Whats the use in being rich....

hypnose

Thanks everyone! I think we'd be mad not to pay off the mortgage....

ailuro2

When you get a considerable sum of money from somewhere that wasn't earned by you in the first place- lottery win, rich uncle dying etc then I always beleived you should spend 10% of it on a luxury for yourselves- this way you can always be sensible with the other 90% but bask in the memory of the flight over the blue mountains/ staying at the George V hotel in Paris/trekking the Grand Canyon/ driving that Ferrari for a week:D

Nice position to be in-have a great time working it all out.:D

missile

Give the money to charity and you will feel much happier and if you can't decide which, give it to me

DocProc

I'm also up for 'paying off your mortgage' first.

Next a bit of a treat, such as a holiday.

Yes, and do give a bit to charity - or you could give some to me instead, if you do want to give some away. I'll use it sensibly, I promise.

Jim_B_3

I'd like to suggest sailing, skydiving and scuba diving. Also, get yourself a motorcycle. These are what I spend my money on and they're worth every penny. Interesting, exciting and very fulfilling.

baby_boomer

What's the use in being rich?

Why not put our self-centred loadsamoney professional footballers to shame by donating to charity?

You could save hundreds of lives in the Third World. Or fund a local community project for young people in your own neighbourhood.

And the taxman can add to your own gift.

ian_duncan_smith

Pay off your mortgage. This will have three results:
1. you will be debt free.
2. Use the money you will no longer be paying out every month in mortgage payments to enjoy yourself with regular treats.
3. You will have the peace of mind that you have left an inheritance of value for your kids.

Jim_B_3

ian_duncan_smith wrote: »

You will have the peace of mind that you have left an inheritance of value for your kids.

Sod the kids; you had to look out for yourself and so can they! At age 18 put a tenner in their hand and show them the door! It's tough love, for their own good. Honest!

EvilScotsman

Paying off your mortgage is definitely not a bad idea, but it's not the only option. There might be early repayment charges etc.

If you pay the mortgage off you're guaranteeing yourself about 5-6%, depending on what rate you're paying. But if you invest that money, even in an index tracking fund, then you're looking at 11% on average historically. Riskier, but potentially rewarding. The longer you can leave the money invested the more the risk is diminished.

If it was up to me I'd pay a chunk off the mortgage (the safe and sensible choice) and invest a chunk of it (not all at once though, I'd do it in smaller chunks over time to avoid trying to time the market) and probably go for a car or holiday with some of it. One thing I wouldn't do is make any rash decisions; when you come into a windfall of money that you didn't work for it's too easy to have an "easy come, easy go" attitude.

It's a nice problem to have, I could do with more of those :-)

margaretclare

I would certainly use the money to pay off the mortgage, and then you'll be completely debt-free (mortgage being the only kind of debt which is worthwhile i.e. borrowing to buy an appreciating asset, not a depreciating one like a car.

Have some fun with some of it.

Personally, if I ever landed a huge amount out of the blue and had no mortgage or any kind of commitments, I would take the 'holiday of a lifetime' and that needn't be a cruise (cruise would be the very last thing I'd ever want to do).

If I had anything spare after all that, and after I'd given nice presents to family members, there are plenty of charities which would make good use of the money. What I've quite fancied doing for a while now, is buying up a strip of woodland and handing it over to the county's Wildlife Trust in memory of my late daughter who was passionate about the countryside.

Margaret