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The $50,000,000 Question

March 11, 2021 by Mr. 1500 Days 20 Comments

Woo, life has been busy! Mindy and I are going to take a break from home construction after the girls get out of school for spring break. We have one week to go!

In the meantime, we’re tying up loose ends. One of the final projects is tiling our entryway. I like to make things difficult on myself, so I:

  • bought natural stone which requires the use of a wet saw
  • set them in a challenging pattern
  • fought the uneven floor almost every step

But with the help of the dinosaurs, the job is almost done.

Frugalsaurus helped. Spendosaurus, not so much.

But, I’m not writing today to tell you about Tilesaurs. I’d like you to ponder the $50,000,000 question…

What Would You Do?

A couple of weekends ago, I was hanging out with my good friend Jake. As often happens when I’m around, the conversation turned to money. At one point, I asked this:

What would you do with $50,000,000?

I thought Jake had a great answer, but before I get to that, let’s discuss the question a little more.

I ask this question frequently and the answer is usually fascinating because it gives a little window into the other human’s soul. Most humans would buy what they think would make them happy. Whether or not that thing actually provides happiness is another question. I’ve experienced this firsthand. I thought an Acura NSX would I thought would make me happy. It’s now gone and I’m happier for it.

Happiness is a tough nut to crack. Family, TV, culture, billboards, neighbors, and magazines will readily tell you about happiness. But, most of it is bullshit.

Fortunately, the answer is simple. This article explains is all and if you don’t want to click over to it, you only really need to read the title:

Hey, that’s not hard! Also, it’s free and easy. Here are some tips:

  • Be confident, but don’t be an asshole
  • Smile
  • Listen
  • Remember names
  • Be engaging
  • Give more than you get

Jake’s Answer

Jake’s response to the $50,000,000 question was this:

I’d buy an apartment complex and move all of my family to Colorado.

The older I get, the more I realize that a simple life surrounded by good humans is pretty great. Jake hit the nail on the head.

I’ll tweak Jake’s answer a little bit for my response:

I’d buy a swanky place in the mountains. It would have room to host large groups. Then, I’d invite friends, family, and other interesting humans to come hang out. It would always be free.

The only rule, provided to me by Freddy Smidlap, would be this:

Don’t be boring.

That’s it! BOOM!

Who knows. Mindy and I have unexpectedly reached a place of FatFIRE. This mountain hangout dream may actually come true…

See you there?

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Filed Under: Early Retirement

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gwen @ Fiery Millennials says

    March 11, 2021 at 3:25 pm

    Just tell me when and where! Part of the reason I’m buying such a big house is to have room for people to come visit. You and the fam are welcome anytime in St Louis!

    Reply
    • Marla says

      March 16, 2021 at 2:33 pm

      Can you imagine if we’d had this awesome mountain hideaway during the pandemic – we could have been one big safe bubble!

      Reply
      • Mr. 1500 Days says

        March 16, 2021 at 5:09 pm

        We’ll be ready for the next pandemic! I’m not sure how we’ll smuggle you across the border, but we’ll figure something out!

        Reply
  2. Tawcan says

    March 11, 2021 at 3:26 pm

    Totally would love to hang out once we can safely travel again. 🙂

    Reply
  3. Robert - Stop Ironing Shirts says

    March 11, 2021 at 6:08 pm

    Do it sir!

    I’m working on doing the same in Hawaii. Also the benefit of FatFIRE. All the tightening of STR rules means there will be some sweet houses with an Ohana for guests.
    Robert – Stop Ironing Shirts recently posted…Retirement Portfolio and Risk Management – Year TwoMy Profile

    Reply
  4. Chris@TTL says

    March 11, 2021 at 6:10 pm

    Haha, sign us up to the Dino retreat! I love that idea for $50M. Building community.

    Glad y’all are making progress on the housing plans. Awesome work! And here we are still with a roof leak! 😉 Estimator finally comes tomorrow.
    Chris@TTL recently posted…How FIRE Let’s Me Volunteer to Vaccinate YouMy Profile

    Reply
  5. revanche @ a gai shan life says

    March 11, 2021 at 9:48 pm

    Ok as a self identified boring person, I’d like to say we’re helpful people to have around! 😉

    I could easily spend more than $50M in a few projects; support the existing initiatives for the Oglala Sioux / Lakota reservation to become self sustaining and create jobs for the residents there, deliver free reliable internet to all rural communities, set up funding grants for small libraries that need it.

    Oh probably also pay off my mortgage and top up retirement funds.

