You must spend $1M before 2018 ends...how do you spend it?

[slb2]

Play along.
You are given a million dollars. Spend* it or lose it by December 31st, 2018. Tell me how you spent it.

*You may not *give* this money away. It must be spent, receipts in hand at the end of the year.

[slb2]

It would be easier to DONATE the money, but since that option is not available, spending it in the most efficient way possible is my new objective.

I have often thought that buying items here in the states such as games, houseware, linens, etc, then shipping them overseas is not only inefficient, but also disrespectful of the local economy where the items are heading.

It's better to buy those things on-location because that benefits the local economy--there's a reason why "Shop Local" is a thing--and also cuts down on shipping costs. More later...

[liriodendron]

I need some clarification. Can we buy things for other people and give them the things or must we only spend the money on ourselves?

[doctork]

I would buy diamonds, emeralds and collector's antique gold & silver coins, preferably Persian Empire but maybe Roman or Greek, or some interesting modern coins like the Chinese panda series - they are easily portable, good for those of us who are endlessly mo-bile. Maybe some interesting works of art, preferably small. Bearer bonds, if they are still issued.

Those are like cash equivalents, and even if I pay retail and I have to sell them wholesale (gems and coins), well what the heck. I don't have a million dollars so if I have a million to give away, then somebody gave it to me.

If I have those items I could either enjoy them personally or donate them to charity - probably at retail price as far as the tax deduction.

I think you are right on about "Buy local." When I do overseas work we almost always buy most of our medications and supplies in country, though if something is donated in the US one of the volunteers might bring it with, if a worthwhile item. Even most Third World countries are beginning to have consumer goods available at home or at least from neighbor countries.

When I was in health insurance, one of my Atlanta colleagues who was originally from Cameroon got tired of the US insurance business and decided to export/import. He bought industrial quantities of huge rolls of raw, uncut toilet paper (lots of future paper growing in the southeastern US) and exported them to a factory in Cameroon where they were turned into consumer sized packages by local workers.

Another useful tactic - buy chickens, goats, sheep, even cows in country and deliver them to families (especially illiterate war widows with children) who need to earn an income but their culture doesn't allow them out of the home. They can then produce and sell eggs or milk or cheese or cloth, as well as feeding or clothing themselves.

Give those bearer bonds to an NGO to cash in, then they use the money to hire and train local trainers to teach the women how to care for and prosper with the animals. Plow some of the profits into buying more animals for more women...

[slb2]

Dec 8, 2018 14:44:06 GMT -5 liriodendron said:

I need some clarification. Can we buy things for other people and give them the things or must we only spend the money on ourselves?

buy for others if wanted, just can't donate the money to an organization. You could buy 1000 cribs for crisis nursery for example.

[doctork]

I'd talk to an organization in detail before giving them objects over cash because I'd want know their specific needs.

lirio you probably know exactly the needs of a childrens' library, but I wouldn't - I'd ask you!

That is one reason (two really) it is often better to donate money overseas - avoid the cost of shipping, which may be more than the goods themselves, and they can get exactly what they need, which may be different from US products. Electrical and electronics products operate on European or Asian or African standards for example, so we would want to buy/gift the correct version they need and can use.

As I think about it, I'd buy CD's (certificates of deposit, not musical items) laddered over the next 5 years so I could time my charitable gifts. I don't need $1,000,000 of stuff myself but I doubt I could wisely buy $1,000,000 worth of stuff to donate in the next 3 weeks.

Maybe I'd use $40K or so to pay off the remaining mortgage then put this house itself in a remainder trust, then hire an estate sale expert to sort through everything in the house and clear it out for future charitable sale, except for those things we use every day or our kids would like to inherit. Pay someone else to do the Swedish Death Cleaning in advance so I don't have to!

Or maybe I'd be suspicious and decline the offer of $1,000,000. I'd owe a lot in taxes if it were given to me, but if I could give it away (via a direct transfer), the charities to which I donate could receive the entire amount. Why waste hundreds of thousands of $$ on personal income taxes instead of using the whole amount to someone's benefit? The original donor entity must be shady or they would know that and would gross up the amount if the intent was generosity.

It's not easy to spend $1,000,000 usefully and wisely on items.

[liriodendron]

Dec 9, 2018 22:11:50 GMT -5 doctork said:

lirio you probably know exactly the needs of a childrens' library, but I wouldn't - I'd ask you!

