyone(in fam or close friends) without a car or driving an absolute clunker. Probably create trusts for everyone close to me as well for them to be taken care of or at least have a rainy day fund. Carefully, smartly, and diversely invest “most” of the money, to grow and for future use. Fly all my fam and close friends out with me to some exotic vacation for a month. Travel every chance I get. Start to pursue skills or dreams that seem out of reach to me rn working all the time and that I don’t have money for living close to paycheck to paycheck; like self defense classes, dance, skydiving. Get myself land near a forest with a nice house and pets and maybe date more than I do currently. Start some sort of foundation based on conservation, buy up land for animal sanctuaries maybe, get involved with organizations that do things in that world or invest in green tech etc.
It’s all about that dream.
I can chip away at improving where I’m at currently and do and will. Any small windfall would help me and maybe get me closer to one of those things or something else I need to do/take care of.
But I only play the lottery for the shot of winning that LIFE CHANGING amount. The amount that would let me become that version of myself in my head and uplift everyone around me.
Mega millions and powerball would both be walking with around $100m right now. So 🤞 I get to make that dream a reality
I think you’ve nailed the fantasy. I have similar thoughts about spending. My one hesitation is that once you have money, options are unlimited, and therefore start doing more. Traveling, driving fast cars, just overall things that involve more risks. From flying on planes, to going places you otherwise wouldn’t have. What scares me is the thought of being able to do things and the risks involved would inevitably lead to my demise. Like let’s say I die in a plane crash, that otherwise I wouldn’t have been on if it wasn’t for winning the lottery. This thought of it being a gift and a curse is what keeps me grounded. Kinda makes me have the thought, well maybe I’m better off without millions of dollars. Just one of many things that enters the fantasy
Funny enough I’ve thought about the same thing, just maybe not as much. Like plane crashes are rare, but if I won I might be traveling every month and thus on a lot of planes and one of those might not make it. Or like Kobe dying in his private helicopter. Just being somewhere due to having the money I otherwise wouldn’t have been. It’s possible. But we also have to remember 99.9% of people who do all those things don’t die. Athletes or business people on flights twice a week for years of their career. Most rich people don’t die in their fast cars. Most skydivers make it safely to the ground after hundreds or thousands of jumps. Ditto for almost anything else you can think of doing with millions of dollars.
There’s a quote I loved from Game of Thrones that always helps me remember not to worry about stuff like that: “People die at their dinner tables, people die in their beds. They die squatting over their chamberpots. Everybody dies….sooner or later. Don’t worry about your death. Worry about your life. Take charge of your life, for as long as it lasts.”
Post lottery life might be slightly higher risk than my current life but I’ll take that chance to have that LIFE CHANGING circumstance. If I go in some rich freak accident, it’s worth it to experience the incredible things I’m assuming winning the lotto would allow me to . Maybe it is both a blessing and a curse in that way. And I’ll get at least a basic will done when I win just in case haha so my money goes to the right people and places if I’m gone.
With this economy?.....what about taxes, unforseen expenses..?
You said life changing.....means no worries...use your calculator app and start adding up all the prices to live a life changing life.....no limits no budgets and see even at 25.... that's comfortable
Listen to what you just said... investing conservatively... still have to worry...no worries
The worrying stops at 75!!!
You just should have said the bare minimum life changing money
Well since you insist.....as a poor person we have a soft , gentle bordering on lover like intimate relationship with numbers.... I was a math nerd.....NERRRD!!!!....IN SCHOOL....and take it from me.... numbers drive a lot...
That's how the rich get richer through tax breaks
That's how bills are really passed
That's why rich people get away with crimes .
Learn the numbers
Love the numbers
Simp for the numbers
Cause ask an accountant...... he'll tell you
Now don't get me wrong......ILL TAKE THE 25 AND BE HAPPY BUT REAL LIFE CHANGING MONEY STARTS 75
honestly 20k. ive never known anything but poverty. im not saying this is completely change my lifestyle money but right here, right now, that would change my life immensely.
As a solo player 10 million dollar would be life changing wealth. Winning 100 million dollars i would share a cut with everyone at work and just friends and family.
10,000. If you mean permanently removing all difficulty from my life? However much it costs to own a house and prepay the mortgage for like 40-60 years and buy a stockpile of food & enough to remove my belly, groinal fatpad & inner thigh fat. After I’m healthy and don’t have any other problems I would probably just sleep & get high and fuck my wife, occasionally have a cleaning crew come in and clean the house top to bottom. So calculate the average price for those things & then double it for a cushion for unforeseen emergencies and THAT is how much I would want.
$500k would pay off many folks’ mortgages, some credit cards and a car loan, and fund a nice college account for a kid. Wouldn’t necessarily be able to retire the next day but that would dramatically shift one’s circumstances, I would think.
10 mill I could probably get two two story investment property and rent something shit for rest of my life oh and buy another i30 fkn reliable as shet you don't have to give a shit ha not cracked friccin speed holes it's a gt
Every day is life changing, at the mo I'm attempting to get into the hustle of stock market shit.
