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What would you do with £1 million?

126 replies

tinkersfig · 09/12/2025 13:42

DH and I have just been discussing what we will do with the £1mil that we’re going to win on the lotto tonight.

We will pay both our sisters mortgages off £300k
Buy a bigger house for us £450k
Massive family holiday £15k
New car £35k
Pension and investments £100k each

Just knowing that the roof over ours and family’s heads are paid for would bring me so much happiness.

OP posts:
Friendlyfart · 09/12/2025 18:59

100% move house.

everdine · 09/12/2025 19:03

I would invest it, use some of it to help my children with house deposits when they’re older but ultimately it would give me security if I lost my job.

surprisebaby12 · 09/12/2025 19:08

Pay off house for 250k
Renovate house for £100k, including small extension
Invest 500k
Live off 20k a year for 6 years
Study a degree full time for the final 3 years

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Shufflebumnessie · 09/12/2025 19:08

Pay off the mortgage.
Get private medical treatment for DS if the NHS waiting lists are too long.
Private tutor for DS & DD a couple of times a week.
Book a holiday for next summer.
Extension on the house.
Lots of home improvements

fluffiphlox · 09/12/2025 19:12

I’d probably just use it to travel first class. My other needs are pretty much met and I don’t have children. £1m is not that much these days, as. Others have said.

HalfasleepChrisintheMorning · 09/12/2025 19:46

Just invest and then draw the interest. Have nice holidays. Already mortgage free.

Cherrysoup · 09/12/2025 21:00

Buy the house I want in the country and slide my family member a couple of hundred grand, she has 4 kids and anyone with kids needs extra cash.

DilemmaDelilah · 09/12/2025 21:27

Use it to make my retirement a LOT easier.
Get a stairlift (eventually)
Get electric blinds for the conservatory
pay for swimming twice a week (£28 a time)
Have a cleaner weekly, to do everything including changing the sheets
Have a gardener weekly
Eat out regularly
Never have to worry about bills ever again
Buy as many books as I like
Get fresh flowers delivered every week
Have an account with a taxi firm
Get private medical care

Heyhelga · 09/12/2025 21:29

Mortgage free forever home. New car. Go to Thailand.

blueshoes · 09/12/2025 21:33

pimlicopubber · 09/12/2025 18:48

Based on people we know who have 1-2+ million net worth, it would be:

  • invest in the stock market (rather than pay off mortgage unless they have a really high interest rate)
  • go on nicer holidays regularly (not business/first class though)
  • regular cleaner
  • buy better food, eat out more often
  • don't worry so much about losing job or becoming ill as they have a buffer

No one is really living an outrageous lifestyle with large cars, country homes etc. People usually need to have more than 1 mil to put children into private school comfortably if you're in London (even a very modest house in a nice location in Zone 3 is 1-1.5+mil)

Agree.

I'd say unless it is grandparents or some other source of wealth that is funding it (like a million pot), you'd need to earn at least 200,000 per year in London to fund 2 kids in private school, assuming you also have a mortgage to pay.

blueshoes · 09/12/2025 21:35

OhDonuts · 09/12/2025 17:53

Top of the list would be move to a detached house in a nice area (currently in a terraced house in a bad area).

Put money aside for pensions.

Put money aside for my children’s futures.

Have a holiday abroad for the first time in 14 years!

Tell nobody - £1 million wouldn’t be enough to widely share and everyone in the extended family that we never see, plus their cousins would want a slice as they are all grasping by nature. The sob stories would be worse than the old X-factor VTs!

They'd wonder how you can afford the detached house in a nice area.

TwitchyNibbles · 09/12/2025 21:35

Pay off mortgage £110k
Family holiday to Japan
Pay off all credit cards - about £1500
Max out ISA's for all of us
Top up pensions (especially where I have been PT since having the kids)
Redecorate hall/stairs/landing
Seriously consider kitchen/dining room extension/knock through
Rest into savings/investments

firstofallimadelight · 09/12/2025 21:46

Buy a nice house 300k (plus equity from current house)
Help family 400k
go private on my back problems 50k
save 100k
Holidays /cars /treats 75k
house decor 75k

DontGoJasonWaterfalls · 09/12/2025 21:49

To anyone saying "it wouldn't go very far" - don't worry. I'll do the noble thing, I volunteer to take on that struggle for you if you win.

