What would you do with $80,000 a month?

[cartoonfan1983]

I know that Tim says his company Brainquicken LLC makes $80,000 a month. I know that sounds impossible for most of us on these forums right now, but what would you do with that amount of money? I think it would be cool to hear how others would use this income....

[Christoph]

I would eliminate ALL debt. One month would cover my lease, all school loans, all credit card debt, and I'd still have close to $35k left. I can say that if I had that sort of income for even 6 months, I would probably go ahead and call it a day and do more meaningful things...like not sitting in an office, and I would start to travel as soon as I got my hot little hands on my passport.

[Vagabond]

1) Fix up my parents house for them
2) Send my mom on a trip to the grand canyon.
3) Then I would just travel and travel.... live somewhere for a few months then hit the road again...

[Christoph]

I must add more...I answered too early.

One of my main goals in life is to help my Mom in whatever way possible. It is almost my motivation and passion. My father passed when I was a teen, and she has been on her own ever since raising 2 kids...not easy. There were other situations involved with me, but that's not important. What is important, however, is that she has been the cornerstone in my life and made things possible that I never knew I could do.

I would buy her a new house, new car, and invest as much as I could for her. I don't want her to work at a job she hates-which she does.

I can be selfish, yes, but my Mom is the only person I would give it all away to.

[cartoonfan1983]

I think that's awesome that you would do that Christoph. I really have no idea what I would do with it. I tried doing Dreamlines, but all I did was get stuck, stuck, stuck!

[Wooderson316]

To paraphrase one of Tim's lines in the book, "Glow sticks and Ibiza, here I come."

[Vagabond]

To paraphrase one of Tim's lines in the book, "Glow sticks and Ibiza, here I come."


Haha, that line stuck out to me as well ;)

[cheez avenger]

To paraphrase one of Tim's lines in the book, "Glow sticks and Ibiza, here I come."




Niiiice! lol! :D



-cheez avenger

[donthecook]

I'm not really sure that $80k would ever be enough. After taking into consideration the houses (yes, more than one) and vehicles (yes, more than one) and travel between these locations (private jet or commercial first class at the very least) and the occasional dinner and lunch out (Paris is nice for lunch) ... then we add in the language tutors and personal assistants (you expect me to answer a phone???) .. and it starts to add up ... and I have not mentioned exotic resorts and wonderous sightseeing.

A good goal is only a good goal if it gives you that shiver when you think about it.

[Drewkerr]

Thats the thing i don't even need that much. 15 to 20k would be more than enough.

Drew

[RusSEAL]

It's tough to not want to just pound out every debt in the world outside of a year with that kind of income- but I'd definitely set up some kind of automation to take care of the bills and debt- knowing that things like mortgages and insurance have certain tax advantages...

My goals would be in the order of family, self and community...

Care specifically to my family first, followed closely by siblings & parents...

Then those extraneous but within my realm of influance- including certain charities I find of specific identy to me and my family.

Beyond that, certainly the desires of travel and nurturing my children to adulthood would consume my spiritual passions- but I'd fall into film making; I'm talking Lucas or Rodriguez style film making where it's on my time, my budget and my terms... I've been playing the Sepecial Effects two Step for 15 some-odd years now and always at the mercy of the industry and the fickle nature of the media machine.

Some might ask about what Tim's called the "my cause can beat up your cause" ideology but as I see it, who might benefit most from my lifestyle?

A check signed to an organization who whittles my contribution down to pennies on the dollar by the time it gets to those most in need?

Or the direct contributions to the Camera store owner/renter, the computer company that builds my uber editor/fx machine and the grocier who supplies my cast, crew and extras with tasty, well prepared meals? All of which I'll remind you then cascades to the people they in turn would do business with!

Yes- surely there are those that I would give freely- but it would be time- not money...

I play Santa every year for united Cerebral Palsey Schools- I come dressed as an astronaut from one of the suits I'd built for a movie- I bring in SCUBA gear so that they can touch it and listen to someone breathing through the regulator [Darth Vader! they often shriek!]...

What could I do with that kind of income?

More enlargement of myself by kneeling before a child.

Excellent question, 'Crtoon!

[InTN]

$80k a month! Wow! There are a lot of things I would do...

1. Give to my incredible church. I can image the amazing things they'd do with an extra $8,000/month.
2. Pay Uncle Sam...God only knows how much that would be!
3. Pay off all debt
4. Fix up my house
5. Donate to a real cool organization that I passionately believe in.
6. Start an IRA and funds for my kids
7. Buy my husband a more reliable car

THEN....

Travel, Travel, Travel
Take my family to Disneyworld
Sell my house and buy a better one (not huge though)
Hire a housekeeper and a chef
Go to countries to be a part time missionary
Live it up!