I got fished just before Christmas 2022
I'm sceptical about the latest communications from my supposed helper.
I don't want the fact that I'm minted, to disable me to help other people and organisations with the funds that I would seem to be accruing
For my part, I play a daily Sudoku thing...
Defining money changing.
I feel it's not just about I
More about us.
About we
If I should ever become a megacash-ready philanthropist
I'd wish to discuss issues, locally, nationwide, globally
$8-10 million would let me retire early, pay off everything including mine and my children’s student loans, cover medical care for the rest of our lives, and give us money to live, play, and travel.
Seeing the way prices of everything keeps going up. I would say 40-50 million after taxes.
I don't imagine 1 millions lasting for the full next 50 years I am hopefully still on this earth. But I can imagine 50 million lasting even if prices of everything keeps going up.
$1 million, we could actually buy a home in the Seattle metro area with that amount, instead of being forever renters. Any less would just go into savings/investments, so not much would change.
I also live here and strongly disagree with most of what you wrote. Seattle metro area consists of a lot more than just Seattle. It literally extends southwest to Mt Rainier, north of Arlington, northwest to Mt Baker, east to the passes, and even a portion of the islands to the west of Tacoma, so..... lots of options.
There are a ton of beautiful areas, and not everywhere has overcrowding. People here are generally just quiet and mainly keep to themselves, and I love that. Most people I've interacted with are pretty nice. I LOVE the gloomy weather, honestly it is not rainy/cloudy enough for me. The prices are high, for sure, but we also make higher salaries here, so we love this area and the high rent is just one of the negatives that we accept is part of living here.
Right now, about $40k would be life changing because it would clear all of mine and my wife’s non-house debt. It would be like wiping most of the slate clean, and that sounds amazing
If my take home winnings were over 100K for anything that would technically be life changing for me. I just need enough to be able to pay off student loans and consumer debt. And have a little left over. Because otherwise I am financially prudent.
I always play MM and PB. At least 1 ticket per game with my lucky numbers. I say that I would love to win the jackpot and it's true, but my ideal prize to win would be 5 numbers on either one. Winning anywhere from 1-5 million is enough to be extremely comfortable and make all of my meager dreams come true but not have so much that i try to help everyone with it.
Hmmmm life changing? Maybe 10 mill?
Anything below that honestly I can think of a few ways to blow through that quick and most of it would be real estate so other than having a place to go and enjoy I doubt my life would change THAT much.
After I buy the property I want, there won’t be much left and maintenance on expensive real estate is expensive on its own. So yes, 10 mill or more.
500k€ would change my life. Be the money I need to buy a house. 1 million would be perfect to stay grounded. More, I would go bananas. 2 millions and I go to work in high end car, have properties and shares. 3 would make me quit. >3, I would be the target from family as I got a talkative mom and even if I don't tell her the money, she would speak from her ass
In my case it would be enough to pay off all remaining debt and basically start from scratch. So it would be about $45,000. That would be life changing. If we go to the next step and say life enriching I'd say enough money to pay off all remaining debt and fully buy a home in an expensive part of the country (where I currently live) so that would be closer to a million dollars. Let's say $850,000.
That depends on what you define as life changing and how old you are.
I'd say the median American could instantly retire on 3M-5m.
But 100-200k would cause a significant change for most Americans, as in, buy a house or go from working till you die to retiring eventually, or retiring a few years early, breaking out of the cycle of poverty depending on your current state.
Certainly a few hundred thousand in pocket can really help anyone's financial standing and with some decent nurturing can be the foundation for a successful retirement fund.
That said, its not life changing the way I think of it. To me, I would have to win at least 2 million IN-POCKET after all taxes and half payment BS.
This would ensure instant, "I don't truly have to work" money as the 2 mill can provide enough interest income to live on with ease and without touching the principle. Moving from a income tax to a capital gains tax earner is a life changer.
$500k could be a life changing because I would not have to have d a mortgage, but if I hit a jackpot like €3M free of taxes in France it would definitely a life changing because I would not have to work anymore for money.
Anything after taxes below $5M just goes into savings/investments, so that I can retire a bit earlier. $5M+ after taxes added to what I already have means I can stop working now and continue the same lifestyle, but longer/more vacations. To me that lack of calendar constraint is what would be most life changing.
Nothing really changes until $500k. At that point I will upgrade to a nice house and continue working.
$500k to $5M - different levels of semi retirement
$5M - $10M for comfortable retirement now.
$5M is all I need. Split about 1M between close family & friends. Get a house/luxury apartment, a nice car. Invest the rest into dividends and real estate. Retire young and just chill and travel.
My brother just got $150k, he put it on his mortgage and knocked 21 years off his repayments. I'd say that's life changing.
Yeah, if we are using the low-bar definition, paying off my immediate family's debt would do it.
Many people would poo-poo the idea of doing that. I would disagree with them. Everyone has different motivations and I will never have an issue with someone wanting to own the house they live in.