While I'd agree that it is often nicer to give cash, there are times when I would actually prefer things. Cash donations get deposited in our exchange account, and while I would generally get to spend the cash on whatever the donor requested, that money still gets noticed by the Town. Too many nice donations might encourage them to decrease the funding we receive (or too many nice donations to the Children's Department might cause our Director to redistribute our funding among the other departments). Buy me a train table or a puppet theater or some pricey STEM stuff, however, and my book budget is less likely to take a hit. What I don't need, at least at the moment, are more craft supplies. I take them when people bring them in, though, because I don't want to discourage them from thinking of us when they have something we might be able to use.

[doctork]

Oh I think if you know what is wanted and needed, then donate that.

But since I donate more to international health and aid causes they are better served by cash. Unless I am going there in person and can fit a million dollars worth of items in 2 checked suitcases.

[BoatBabe]

I could spend $1 million in a minute. $100,000 in hundred dollar bills isn't that big. And it only takes 10 of those fairly small packages to make a million. It would only take one of your carry-on suitcases to carry it, Doc, and you would still have room for all your socks and underwear, if you were staying for a month.

[BoatBabe]

goo.gl/images/z3kH9K


Really. It's not that big.

[BoatBabe]

But I suppose the real question is, what would you have to show for it after you spent a million dollars?

[Gracie]

If I had a million dollars (if I had a million dollars)
Well I'd buy you a house (I would buy you a house)
And if I had a million dollars (if I had a million dollars)
I'd buy you furniture for your house (maybe a nice chesterfield or an ottoman)
And if I had a million dollars (if I had a million dollars)
I'd buy you a k-car (a nice reliant automobile)
And if I had a million dollars I'd buy your love

If I had a million dollars I'd build a tree fort in our yard
If I had a million dollars you could help, it wouldn't be that hard
If I had a million dollars maybe we could put a little tiny refrigerator in there somewhere
(You know we could just go up the and hang out)
(Like open the fridge and stuff and, girl, there'd be foods laid out for us)
(With little pre-wrapped sausages and things, hmm)
(They have pre-wrapped sausages but they don't have pre-wrapped bacon)
(Can you blame them? Yeah)

If I had a million dollars (if I had a million dollars)
I'd buy you a fur coat (but not a real fur coat that's cruel)
And if I had a million dollars (if I had a million dollars)
Well I'd buy you an exotic pet (yep, like a llama or an emu)
And if I had a million dollars (if I had a million dollars)
Well I'd buy you John Merrick's remains (all them crazy elephant bones)
And if I had a million dollars I'd buy your love

If I had a million dollars we wouldn't have to walk to the store
If I had a million dollars we'd take a limousine 'cause it costs more
If I had a million dollars we wouldn't have to eat Kraft dinner
(But we would eat Kraft dinner)
(Of course we would, we'd just eat more)
(And buy really expensive ketchups with it)
(That's right, all the fanciest dijon ketchups, hmm)

If I had a million dollars (if I had a million dollars)
Well I'd buy you a green dress (but not a real green dress, that's cruel)
And if I had a million dollars (if I had a million dollars)
Well I'd buy you some art (a Picasso or a Garfunkel)
If I had a million dollars (if I had a million dollars)
Well I'd buy you a monkey (haven't you always wanted a monkey?!)

If I had a million dollars I'd buy your love
If I had a million dollars, if I had a million dollars
If I had a million dollars, if I had a million dollars
If I had a million dollars, if I had a million dollars
I'd be rich....




Okay, but seriously. (I couldn't resist.)

I would buy the house of their dreams for my parents and me, which would mean some kind of family compound, since that's what they want most--an easily managed apartment/suite of rooms for them, ditto for Grizzy and me (as much as I love our old three story, I can see that steps are going to be a serious problem in the not too near future.) And because she'll inherit it all anyway, a detached place on the same ground for our daughter, so she could have her independence.

I would buy cars. Not big flashy ones, but my parents drive a van provided by my brother, and his wife is making ugly noises about it. (She doesn't really want it; she wants them not to have it.) And one each for husband, daughter and me. Ours are paid for, each well over 200,000 miles and rusting fast (nothing makes me feel more poor than a rusty car, I don't know why, but it does) and beginning to seriously nickel and dime us to death. And yet we are not in any shape right now to get something else.

I would pay for college for my daughter and myself, every single cost.

I would buy travel packages for all the places Grizzy and I have always wanted to go, because hey, he could retire (our lifestyle is really frugal, but that's not the only reason:

I would buy the bookstore we've always wanted to have: My Back Pages.

And purely because my heart hurts when I look at the empty space: I'd replace my lost wedding ring.

[doctork]

see - there you go, you have wisely spent the million dollars.

I know I could fit $1,000,000 in my carry on suitcase or probably even my backpack, but the trick of the game is you have to spend it by December 31 and provide receipts. There is not $1,000,000 worth of stuff I want to buy, which is why I would buy cash equivalents then spend those later as I decide the best way to do so.

