If you received $1 Million, whether it be from an inheritance, selling a business, or even winning the lottery, what would you do with it?
I can finally check off my list, “Personally know someone who won the lottery.”
One of my old friends from high school just won $1 Million from the Oregon Lottery last week. This situation caused me to consider a question I ask a lot of my clients about what they would do with a specific amount of money like this.
I ask this question because it reveals how you view money. If you want to save it, you’ve had savor tendencies in the past. If you want to spend it, you probably had spender tendencies. If you want to give it away, you probably feel guilty having money.
Remember this – Money doesn’t make you anything you aren’t already. Money is merely a magnifier of your soul.
So is there an answer of what you should do with the money?
This answer isn’t as simple when it comes to strategy. For some, paying down loans, saving money, investing back in their business, buy a home, donate some to charity, or any combination of these could be acceptable answers. However, if you have ever heard me teach, you know that principles come first. Strategies come second.
The principle you should remember is this:
You should do the best you can to be a good steward of those resources so that it can create increase, whatever that might look like.
Money is meant to flow and grow, not just accumulate and stagnate!
Some people are so scared of losing it that they lock it away in fear. I do believe you should be wise and careful in how you use it. However, if you were scared with a little bit of money, wait until you get more of it. You’ll end up more fearful (I’ve been there and done that).
Money is meant to be used, but used wisely. Ideally, the money should be used to produce more value in this world. It’s okay to consume it too, but too many consume it and then wonder what good it did.
By the way, doing good with money doesn’t mean you have to donate it to charities. You could use that money to help others that are also wise stewards. Could you loan the money to someone who will make a return on it so both of you benefit? Could you use that money to start a new business or non-profit where you could serve many people, rather than just yourself?
Ponder on this question this week – “What would I do with $1 Million?” Try to be creative too. Too often, I’ll hear people say, “I’ll pay off my debts and save the rest. Maybe we’ll take a family trip.” My reply to that is “Then what?”
If you don’t know what to do with it now, get educated now how to be a better steward so you don’t end up like a few of my other friends who lost it just as quickly as they got it because they gambled it away or gave it away.
When you start to really ponder this question, you start to learn what money really is – it’s just a piece of paper that can be used to accelerate how you create value, or how you consume it.
The choice is up to you.