6 Things I Would Do If I Had 20 Million Dollars
A fun exercise done in the open
We all dream of winning the lottery and becoming instantly rich or building a company and selling it for millions.
While we have those dreams, few of us work through what we would do afterwards.
It’s easy to assume your problems would go away and dream about all the food you’d eat and the cars you’d buy.
But, when it comes down to it… What would you actually do?
And, what if most of what you want to do is already possible?
I want to explore these questions by talking about the top 6 things I would do with 20 million dollars.
1. Eat anywhere I like
I’m a lover of food. I think in some way, we all are.
I travel based on where I want to eat. I think about food when I’m not eating, and I plan my meals well in advance out of excitement.
Now, you may not be as extreme as I am, but I bet you hold back on what you order at a restaurant based on your budget.
Yeah, I don’t want to do that and if I had 20 million dollars, I wouldn’t.
I would go to the restaurants of my choice whenever I like and I would order whatever as I please.
This means I would be having a lot more steak than I do now.
2. Buy nice cars
For the majority of my life, the main reason I wanted to make money was so I could drive nice cars.
I’ve always said, and still do, that I would be happy with a relatively small house if my garage was large and packed with cars I love.
I would have a Porsche Cayenne or Cybertruck for the winter and a Subaru 22b STi for when I want to have fun.
For the summer, there would be a mix of cars.
You’d see a Ferrari SF90, a Tesla S Plaid and a Porsche 356 Speedster. Maybe an Aston Martin too.
Honestly, I would probably switch them out pretty often.
The point is, I would be driving a lot nicer cars than I do now and boy would that make me happy.
3. Travel as I wish
Chances are, I don’t need to convince you about why travelling is awesome, but I’m going to anyway.
The world is massive and there is so much to explore.
Different cultures have different ways of living and the more you explore, the more cool ways of living you learn about and can adopt into your life.
Each of these cultures also have their own delicious foods. There is so much food to try!
As you travel, you also meet new people. These people all have something different to offer and teach you. Making connections worldwide is underrated.
There is an endless amount of history to learn about, architecture to “aw” over and beaches to relax on.
Travelling is awesome.
4. Do what I want, whenever I want
How many times have you said, “I wish I could do “x” but I have to work” or any other excuse that was really because you didn’t have the money to do whatever it is you wanted to do?
I have said that many times and it’s rather annoying.
I would love to be able to do what I want, whenever I want, without having to worry about my budget or time.
Money buys you time and 20 million dollars is enough to buy you quite a bit of it.
Now, you may not be able to buy a yacht, but I’ve never had the desire to buy one.
How often do you use a yacht? You’re better off just renting one anyway.
The point is not to go buy whatever you want, it is to have the freedom to be able to do what you want without being held back.
20 million dollars could buy that freedom.
5. Help others
Up until now, you were probably reading this thinking, “You greedy bastard”.
I feel like this goes without saying (maybe not for everyone), but I would of course be more generous with my money if I had 20 million dollars.
Truth be told, some people already believe I have millions and have randomly messaged me asking to borrow money… several times. I wouldn’t necessarily be generous to those people. I don’t want to give handouts.
But, I would love to help those who need it.
I would be able to take the time to find the right causes to donate to or even better, to go in person and help out however I can because I would have the time and freedom to do so.
Now that would feel good.
6. Buy a nice house
Depending on your aspirations, you won’t be able to buy the house of your dreams if you have 20 million dollars.
For example, I spend far too much time looking at 10-20 million dollar houses in West Vancouver because that is the dream.
If you have 20 million dollars though (and live in Winnipeg like me), you can get yourself a great place.
Honestly, I would get 2 places.
I’d have a nice house (nothing crazy), in Winnipeg and I would have a condo in Vancouver so I can fly back and forth.
Having a place in Vancouver would allow me to be closer to delicious oysters and ramen.
Yum!
Closing thoughts
You may have noticed a theme that rang across most of what I listed…
If I had 20 million dollars, I would optimize for freedom.
The freedom to eat what I want, drive what I want, go where I want, help who I want and live where I want.
A lot of people who write down what they’d do if they had a lot of money usually realize they can afford most of it now if they optimize properly.
For me, that is not the case, but I could get pretty close with a fraction of 20 million dollars.
On top of that, this does show me personal freedom is what I care the most about.
What about you?
Thanks for reading