What would you do with a million pounds??

atush

Beckyy wrote: »

Apart from stare at it for a while. I wouldn't tell many people. I think money changes them.

Although it's a lot of money I think it would be incredibly easy to spend, so assuming no debts to pay off I think personally I would buy property for rental purposes and make sure I had a good cash flow coming in.

Open up ISAs and max them out. Open up a trust fund for children (if applicable).

Although an IFA is probably the sensible way I would be very very cautious and read absolutely everything with a very find toothcomb. I'm not very trusting with money though.

Best of luck and congratulations

As I said above, me Iw ould buy a couple of rentals for the kids. Housing is very expensive where I live.

But this is a woman with 3 kids, a disabled husband and a job. Not going to have time to look after, manage and maintain rentals. And paying someone else to do all this will mean little profit. Not a practical suggestion for the OP I think.

tell_it_how_it_is

As I'm over 40, I wouldn't either bother or worry about risk.

I'd possibly put around £600k in the best savings accounts (i.e. £60k in two each of the best 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 year rates), and replicate/live off that for the rest of my life. Not recklessly, but spend and enjoy it!

The other £400k would be used to tidying up current situation, selling current house, finding somewhere nice to live and buying a decent house, and a few gifts to family and friends.

atush

And thanks for pointing out the 85K limit, I woud of stuck with our own Bank before knowing this!

The limit is PP, so 170K in a joint acct.

The Stock market is woeful right now, avoid.

Not the world's best advice. I have done my best investing when markets have fallen/are falling.

Cash is losing ground to inflation. While iw ould keep a large chenk in cash, Iw ould invest the rest in equities. If you are investing for a long period, equities will do better than cash. They always have.

gallygirl

ColdIron wrote: »

I'd gloat over it and cackle quite a lot

This is my preferred option I have to say :rotfl:.

jamespir

i would give some to the family a bit to charity then buy a house in the south of france

jamesd

Robisere wrote: »

Tell him you want your money SAFE, emphasise it.

That will compel the IFA to use savings accounts and NS&I and will mean that almost all income taken will have to be taken out of capital because the interest will only just about match inflation. Committing to taking almost all income out of capital is a very bad idea given the ages involved here. It's a very poor balance of the various risks to capital.

That approach may be an appropriate one for someone who has perhaps five years left to live, or so much capital that they just don't need to worry about it. Neither applies here, a million isn't enough for that, a hundred million probably would be.

A better approach to this case is saying that it's desirable to target 20% overall capital value drop in a bad year, knowing that it will recover. That's enough to produce a good ongoing income level after inflation without needing to routinely draw on the capital. A more cautious view might target 10% with some significant reduction in possible income level. A 10% target would require substantial use of savings accounts and NS&I investments and that's why it would significantly reduce the available income level. For context, the UK FTSE All Share Index has an expected bad year drop of 45-50% from time to time, 20% every few years. So a 20% target implies no more than 50% in a FTSE index investment or the use of other investments which will go up if the FTSE goes down.

Robisere wrote: »

The Stock market is woeful right now, avoid.

Which stock market? The US is close to highs for a few years at the moment. Europe and emerging markets are relatively low. This creates significant opportunities. Investments aren't limited to stock markets either, for income they would typically include lots of bonds.

Robisere wrote: »

If you have safe money available in a few years, when markets MAY have recovered, it might be time to think about investing.

That's the worst time to invest. A buy high strategy is the way to reduce your gains. You should instead look to buy when prices are low and when there is a lot of uncertainty. That's buying low and increases returns.

Given your thoughts I think that it may be best for you as an individual to avoid using stock market investments because your reactions are those that will minimise your possible investment returns.

Timay

I would buy a moderate house 300,000 and then just put it in savings accounts and spen the interest.

Even if you could only get a 3% return you would still get 21000 a ear before tax

Old_Git

ToNik wrote: »

As title really... What would you do with a million pounds?

Invest it, save it, or spend it?

ToNik

buy a pound shop ,your money will go a long way;)

TarantulaLady

I would like to buy a rustic cottage in a rural location with enough land for a smallholding for rescued animals. I would love a few pigs, goats, sheep, donkeys etc.