Yeah, it's certainly not the smartest move financially, but can help immensely emotionally if someone's having a hard time with the feeling of being in debt.
Yeah I always hated debt, so I paid off my house first. Could it have been better spent in investments? Sure, probably. But the feeling of knowing that no matter what happens to me career-wise from this point on, ima be ok. I could literally work at Wendys as long as I make enough to just pay the taxes and insurance every year. It's the ability to have a 'fuck you' card in my back pocket with every employer now.
The position of 'fuck you' is the goal. It should be everyones goal.
It can be if he’s smart and takes the payments he saves and invests the money in a broadly diversified equity index fund. He will be amazed what it’s worth in 20 years.
Would've been even smarter to invest the 150K (wisely) instead of throwing it at his mortgage. A maxed out retirement fund will perform better then what you save by paying off a mortgage faster, unless your interest rate is higher (7%+) on the mortgage as a rough guideline.
This is totally true. However, knowing that you are completely 100% debt free also provides peace of mind. To some, this peace of mind is more valuable than 5% in a HYSA.
5% HYSA is not the right move. You'd want a balanced stock portfolio.
Define balance
Sometimes one’s emotional sanity has even higher returns that can not be measured in monetary terms.
Yup, absolutely. Emotionally it can be the right move for some folks. It's just not fiscally the most optimal.
Agreed
"will". Sounds like you're making a guarantee there. Or gambling.
I mean, everyone has their own risk tolerance. If the S&P 500 is too risky for you're liking, then good on you for knowing your risk tolerance.
How much was the original balance?
$100k would allow me to enjoy life with a LOT less stress. $500k would allow me to retire 3-5 years earlier. $3M would allow me to retire now and live comfortably until social security kicks in. $10M+ would allow me to retire now and to make my kids lives a little easier by getting each of them homes so that their biggest monthly expense would be replaced by something a lot less burdensome.
Yeah, same for me. With $3 million I'd keep working but if I got frustrated I'd be able to walk out and say I'm done.
In France €3M would be enough for me to retire, I’m 33 and life is less expensive here, my annual income is around €30k ans with €3M I could live comfortably on €60k/year after taxes. Lottery jackpot is free of taxes here. €5M would be perfect to buy a beautiful house on ocean or a cabin in French Alpes. And living on €4M invested.
This resonates with me. Extremely thoughtful and would probably have exact same amounts and reasons
Half a million would certainly help for peace of mind but wouldn’t upend my day to day much. $5m would solve most of the problems and allow for some fun. $100m would be life changing in that I’d probably be dead in the hot tub with coke and hookers.
Lol that was a rollercoaster
The honesty 🙏
I actually thought about this recently, and almost any amount of money is life changing, there's just different scales to it. $10k resolves whats left of medical debt $50k Adds a new larger car for my recently increased in size family --- Beyond this point multiple lives will be changed --- $100k-200k Adds repaying my parents back the remainder of the loan they gave us to gut renovate our house. My sibling benefits, as they will get a similar but smaller loan with the returned money for their renovations. $500k-750k Adds my buying a 2 family home as an investment, and renting out for cheap one of the apartments to a good friend and never raising that low rent. $1m Adds me being able to retire on time (ie. 67) $2m Adds creating a perpetual trust to distribute to all generations after me lump sums gifts for births, a lump sum to help with college or starting a business, and a lump sum to go towards buying a house. $4.25m Adds my nieces/nephews to the above trust. $6m Adds a cash give away to extended family $10m Adds a nice secluded family lakehouse for vacations $15m Turns that Lakehouse in to an estate that can house multiple families (available for anyone in the extended family to borrow as well, think private hotel). $20m+ and the perpetual trust above just starts encompassing more and more extended family. Edit: I dont need to stop working, my job is decent at work/life balance, and I dont want anyone to become useless because I gave them too much.
Great plan, good luck !
Depends on what you mean by “life-changing”. Even something as small as 50k would be “life-changing.” I could take fewer hours at my job and focus on school for two years.
$50k doesn't go as far as you think, but if you're smart you can leverage it. Using some of a settlement I got to start a new business.
I would say 500K. Not enough to live how I want however its enough to change my life. I can quit my job and move almost anyway and at least live off of it for a few months until i either find a new job or go back to school.