[cheez avenger]

I'm not really sure that $80k would ever be enough. After taking into consideration the houses (yes, more than one) and vehicles (yes, more than one) and travel between these locations (private jet or commercial first class at the very least) and the occasional dinner and lunch out (Paris is nice for lunch) ... then we add in the language tutors and personal assistants (you expect me to answer a phone???) .. and it starts to add up ... and I have not mentioned exotic resorts and wonderous sightseeing.

A good goal is only a good goal if it gives you that shiver when you think about it.



Time to get out of that comfort zone. ;)



-cheez avenger

[Batman]

I would take the first months $80,000 convert it to a sack of $10 bills take it home spread it out on my bed and roll in it :cool:

[squeegee]

I like Batman's idea the best :)

[NinjaCOB]

That's too much for me.
If I ever manage to make 5000$ a month and be completely mobile, I will be a bigger success than I thought possible as a child.

But yes with 80 000.

Help my parents.
Take private lessons in Brazilian Jiujitsu.
Take the classes that interest me in University.
Get a better vehicle and a road trip van.
Get a better appartment (maybe house)
Assist the next TED talk (4k) www.tedtalks.com
Probably give a bit of cash to the Richard Dawkins foundation

[AllenGregoryIV]

80k a month, lets see I would...


Learn Ninjitsu
Become a Rally Driver in Europe
Backpack Through Each Continent
Compete in Adventure Races
Help start FIRST Robotics Teams in High Schools
Build a Smart Home and Smart Car

[cartoonfan1983]

80k a month, lets see I would...


Build a Smart Home and Smart Car


wow, that would be a ton of fun! Let me know how that works out.

I was at Barnes & Nobles yesterday afternoon. Surprised to see so many people picking up this book, opening it, sighing, and putting it back down.

[final_id]

I would

... pay someone to sell all my stuff and get me down to three suitcases and an aero-bed ...

... put the areo-bed in the closet at my friends' place ...

... go to Rio de Janeiro ...

:)

[Tony Lukasavage]

I'd find the best neurologist(s) in the world and charge them with the task of fixing my sister, or at least improving her life. She has Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (a severe rare seizure disorder), among other serious ailments, with the intelligence of less than a 2 year old. Yeah, I know it's "impossible", but that's the whole point of this dreamlining, right?

[seven]

Odd as it sounds if I had that kind of money then I'd go ahead and give away/sell pretty much everything I own. No need in keeping it since I can just buy newer/better later on if it turns out that I needed it.

I'd probably do some traveling. Maybe try to try out a career or two that I always thought I'd like.

I can't really imagine having that much income, so I doubt that I really could spend it all.

Ultimately, I think I'd probably end up writiting a travelogue or travel blog and shooting travel documentaries. I'd probably try to sell them to the Travel channel, but since I wouldn't need the money I'd still do it anyway and just sell them direct over the web or put them up for free on youtube.

7

[final_id]

I'd find the best neurologist(s) in the world and charge them with the task of fixing my sister, or at least improving her life. She has Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (a severe rare seizure disorder), among other serious ailments, with the intelligence of less than a 2 year old. Yeah, I know it's "impossible", but that's the whole point of this dreamlining, right?


Wow, that sounds like it's very difficult for your sister, and for her family. I'm very sorry you're struggling with that. Gosh, my own "dreams" seem rather shallow and vaipd, now. :(

[pakprotector]

There is actually an exercise that someone recommended along these lines. The idea was to write down exactly how you would spend an increasing amount of money coming to you. So on one page, write down how you would spend 1000 dollars extra a month. The next page 2k, and double it until you mapped out how you would spend over 12 months (by the 12th page you would have to describe how you would spend over 2mm that month). It was to help you defeat any fear or indecision about having that kind of money, because you will have spent it in your mind already in a clear and detailed way. You should try it sometime. It is not as easy as it may seem. Especially if you take it seriously (no throwing money out of a window, just because its a mental exercise).

Pakprotector

[cartoonfan1983]

There is actually an exercise that someone recommended along these lines. The idea was to write down exactly how you would spend an increasing amount of money coming to you. So on one page, write down how you would spend 1000 dollars extra a month. The next page 2k, and double it until you mapped out how you would spend over 12 months (by the 12th page you would have to describe how you would spend over 2mm that month). It was to help you defeat any fear or indecision about having that kind of money, because you will have spent it in your mind already in a clear and detailed way. You should try it sometime. It is not as easy as it may seem. Especially if you take it seriously (no throwing money out of a window, just because its a mental exercise).

Pakprotector

I tried an exercise just like this before. Very challenging indeed.... I feel like it's definitely worth it though.

[stmartin]

I would start to team up with people all over the world to make great independent video games, while travel around and take up various professions one at a time.