[doctork]

Susan, are you going to tell us the Right Answer?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[BoatBabe]

Dec 15, 2018 20:17:23 GMT -5 doctork said:

Susan, are you going to tell us the Right Answer?

Inquiring minds want to know.

You mean, there's a Right Answer? Who knew?!?

[slb2]

Yeah, there can't be a Right Answer, but I'll tell ya My Answer.

I would go to fifty different ECFE centers in Minnesota, find out what's on their Wish List and assign four people from each staff to go buy their wish-list items up to $10K. =$500,000. I would go to twenty-five different animal centers (rescues, sanctuaries, etc) and do the same deal with Wish Lists and buyers plus same amount of money. $250,000. Then I'd do the same schtick with twenty-five environmental places like the DNR, Volunteer magazine, Society for the Gun Flint Trail, Mississippi River Bottoms, Root River Society, etc. $250,000. Boom. I'm done.

Children, animals, environment. Start locally, grow globally. Save the world.

[doctork]

Well I was being kinda sarcastical when I asked for the right answer.

That is very time-consuming to go to 100 different agencies in the next 2 weeks, but maybe I could do it.
No, think I'd rather buy the laddered CD's and take time to see how to spend the money.

[gailkate]

I haven't bought CDs since interest rates were 6-7 %. We thought that was pitiful but prudent. "Laddered" must have come since, then as I've never heard of them. Anyway, isn't that cheating? Things for which one could provide receipts seem more tangible than CDs. Of course, maybe the actual paper certificate (do they still have them?) could be the receipt.

I'd buy a large farm with a few buildings that would probably have to be seriously renovated. I'd fill those buildings with abandoned/stray animals. I'd hire young people at loose ends and pay them to keep expert care of the animals and train them to be assistance dogs (or cats or monkeys). The young people would be transformed and the animals would be spoiled rotten. I'd pay legal bills for women trying to divorce abusers. I'd pay for prosthetics and therapists for vets and others trying to adjust to crippling injuries.

I'd be out of money in a flash.

[slb2]

Dec 18, 2018 22:39:19 GMT -5 gailkate said:

I haven't bought CDs since interest rates were 6-7 %. We thought that was pitiful but prudent. "Laddered" must have come since, then as I've never heard of them. Anyway, isn't that cheating? Things for which one could provide receipts seem more tangible than CDs. Of course, maybe the actual paper certificate (do they still have them?) could be the receipt.

I'd buy a large farm with a few buildings that would probably have to be seriously renovated. I'd fill those buildings with abandoned/stray animals. I'd hire young people at loose ends and pay them to keep expert care of the animals and train them to be assistance dogs (or cats or monkeys). The young people would be transformed and the animals would be spoiled rotten. I'd pay legal bills for women trying to divorce abusers. I'd pay for prosthetics and therapists for vets and others trying to adjust to crippling injuries.

I'd be out of money in a flash.

Let's do this together. Then we'll have $2M to spend. But I need to add more environmental stuff like ground water and forest management.

[slb2]

Dec 18, 2018 0:07:00 GMT -5 doctork said:

Well I was being kinda sarcastical when I asked for the right answer.

That is very time-consuming to go to 100 different agencies in the next 2 weeks, but maybe I could do it.
No, think I'd rather buy the laddered CD's and take time to see how to spend the money.

I've got five kids to help me spend this money wisely. Never said you couldn't enlist help.

[gailkate]

Slb2, I'm happy to add environmental innovations to my farm. Eventually this will be several farms and they'll need pristine water. Wind power. Totally composted food and paper, only recyclable metals, glass reserved for art. Will your kids each have $1 mil. too? We'd be unstoppable!

[doctork]

Of course you get a receipt with CD's! The bank gives you a piece of paper that says you gave them the money and they promise to pay you back later.

Laddering just means that you buy CDs that come due at different dates - maybe $200,000 every year for the next 5 years so you have time to buy thoughtfully.

I don't think I could find the right farm and close the purchase in less than two weeks. When we bought our "farm" (the place in NC is an old farm house on 2.5 acres with water supplied by a spring and a stream running through it) it took several weeks to get all the proper inspections done, even though the purchase agreement - price, interest, terms of the loan - took only one day. There were several agricultural inspections having to do with proving the water in the spring was clean, and it was OK for people to live in the house even though cattle lived/grazed next door and horses were across the road.

The horses and cattle are good neighbors though, they never have noisy parties and they don't throw beer cans in the yard. The deer will steal all the apples they can grab from our trees by standing on their hind legs, though Johnny would glare at them and then they would leave. When we move back (one of these days) we will put Jerri on patrol but deer aren't afraid of her.