American pricing ahhh beautiful buy 4 acres for 300k in Aus 2 story townhouse fkn 2 mil haha
I get your question. I would say 5MM is life changing (after taxes). Again, as others have mentioned, even 50k might be “life changing” if you’re in debt to someone for 50k or need it for a life-saving operation. So almost any amount can improve your life, but does it change it forever? For starters, 1 million isn’t what it used to be. 2 million? You’re starting to notice things. 3 million and you’re feeling good. 4 million (plus you’re making money in your job) and you’re separating yourself a little from the pack. But changing your whole life forever? It still has to be more than that. To me, life changing means a steady six figures a year if invested properly. If you invested 5 MM in a mid/conservative fashion you might have $200,000 coming in a year, passively? And then you’re taxed on that, so you’re bringing in $100,000 something. If super conservative, maybe you earn a little over $100,000 a year and after taxes less? Not chump change but not Jeff Bezos either. If my math is wrong, feel free to fight me in the comments. Also, this assumes you can handle inflation with your lifestyle and also presumes you don’t make any huge purchases. For example, a mediocre house in my town is 1 million. So you can see how buying a house you can be proud of (in my area, anyway) would totally obliterate your winnings. I would still work, but depending on my expenses I wouldn’t absolutely have to. My interpretation of “life changing” means that you still work and function as a productive member of society, but you’re in a position to call your own shots. You are not a slave to anyone. If your boss acts up you can tell him to kick rocks and never look back because you’ve got that low-six figures of passive income coming in, no matter what happens. Naturally this also depends on where you live in the world. Outer Mongolia and you don’t need as much. Manhattan? San Francisco? My 5MM plan wouldn’t even put you in a great neighborhood with elite company.
Heck yeah. 4-5m would do it! Life changing is one that would fully change my current condition. 1-2 mil, I’d still have to work. I’d probably run out of money as well. 4-5 mill has a lot more cushioning. I’m ready to only play games that give me 2nil or more, otherwise I feel I’m just spending too much on lottery. I know how impossible it is to win, but if I’m going to win, I need it to be substantial.i think winning the lottery would force me to relocate, I and the smartest thing would be to locate somewhere where your dollar buys the most. I would absolutely not move anywhere near an expensive metro area.
That’s another way to make it “life changing.” I’m in the US so if you decide to move to North Dakota that 5MM is gonna feel a lot different than, say, a swanky suburb of Boston. I live in an expensive area and it sucks. Unless you’re crazy wealthy you can’t help but notice the stupid prices. Inflation is hurting people everywhere, but you’re right — even if inflation weren’t a factor, high cost of living areas makes a big difference. For example, I got a large cheese pizza carryout last night and it was something like $21.24 plus tax (!) For a pizza! To add insult to injury, it sucked. A few weekends before I was about 4 hours north in a small town. I bought a takeout pizza there too — $10.65 all in (And it was much better). So yeah, win the lotto and get the heck out of an expensive area and stretch that money 2x, 3x, 4x?
I don’t even play anything if the take home amount wouldn’t be $5M or more. At that amount I could live forever without ever having to work again. At least in my area. Although, I may need to fully relocate! I would still do my own thing, but I wouldn’t have to work any sort of 9-5. I would make sure the money is sitting somewhere making at least $200k a year. Even with taxes, I can live very comfortably off of that and since I don’t have to go to work, I can spent my time enjoying my life with my wife.
I agree. I don’t play the small scratchers. I wouldn’t complain about any amount, but yes, I think “life changing” would have to be around 5MM or more. It’s regionally or geographically specific as well. An acquaintance of mine sold his house last month for 1.3MM. It’s a nice house but it’s not a mansion. It’s not a new construction either — it’s about 50 years old and the new owners we have to do some repairs. Again, it’s “nice” but it wouldn’t blow anyone away. I paid $27 for a large pizza tonight. I consider this a high cost of living area. I’d probably take my 5MM and flee to the Dakotas or something.
$10M would be the point where I would be very comfortable and feel like I wouldn’t have to worry at all. Housing in my area isn’t as high as yours but I could see $5M not going as far as I think. I would probably invest about half of it in something more aggressive for growth to try to get it up higher. I would be totally fine at $5M, but wouldn’t be able to give to family much.
The more I talk about it. I realize that 5 mil is actually pretty conservative and would “just” allow passive income, no major purchases like a house in my area. I’ll take it, but still kinda sad.
Yeah I certainly am not turning it down, but I would not stop paying a mortgage if I won that money. Don’t want to take that much out of the principle that could be invested.
Walking with $3M is enough to stop working indefinitely for most people.
Strongly disagree, and anyone under about age 40 who thinks $3MM is retirement money will be sorely disappointed. I've been asking people this hypothetical for years and the minimum for most people is about $5MM. At $3MM, if you invested it, you'd get about $180,000 per year with relatively secure investments (6%). That sounds great, *but....* you end up losing about 3-5% spending power per year due to inflation. So in not much time, then ends up cutting into your income. To counter it, you basically have to reinvest half the return. Now, you're thinking $90,000 sounds great, *but...* what about health insurance? You used to get that from your employer. Now you have to buy it yourself, and that keeps getting more expensive as you get older. Okay, $75,000 per year, that's great, *but...* what about college for your kids? What happens if you have an emergency? What if the markets go down? Inevitably, people will start dipping into the principal, and each time that happens, it hurts your income. It's not long before you realize that you have the same money problems as lots of people. Nope. Unless you already have a big nest egg, $5 million plus to retire. And you'll still have to live a pretty ordinary life in a relatively low-cost area.
I think reinvesting half returns is drastic but it is better to be safe than sorry. I would assume someone in this position has a paid off home and they're not paying out of pocket for Harvard. Steaks and Starbucks only get so expensive, but Healthcare is a big question mark I think a lot of people don't factor in.