    Then I’d be a little sad I spent all the money already 🤣
    revanche @ a gai shan life recently posted…Living in the time of pandemic: COVID-19 (40)My Profile

    Reply
  6. Mr CF says

    March 12, 2021 at 1:54 am

    A mountain hangout, that would be sweet indeed. Great place to meet, hike, have a beer!
    Mr CF recently posted…How not to DGIMy Profile

    Reply
  7. freddy smidlap says

    March 12, 2021 at 5:51 am

    hey man, thanks for the mention. we have a similar discussion around the smidlap chateau regularly. for enough money not only would we be retired but a bunch of close friends would be retired too. for us the secret sauce in life is to spend time around the people you like best. it’s hard to do that if you’re retired but they are all still working. sure, a person could get filthy rich and make all new rich friends who also have free time. but there’s nothing like the old tried and true humble friends who have run the marathon with you through good times and bad. and we already know they are not boring.
    freddy smidlap recently posted…Dog Poop Fiasco – Stop Making it Worse!My Profile

    Reply
  8. Brian says

    March 12, 2021 at 8:07 am

    I have wanted to get a lake house for a long time. With $50M, that would be totally doable, and the idea of setting up a community with the people you like to be around? Also sounds like a good use of that money.

    Reply
    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      March 12, 2021 at 8:55 am

      I like the Midwest! When are you going to pull the trigger? 🙂

      Reply
      • Brian says

        March 15, 2021 at 6:13 am

        Not soon enough, but the wife and I are in talks about finding some land in the not to distant future. Then we can build later

        Reply
  9. David @ Filled With Money says

    March 14, 2021 at 9:59 am

    I think for me, I would love to start a business for $48 mil. Spend a couple mil to take care of the people I love the most then try to grow it so that I can make an even bigger impact by the time I retire.

    Probably not the answer that most personal finance bloggers would say 😅 but I can’t help it!
    David @ Filled With Money recently posted…Focus on One Thing at a Time For Better ProductivityMy Profile

    Reply
  10. wendy says

    March 14, 2021 at 11:02 am

    I have this discussion with friends all the time…. find a chunk of land, build a central cooking/entertaining building, gardens, firepit, trails through the woods, some concrete pads for the van friends, small cottages for everyone else…
    Community and shared space for when you want it and your own cozy nest for when you need alone time

    Reply
  11. Charlie @ doginvestor.com says

    March 15, 2021 at 4:12 am

    Invest it for the yield, get a nice place where all the family and friends can stay, use the free time to hang out with these other cool humans. Sounds great! So basically the same as what we’re all doing now =)
    Charlie @ doginvestor.com recently posted…Evaluating investments using IRR and calculating returnsMy Profile

    Reply
  12. Dave says

    March 15, 2021 at 10:28 am

    Your post reminded me about this article on Tony Hsieh (former CEO of Zappos). I think he did exactly what you suggested (even hiring the people he wanted to be around) thinking that would give him the happiness he sought but alas even that didn’t work for him. Humans are such complicated creatures. 🙁

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2020/12/04/tony-hsiehs-american-tragedy-the-self-destructive-last-months-of-the-zappos-visionary/?sh=42c4c1894f22

    Reply
    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      March 15, 2021 at 5:45 pm

      Tony sounded like a really interesting and good human. It’s terrible the way his story ended. Complicated indeed.

      Reply
    • Marla says

      March 16, 2021 at 2:31 pm

      I am obsessed with this story. It is such a tragedy and an extreme lesson in how money doesn’t buy happiness. It seems like he actually tried to buy friends (while at the same time not listening to his true friends who tried to help him).

      Reply
  13. Dave says

    March 20, 2021 at 6:00 am

    Wow just finished this great post from a fellow FIRE blogger. It just reconfirms that you are right. Money doesn’t bring happiness but human connection and sense of purpose does.

    https://livingafi.com/2021/03/17/the-2021-early-retirement-update/#more-15998

    Reply
  14. Dave @ Minimalism and Your Money says

    March 24, 2021 at 4:30 am

    I’m not sure I agree with Jake’s idea. Moving them all in might be a little too much for me, haha! But I love your idea of having a big enough place so that they can all stay whenever you invite them up. The key is that they will eventually leave!!

    Reply

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Freedom!

My goal was to build a portfolio of $1,000,000 by February of 2017; 1500 days from the birth of this blog (January 1, 2013). And hey look, I’ve since retired!

Investments only (primary home excluded)
1/1/13 (The Start): $586,043
1/1/14 (1 Yr Later): $869,635
1/1/15 (2 Yrs Later): $987,351
1/1/16 (3 Yrs Later): $1,057,961
1/1/17 (4 Yrs Later): $1,257,128
1/1/18 (5 Yrs Later): $1,527,701
1/1/19 (6 Yrs Later): $1,549,440
1/1/20 (7 Yrs Later): $2,035,040*
1/1/21 (8 Yrs Later): $3,379,746**
1/1/22 (9 Yrs Later): $4,762,642
1/1/23 (10 Yrs Later): $3,112,821

2023: Investments only
1/1: $3,112,821

Overall
2023 investment gains: $0
Investment gains since 1/1/2013: $2,526,778
Net worth***: $3,342,821

* The big jump between 2019 and 2020 was partly because we bought another home, but kept the previous (much more expensive) one as a rental. We have since sold it.

** Tesla.

*** Includes our primary home equity in addition to our investment portfolio.

Finally, we still have about $290,000 in mortgage debt (which I love!). No regrets about the debts!

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Investing is risky business. The information contained on this site is for informational purposes only. As with all matters financial, proceed with caution. Do your research and seek professional advice.

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