Another thing about CD's - of course it is a purchase! I was pretty young, in grade school, when my grandfather told me about "buying money." It did not make any sense to me, as I only understood cash when I was 7 or 8 years old. If I wanted to buy a nickel from someone I would just give them 5 pennies, right? Or 4 quarters for a dollar. Then he explained to me, no it worked a little different. If someone wants to buy $100 from me today, I will have to do without it until they pay me back, so I would charge them some money for the convenience of buying money from them when I had some to sell, but they didn't.

Later when I went to college, and especially to medical school, the cost of buying money made a lot more sense.

[gailkate]

You don't need a farm for deer. We get them all through St. Paul, coming up from the river gorges where they seem to be thriving. But they like crab apples so they wander not only across our gold course but all through the neighborhoods and we get to see that standing on hind legs maneuver. I love that.

Jerri doesn't scare anything? Just too big and cuddly, i guess.

[doctork]

Jerri can scare lots of people and animals, but those deer aren't scared of anything any more. They just stand there and stare at her right here in the city. Rodents with hooves, that's all they are.

We need another Maine Coon Cat to guard our home against these interlopers. Bear in mind that Bellinghamsters are NOT the interlopers here, as we are meticulously against suburban sprawl and there are mountains and forests all over the place which these deer could choose to inhabit instead of our yards.

But nooooo - they just stand there in the middle of the road, daring you to run them over: Go ahead, make my day. I can't wait to crush your little car with my hooves, scarf it all up with scratches, scare you right over the cliff!! Ha ha!!

[jspnrvr]

Nothing interesting like deer in our yard, just the usual squirrels, coons, possum and armadillos. All are diggers, except for the coons, which leave their piles of coon berries around. Though our daughter's family, who live just a mile away had a bear in their trash. Pretty unusual, bears are mostly on the west side of I-4.

[doctork]

It's probably too hot for deer down there in Florida, unless they have some special "Florida deer" that is heat-adjusted. Or maybe they just haven't found their way south yet.

Susan and Gail are correct though, you do not need a farm for deer, they grown themselves with ease, then implant right in your neighborhood. Maybe I could dispense with all the inspections, just move onto the farm and wait for the animals to show up.

[gailkate]

I don't remember anything about inspections. Haven't you and maybe your kids lived there off and on for years? Do they still think perhaps your water isn't safe? I should think there would be some sort of statute of limitations - "If they're not dead yet, the water must be ok."
If not enough animals moved in on their own, slb2 and I could ship some of ours down to you.

Armadillos, Jay? I don't think I could cuddle up to armadillos in our refuge.

[jspnrvr]

Dec 20, 2018 19:25:33 GMT -5 gailkate said:

I don't remember anything about inspections. Haven't you and maybe your kids lived there off and on for years? Do they still think perhaps your water isn't safe? I should think there would be some sort of statute of limitations - "If they're not dead yet, the water must be ok."
If not enough animals moved in on their own, slb2 and I could ship some of ours down to you.

Armadillos, Jay? I don't think I could cuddle up to armadillos in our refuge.

Yeah, armadillos, armor plated possums. Justin Wilson always called them "possum on the half shell". Cuddling is not encouraged, they've been known to carry leprosy.

[doctork]

Our water is fine, always was, but in that county if your water is not supplied by the city (ie you have a well or springs) then when the property is sold, the seller has to have it officially tested by an inspector to prove it is safe for humans. I am not sure, but it may have had something to do with cows and horses being nearby. Kind of like those agricultural areas in California whose water supplies have to be inspected if within certain distance of animals, to avoid contamination of produce.

Then there was some surveyor required to verify that the property boundaries were drawn properly, perhaps because the agreement was done a bit casually when the people we bought it from made the purchase from the original owners. Remember, it's Appalachia where properties are handed down in families over centuries; some families own property deeded to them by King George in the early 1700's! The date our house was built is uncertain, but we know it was prior to 1935, which is the year the first "modern" property deed was recorded.

Regulations change over the years, and sales have to comply with current regs which may be different from those that prevailed at the time of the last sale. This is common with electrical, heating and plumbing standards too. If you get bank funding (we did not) a title search and home inspection are often required; and they are advisable for most purchasers even if there is no bank loan requirement to do so.

We've had to do this sort of thing on every property we've bought, though not usually the King George business. NC isn't particularly rigorous.

[gailkate]

Oh sure, everyone does the basic inspections, but you hadn't mentioned this water business, let alone King George.

Where are you now? Traveling?