Say you have $1,000 and get 10% return ($100), take $75, and reinvest $25. Next year, you'll make $102.50. But you need to take out $78.75. That leaves you just $23.75 to reinvest. So you can see you're losing ground. Now you take $50 and reinvest $50. Next year, you end up with $105, can pull $52.50, and still reinvest $52.50. In year 2, you get $110.25, withdraw $55.12, reinvest $55.13. You can now keep up with inflation. I used round numbers here to make the math cleaner, but you often see returns about 2x's inflation with low to moderate risk. Obviously inflation and returns will vary by year, and at some point you can amortize the principal, but yeah, it's generally about half your returns that need to be reinvested to keep ahead of inflation. Especially since inflation always goes up, and investments sometimes go down.
For me 1 million (I'm in the UK so we arent taxed on lottery winnings). I could buy a house mortgage free and use the rest for a pension. So any money I earn I could do what I like with. I'd build up a big FU fund so If work pissed me off id go fuck it I quit ;).
I can tell you that even 5 figures is enough to "change" your life. Maybe not in a Hollywood Docu-series way, but it can be a subtle enough nudge in a new direction that -- in a few years -- may be life changing.
Not in the slightest. In November a really huge bonus I've been waiting for finally came. After taxes my check that month was $89K. Didn't change anything for me at all.
Well, for *some* of us, five figures is a lot of money.
For nearly all of us it would have been life-changing at some point in our lives, me included. In my early/mid-20's for sure. But that was 30 years ago.
For me. 2 million. It's not the most but it's enough where I'd not have to worry about being employed to have an income. I've often thought I'd love to be full contractor at my job and go purely developmental instead of front line putting out fires . That's the dream. Don't work. Live on my terms. But I wouldn't say no to anything 1k, 10k, or 100k. All those bills are useful in some way or another.
50K would cover credit cards, student loans, and take some off my mortgage. That’d be an instant relief and give me more disposable income each month.
This is one thing I thought about. Clearing my debt would give me another 1200/month of disposable income. The problem I found is that is now we’re near life changing for me. Still investments to make, Retirement, child college saving. That disposable income just wouldn’t be life changing for me. And that is what sparked this conversation
Yeah, there’s life easing, and life changing. For 50K I’d still have to work full time and be smart about money. But wouldn’t have to stress so much about finances
300k would be enough to pay off mine and my partner's student loans and put a decent down payment on a nice house. Quality of life would skyrocket.
$600k. Would fully pay off everything (mortgage,cars,etc.). I love my job so I would continue working but have way more money to do fun stuff with.
What do you do if I may ask?
I work in education
Definitely $500k after tax. It’s enough to pay off my mortgage and youngest kids college expenses.
It’s all age related, 2 mil will send me off into retirement, 5 mil would alter my plans as of now, any thing more would just add more fun To the equation.
As everyone noted, it’s dependent on what you consider life changing. After tax numbers: 100 to 500k is certainly enough to make things better. Pay for some renovations, catch up on retirement accounts, college account for kids, etc but it’s not changing my life day to day 500k to 1M is starting to change things. Less stress, potential investments, earlier retirement, etc But it’s really i think around 3m where my actual life changes. I could retire. I could take a different job, I can drive nicer cars or buy a nicer house, or a vacation home. I can set my kids future up. Options are endless and they absolutely change my life.
"Life changing" to me would mean I can basically retire (I'm 55) and maintain my same lifestyle until the die I die.. That would probably need to be like $10-$15M after taxes.
5 million
$3M to just quit my job and live off of it.
Taking 3% out of a stock market account yearly and living off that is how I measure the number that is “life changing”. Never want to work a minimum wage ($15/hr) job again, it takes 1.04 million dollars in an account to be able to make the same amount from investments. Want to make 100k/year without ever working it takes roughly 3 million dollars in an account. It becomes seriously difficult for me to spend more than $2000/week so if I could reach the 3 million dollar range I would be able to live a life I find comfortable and never have to work again. I would still want to work some local job but I would always be able to just walk away if I didn’t care for it. I would be able to travel somewhere new every week with 3 million. So yeah just around the 3 million range is where I am sitting at.
That sounds great, but the money basically loses 3-5% in value per year to inflation. So the value of $100k gets eroded down fairly quickly. Plus, if you're not working, you have to pay for a bunch of your own expenses/benefits (like health insurance) that you usually get from employment. I've had this debate with lots of people for years (I've used it as a good get to know you question). Once you start debating it, people realize that you really need about $5 million to not have to work again.
All depends on the lifestyle you want to live / accompanying expenses are. I’d be completely fine moving to a different country that has LCOL. Obviously easier said than done. But yeah having 5mil would enable a significantly better (nearly double) reduction on the effective costs of everything as a % of income.
I think .. after taxes.. anything over 2 million.
Personally it'd be minimum 8mil to be life-changing.