I'd buy a house, put money away for DD's future, buy a car, invest in a couple of local community groups, properly buy all the equipment I need to get my business going and set up regular donations to charities.

tinkersfig · 09/12/2025 21:52

DilemmaDelilah · 09/12/2025 21:27

Use it to make my retirement a LOT easier.
Get a stairlift (eventually)
Get electric blinds for the conservatory
pay for swimming twice a week (£28 a time)
Have a cleaner weekly, to do everything including changing the sheets
Have a gardener weekly
Eat out regularly
Never have to worry about bills ever again
Buy as many books as I like
Get fresh flowers delivered every week
Have an account with a taxi firm
Get private medical care

£28 for swimming!! What are you swimming in, asses milk?

OP posts:
EmbroideredGardener · 09/12/2025 21:55

Pay off mortgage £240k
Put aside money for kids £500k
New cars each £60k
Do up house £50k
Savings and investments £150k

DownThePubWithStevieNicks · 09/12/2025 22:14

Pay off mortgage: £170k

Year off work for me and partner: £150k (net salaries plus travel etc money)

Buy a campervan: £30k (don’t need top of range!)

Gifts to family and close friends: £150k

Charities: £100k

Fund for upgrading future holidays: £50k (business class flights, fancy hotels)

Investments to retire c. 10yrs early: £350k (bridge to occupational pension)

I’d rather stay in my relatively modest home mortgage free, have a great year off, an enhanced lifestyle when back at work, and know I can retire at no more than 55, than buy a bigger or fancier house and have life otherwise mostly stay the same.

Hummusanddipdip · 09/12/2025 22:15

Pay off the mortgage - £200k(ish)
Clear the car loan on dh car and our credit card debts - £3k
Replace my car with an electric vehicle - £40K
Nice holiday next summer - £20k
Put the rest in an account with a standing order for household bills to be paid from for however long it lasts. Approx 30 years if my maths is right 😂
Dh can quit his job and retrain in something he wants to do.

Echobelly · 09/12/2025 22:16

Pay kids uni fees, put a few hundred k aside for DHs pension, maybe finally do the loft extension, invest rest in other stuff

Cornishclio · 09/12/2025 22:21

If I won 1m I would gift £300k to each of my daughters to pay off their mortgages and have some money to do up their houses. I would gift £100k to each of my grandchildren (in trust) give £100k to my husband to do with as he wishes and I would keep £100k. Half to be saved , 25 % for a few fantastic holidays and 25% towards my next new car or furniture.

ResusciAnnie · 09/12/2025 22:25

Buy this specific building in our town (it sup for rent but I want to buy it) and fulfil my events space business plan :)

Shamesame · 09/12/2025 22:29

Finish the house - 50k

Buy a holiday home in a tiny but very expensive village in Scandinavia - 400k

100k in husbands pension

50k to each of our siblings

100 k in child’s investment

100k off the mortgage over 5 years so we don’t pay a fee

have fun with the rest

tostaky · 09/12/2025 22:32

Pay off some of the mortgage so our monthly repayment are smaller
Invest in my own therapy room/space so its all nice and clean and i can decorate it how i want etc…
Big family holiday Probably thailand or vietnam or japan
100k for each kid to pay for uni/deposit flat
if any leftover money, we want a kitchen extension
id also love for a garden designer to redesign the garden….

ah…. If only i played….

Lennalsi · 09/12/2025 22:36

I'd just invest it and wait for it to grow. I don't have any immediate spending needs and would rather have a bigger amount to gift when dcs are much older. I'm not in a rush to pay off the mortgage as investment returns would be larger than our mortgage rate. I don't have a driving licence (I'm in London) so I don't have to think about upgrading a car.

Gettingbysomehow · 09/12/2025 22:39

Retire immediately, Im knackered and move into a detached house as Im sick of inconsiderate neighbours.