And I'm Chinese and I live in China;)

[final_id]

It always surprises me when people say they would actually do "work" if they had all that money. I personally would never darken the door of an office ever again. For me, "work" is the thing to be avoided, and it is only done in order to gain income. I don't "want" a job, I want an income. So, if I had $80,000.oo a month (or even $5,000.oo a month) from a muse, then, other than maintaining the muse's income flow, I would ...

... travel ... enjoy myself at the beach ... exercise ... go to sidewalk cafes and read the newspaper ... learn French to a level sufficient to read Moliere in the original ... learn German to a level sufficient to read Schiller in the original ... hang out in New York and go to Broadway plays on "pay what you can" nights ... build a singing career as a "torch song" style chanteur (think Maurice Chevalier) ... find very very attractive women and harrass them all day long until they agree to date me (heh, just kidding about the technique, but the goal remains!) ...

So I frankly can NOT understand someone who would "want" to make video games. That isn't "fun" that's "work." More power to ya! Go for it!

But ... why?

[seven]

What's "fun" for one person can easily be "work" for someone else. It's all just semantics and how you personally define the words.

To me "work" is kind of neutral. I can do work that I enjoy and be happy. On, the other hand, I can do work that I don't enjoy and be miserable. When I do the latter because I need the money I call that a "job."

So, for me, I'd like be able to not have a job so that I'd have time to do work that I'd enjoy.

7

[Marcie]

I am doing exactly what I wanted to do that I thought would be fun for the exact company I wanted to work for, and after 5 years, kinda burned out :( So, Yes, I still want to "work" in some shape or form, my interests have just evolved...

[final_id]

Yeah, I "got" the distinction, it wasn't a question for me; I just wanted to "beg" the question for the rest of the discussion. :)

It's funny. I used to complain like hell about my publicist position. It seemed that all I did was sit on my butt in front of a computer answering emails and writing the text of press releases all day. Now that I don't have that job any more, what do I do? Sit on my butt in front of a computer answering emails and writing the text of web posts all day. Humph. :p

[MyOwnSuperhero]

$80k per month is nearly $1 million per year. Sock a lot of that away into savings and investments, and you've already got a $30-70,000 per year income based on interest and returns alone - no work, no job, no nuthin'.

I'd play, alot, but I'd also squirrel a big chunk of my money away to be my future income genrator. How about a ZERO hour workweek?

[final_id]

Well, if I were genuinely "independent" of having to work because of interest and other passive income, I think there would still be about an hour or two a week of "looking after my money." You have to make sure you aren't all bundled up in high-tech stocks just before the dot-com crash; or in too many CDs that come due just as interest rates are plummetting. I personally don't know much about longer-term investing (never had the money to do it!) but I do know that a lot of investing can have the "PITA factor" (pain-in-the-ass) reduced. It's partly outsourcing and partly automating, isn't it?

My general approach would be, to get long-term guaranteed things, mostly in the developed West, and then live below my means. Is there anything else you need to know? I don't think so.

[Bippy]

I would take the first months $80,000 convert it to a sack of $10 bills take it home spread it out on my bed and roll in it :cool:

I'd also have some photographers there to take pictures of me doing that. :)

I'd pay off the rest of my lease, have my friend A move into my apartment and live out my lease (she's in a rough place), sell almost everything I own and whittle the keepsakes (heirlooms, family photograpshs) into enough to fit into a 5X5 storage unit, and then I'd be off to Bali or perhaps the carribiean.

I'd have a cook, a personal trainer that will work with the menus my physical therapist has written up for me, and tutors. I would spend most of my life getting massaged, pampered, loosing weight and getting healthier until I am one of the hottest women on the planet. :D I have found that vanity will get me through goals that nothing else will.

At that point I'd start the adrenaline junky phase, probably hit New Zealand and play- learn to surf, go hang gliding, B.A.S.E jumping, partying like a rock star.

I know eventually I want to have kids and lead a more sedate existance, so at 23, NOW is the time to get the fun/wild/crazy stuff out of my system.

[final_id]

I see two assumptions that I would be careful not to make (though, of course, they may work for you, I still recommend against them).

1. Waiting to be "perfect" before starting an enjoyable life. You seem to want to take care of a lot of things before you'd feel "free" to go to Bali. Why not take care of those things (tutors, losing weight, etc.) WHILE in Bali? I think the idea of having to be "set up right" before having fun is something I often mistakenly engage in, to the detriment of my sense of longer-term well-being.

2. Believing that raising children, having a family, and "being stable" is somehow contradictory to "having fun." To the contrary, people who raise kids say they're "great fun," and I would hope that the act of having a fulfilling life would not be contradictory to the act of raising a family. The examples in 4HWW of NR who engage in NR activities WITH FAMILY (especially with small children) sound to me like exactly what was missing from my upbringing. I wish my parents had been adventurers. Instead, I was stuck living in the same town year after year, going to a boring school, never seeing Kuala Lumpur or Ulan Bator with my dad. In fact, I hardly even went to a museum with my dad.