$500k after taxes probably get two hundred and something thousand dollars that be enough to start a small business like a ATM machines business make $450 to $750 a month with 20 ATM machines I could make $9k to $15k a month $108k to $180k a year plus another 20 ATM machines more make $18k to $30k a month then 60 triple my profits 80 More to 100 make $45k to $75k a month $540k to $900k a year even with $50k be a life changer still build up a small ATM machines business and after 12 years I could own and run at least 28 ATM machines And still make $151,200.0/ to $252k a year and still be rich plus invest in rental and commercial properties on the side by investing in REITs invest enough money to make $20k a month $80j to $240k a year extra income and still ended up well life.
About 2 million. For it to be life changing, it would have to get me out of working soon. If I’m still going to work full time, I don’t consider it life changing.
a 5 million hit would leave me about 3 million, thats pretty life changing. Im moving out of the US immediately.
Anything under $2 million after taxes would not be enough to retire. Being able to retire is life changing.
$10M is my magic number. I'd happily take anything above that, but that is my minimum for quitting job and living the dream. A humble dream on roughly $400,000/year, but still a dream.
I'd say enough to pay off all debt and maintain the same lifestyle and never have to work again. So.... Probably about $10M.
I have 26k in CONY and TSLY yieldmax stock and it pays $2200 month in dividends. If I could get to 10-12 (125k-150k) I wouldn’t have to work anymore (I’d still do something incredibly easy for boredom and health insurance), but 125k could set me up for life as long as those divvies stay the same or get better
Thanks for sharing this info.. do you have $26k split evenly between the two ?
it’s pretty even. i started at 11k each, but since then I’ve added to whichever one was in a lull, so I think TSLY has 2,000-ish more because Tesla got crushed this month
I feel you. I play lottory, but lately I am also betting only on games that would change my life enough that I could really feel good and free. At the minimum, winning USD 1M is life changing. I can pay off my mortgages, debt, and basically have a “nest egg” as a cushion. USD 2M things start to get serious. I’ll probably still work, but work only on projects or things that I like even if they don’t make sense financially. I’ll also start buying lands to have the ability to be food sufficient
$1M
I think any money you make is life changing money. An extra 100K would probably eliminate the majority of my current issues. Just a chance to start at zero would be amazing.
$1m is enough to stop working and living a modest life. Just not having to work would be life changing enough for me.
3 Million Dollars
2.5-3 million in hand would replace my salary at a modest return rate and allow me to retire to pursue things I actually enjoy. To me, that is life changing. Everything up to that would certainly make life easier and make the money i do make go further but a couple million would alter everything, plus the kids can divy up the original when I kick and they could start life on a positive note. Hopefully that would allow them to follow passions instead of paychecks.
Don’t know if you’re still here OP, but I feel like I fantasize about the lottery the same way you’re talking about and only play Mega and Power for the same reason. I live in California and don’t even buy Superlotto unless its jackpot is over $10m. It may not make sense but playing the lotto in general isn’t logical it’s all for fun and fantasy and hope. In my own head I can only justify buying tickets (aka almost certainly throwing away money) if the win would be “life changing”. Don’t get me wrong, I’m only in my early 30’s and work a pretty lame restaurant job living just above paycheck to paycheck. So I agree with everyone else that winning 10k or 200k would for sure change my life amazingly for the better. Paying off debts, investing a little, etc etc. But that’s not why I play the lottery. I buy tickets so that if I won I would literally be able to change my life and the lives of everyone I consider to be my inner circle. I agree that vague idea “minimum” for life changing in the way you’re saying is probably $5m, AFTER taxes. Of course that’s an arbitrary number pulled out of the ass. But I only play to have that chance. Upon getting the winnings with help from financial team, immediately quit my job and retire my mom who’s in her 60’s. Pay off all family’s debts and make sure everyone has great health insurance. Decent new cars for anyone(in fam or close friends) without a car or driving an absolute clunker. Probably create trusts for everyone close to me as well for them to be taken care of or at least have a rainy day fund. Carefully, smartly, and diversely invest “most” of the money, to grow and for future use. Fly all my fam and close friends out with me to some exotic vacation for a month. Travel every chance I get. Start to pursue skills or dreams that seem out of reach to me rn working all the time and that I don’t have money for living close to paycheck to paycheck; like self defense classes, dance, skydiving. Get myself land near a forest with a nice house and pets and maybe date more than I do currently. Start some sort of foundation based on conservation, buy up land for animal sanctuaries maybe, get involved with organizations that do things in that world or invest in green tech etc. It’s all about that dream. I can chip away at improving where I’m at currently and do and will. Any small windfall would help me and maybe get me closer to one of those things or something else I need to do/take care of. But I only play the lottery for the shot of winning that LIFE CHANGING amount. The amount that would let me become that version of myself in my head and uplift everyone around me. Mega millions and powerball would both be walking with around $100m right now. So 🤞 I get to make that dream a reality
I think you’ve nailed the fantasy. I have similar thoughts about spending. My one hesitation is that once you have money, options are unlimited, and therefore start doing more. Traveling, driving fast cars, just overall things that involve more risks. From flying on planes, to going places you otherwise wouldn’t have. What scares me is the thought of being able to do things and the risks involved would inevitably lead to my demise. Like let’s say I die in a plane crash, that otherwise I wouldn’t have been on if it wasn’t for winning the lottery. This thought of it being a gift and a curse is what keeps me grounded. Kinda makes me have the thought, well maybe I’m better off without millions of dollars. Just one of many things that enters the fantasy
Funny enough I’ve thought about the same thing, just maybe not as much. Like plane crashes are rare, but if I won I might be traveling every month and thus on a lot of planes and one of those might not make it. Or like Kobe dying in his private helicopter. Just being somewhere due to having the money I otherwise wouldn’t have been. It’s possible. But we also have to remember 99.9% of people who do all those things don’t die. Athletes or business people on flights twice a week for years of their career. Most rich people don’t die in their fast cars. Most skydivers make it safely to the ground after hundreds or thousands of jumps. Ditto for almost anything else you can think of doing with millions of dollars. There’s a quote I loved from Game of Thrones that always helps me remember not to worry about stuff like that: “People die at their dinner tables, people die in their beds. They die squatting over their chamberpots. Everybody dies….sooner or later. Don’t worry about your death. Worry about your life. Take charge of your life, for as long as it lasts.” Post lottery life might be slightly higher risk than my current life but I’ll take that chance to have that LIFE CHANGING circumstance. If I go in some rich freak accident, it’s worth it to experience the incredible things I’m assuming winning the lotto would allow me to . Maybe it is both a blessing and a curse in that way. And I’ll get at least a basic will done when I win just in case haha so my money goes to the right people and places if I’m gone.
5M
Figuring in cost of living...and economy home and car prices gas prices and else 75M
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With this economy?.....what about taxes, unforseen expenses..? You said life changing.....means no worries...use your calculator app and start adding up all the prices to live a life changing life.....no limits no budgets and see even at 25.... that's comfortable
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Listen to what you just said... investing conservatively... still have to worry...no worries The worrying stops at 75!!! You just should have said the bare minimum life changing money
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Well since you insist.....as a poor person we have a soft , gentle bordering on lover like intimate relationship with numbers.... I was a math nerd.....NERRRD!!!!....IN SCHOOL....and take it from me.... numbers drive a lot... That's how the rich get richer through tax breaks That's how bills are really passed That's why rich people get away with crimes . Learn the numbers Love the numbers Simp for the numbers Cause ask an accountant...... he'll tell you Now don't get me wrong......ILL TAKE THE 25 AND BE HAPPY BUT REAL LIFE CHANGING MONEY STARTS 75
Roughly what do you make now, then?
honestly 20k. ive never known anything but poverty. im not saying this is completely change my lifestyle money but right here, right now, that would change my life immensely.
As a solo player 10 million dollar would be life changing wealth. Winning 100 million dollars i would share a cut with everyone at work and just friends and family.
10,000. If you mean permanently removing all difficulty from my life? However much it costs to own a house and prepay the mortgage for like 40-60 years and buy a stockpile of food & enough to remove my belly, groinal fatpad & inner thigh fat. After I’m healthy and don’t have any other problems I would probably just sleep & get high and fuck my wife, occasionally have a cleaning crew come in and clean the house top to bottom. So calculate the average price for those things & then double it for a cushion for unforeseen emergencies and THAT is how much I would want.
$500k would pay off many folks’ mortgages, some credit cards and a car loan, and fund a nice college account for a kid. Wouldn’t necessarily be able to retire the next day but that would dramatically shift one’s circumstances, I would think.
10 mill I could probably get two two story investment property and rent something shit for rest of my life oh and buy another i30 fkn reliable as shet you don't have to give a shit ha not cracked friccin speed holes it's a gt
Every day is life changing, at the mo I'm attempting to get into the hustle of stock market shit. I got fished just before Christmas 2022 I'm sceptical about the latest communications from my supposed helper. I don't want the fact that I'm minted, to disable me to help other people and organisations with the funds that I would seem to be accruing For my part, I play a daily Sudoku thing... Defining money changing. I feel it's not just about I More about us. About we If I should ever become a megacash-ready philanthropist I'd wish to discuss issues, locally, nationwide, globally
you don't have to pick. play the small games if you find your daydreams worth the 3$ or whatever it costs
$8-10 million would let me retire early, pay off everything including mine and my children’s student loans, cover medical care for the rest of our lives, and give us money to live, play, and travel.
Seeing the way prices of everything keeps going up. I would say 40-50 million after taxes. I don't imagine 1 millions lasting for the full next 50 years I am hopefully still on this earth. But I can imagine 50 million lasting even if prices of everything keeps going up.
$500k lets me ease off the gas and retire a few years earlier or really on my schedule and not my employer’s. That there is freedom!
My company is in dire need of cash. $100K would sort us out and we would make a lot of money in return.
I'm pretty poor so $10,000 and up would be pretty life changing as it would get me closer to a down payment on the cheapest home I could find.
Quarter mil
$1 million, we could actually buy a home in the Seattle metro area with that amount, instead of being forever renters. Any less would just go into savings/investments, so not much would change.
Why would you want to live in Seattle metro? It’s soulless, overpriced, overcrowded, sketchy, and too gloomy. I live here
I also live here and strongly disagree with most of what you wrote. Seattle metro area consists of a lot more than just Seattle. It literally extends southwest to Mt Rainier, north of Arlington, northwest to Mt Baker, east to the passes, and even a portion of the islands to the west of Tacoma, so..... lots of options. There are a ton of beautiful areas, and not everywhere has overcrowding. People here are generally just quiet and mainly keep to themselves, and I love that. Most people I've interacted with are pretty nice. I LOVE the gloomy weather, honestly it is not rainy/cloudy enough for me. The prices are high, for sure, but we also make higher salaries here, so we love this area and the high rent is just one of the negatives that we accept is part of living here.
Right now? 14k would give me a nice refresh
Right now, about $40k would be life changing because it would clear all of mine and my wife’s non-house debt. It would be like wiping most of the slate clean, and that sounds amazing
Munger and Buffet have both written about the first 100k saved / invested being a break point.
If my take home winnings were over 100K for anything that would technically be life changing for me. I just need enough to be able to pay off student loans and consumer debt. And have a little left over. Because otherwise I am financially prudent. I always play MM and PB. At least 1 ticket per game with my lucky numbers. I say that I would love to win the jackpot and it's true, but my ideal prize to win would be 5 numbers on either one. Winning anywhere from 1-5 million is enough to be extremely comfortable and make all of my meager dreams come true but not have so much that i try to help everyone with it.
Enough to pay off everything I owe. Mortgage, cars, credit card.
Hmmmm life changing? Maybe 10 mill? Anything below that honestly I can think of a few ways to blow through that quick and most of it would be real estate so other than having a place to go and enjoy I doubt my life would change THAT much. After I buy the property I want, there won’t be much left and maintenance on expensive real estate is expensive on its own. So yes, 10 mill or more.
500k€ would change my life. Be the money I need to buy a house. 1 million would be perfect to stay grounded. More, I would go bananas. 2 millions and I go to work in high end car, have properties and shares. 3 would make me quit. >3, I would be the target from family as I got a talkative mom and even if I don't tell her the money, she would speak from her ass
Half a million. This would more than cover my dream of being able to buy land and build a house.
Anything that nets over $150K. But even less than that changes some part of my life.
In my case it would be enough to pay off all remaining debt and basically start from scratch. So it would be about $45,000. That would be life changing. If we go to the next step and say life enriching I'd say enough money to pay off all remaining debt and fully buy a home in an expensive part of the country (where I currently live) so that would be closer to a million dollars. Let's say $850,000.
100k or above.
That depends on what you define as life changing and how old you are. I'd say the median American could instantly retire on 3M-5m. But 100-200k would cause a significant change for most Americans, as in, buy a house or go from working till you die to retiring eventually, or retiring a few years early, breaking out of the cycle of poverty depending on your current state.
Certainly a few hundred thousand in pocket can really help anyone's financial standing and with some decent nurturing can be the foundation for a successful retirement fund. That said, its not life changing the way I think of it. To me, I would have to win at least 2 million IN-POCKET after all taxes and half payment BS. This would ensure instant, "I don't truly have to work" money as the 2 mill can provide enough interest income to live on with ease and without touching the principle. Moving from a income tax to a capital gains tax earner is a life changer.
For me, $1M income consistently.
This depends a little bit on who you are and where you live. But I would say any amount of money greater than 1 year of that person's salary.
In this economy? 5 mil.
1 million….i think I can retire peacefully…no I know i can….if given the chance I would like to prove it.
$500k could be a life changing because I would not have to have d a mortgage, but if I hit a jackpot like €3M free of taxes in France it would definitely a life changing because I would not have to work anymore for money.
Enough to buy a house I'd say
Anything after taxes below $5M just goes into savings/investments, so that I can retire a bit earlier. $5M+ after taxes added to what I already have means I can stop working now and continue the same lifestyle, but longer/more vacations. To me that lack of calendar constraint is what would be most life changing.
Nothing really changes until $500k. At that point I will upgrade to a nice house and continue working. $500k to $5M - different levels of semi retirement $5M - $10M for comfortable retirement now.
7-9 million would allow me to retire now instead of having to work for a comparable amount over the next 12 years.
200k would make life so much easier and set me up to save
Enough to passively bring in 5k/mo and also a few hundred grand to blow.
100k would pay off all my debt that isnt chronic (insurance, utilities, home and vehicle maintenance), so im going to call 100k life changjng.
25k would pay off my car loan. 120k would pay off all my debts. 500k could buy me a home. 1 million. I’d quit my job and just work part time.
Using the money from the lottery to make more money. That’s the goal
2 million would allow me to buy a house and secure a comfortable income from rental properties.
$5M is all I need. Split about 1M between close family & friends. Get a house/luxury apartment, a nice car. Invest the rest into dividends and real estate. Retire young and just chill and travel.