to think a large sum of money would give you life long happiness we can't even imagine

[SillyBud]

Just pondering on the person who win the 109 million last night and think that yesterday they were just like us-stressed about so many things that could be eased/abolished by money-mortgages, rent, work,health and fitness,appearance...

Can you actually imagine waking up today to discover you are 109 million richer and free from so much the rest of us are prisoner to?

It would be absolutely amazing.

@ bindud the OP has very much suggested that anyone with money would very much have a life of eternal happiness and 0 worries.

Only she has then backtracked to say that this would only be the case if you won over £100m because apparently a few million wouldn’t be enough. .

If I won a million I could pay off my mortgage, could invest and any bills I had would be significantly reduced due to the fact I had no mortgage. So I would most definitely be better off.

A bigger house wouldn’t change that, a yacht in the Caribbean wouldn’t change that, a fancy car etc wouldn’t change it.

There comes a point where money becomes more about material benefit than financial, and material wealth definitely doesn’t bring long-term happiness.

We all have stresses that can't be solved by money, bereavement, illness etc. For those of you saying none of your problems can be solved by money, you are coming from a place of privilege.

You know poor people still have those stresses as well as worrying about whether to put the heating on or have a shower right?

Of course having money makes other stresses in life easier to live with, but £109,000,000 is just a ridiculous amount it would most likely create all sorts of other issues for most people.
It would be FAR better in my opinion to create 22 prizes of just under £5million, or even 11 prizes of just under £10million.
Still massive, life changing amounts but far more manageable and would bring delight to so many more people.
In truth, I'd be delighted with £1million, as would most people, so £5million or £10million would be beyond most people's wildest dreams.

Having money doesn’t stop truly awful stuff happening but without trying to get into competitive miserableness can you imagine going through that awful grief/health problems etc and also have no idea how you’re going to fix the car (which you might need for hospital appointments)/buy a new washing machine/heat your home/feed the family.
Money like that definitely would not buy me life long happiness but it would get rid of a few problems that cause stress and worry.

I’d of course be very happy there’s no doubt about that. My life would be completely different to what it is now.

I’d also be terrified of losing it all. Someone emptying my bank account and it be all gone. Imagine not being able to get it back.

I don't think that having any more money would make me happier at all - I never ever think "I wish I could afford...".

Well then you're exceptionally lucky. I think this a hundred times a day. I wish I could afford - proper cereal for the kids, milk on cereal AND to drink, a dishwasher, washing up liquid that is more effective than the 29p shit I've got, to wash clothes more often than every 3 wears, a tumble dryer, to put the radiators on to dry the washing so I don't have to send the kids to school damp, to not worry about paying the bills, to not have to account for literally every penny, every month... That's before we start with anything close to luxuries.

Money is freedom. It's a key to easier lives, to support in tricky circumstances, to remove such of the all-encompassing drudge of poverty.

If I couldn't make £109m make my life better for the next 50 years, I'm paying the wrong people for advice!

What has made up more content than happy is to have no debt, the ability to pay for what we need upfront and the ability to support our adult DCs to buy their first home / get married.
We now live in a modest mortgage free 2 bed home, have a disposable income of maybe £1k a month and don’t have to scrimp any more when it comes to doing the weekly food shop! We are also not too anxious about the increased fuel costs.
I feel like we are lucky.

@Ionlydomassiveones kids don’t care about foreign holidays they truly don’t. Childhood memories are about so much more

I mean 109m is obscene. I actually don't think I could spend it on stuff.

I love my home, it needs some improvements but not more than 30k worth. Mortgage 160k. Maybe a couple of new cars, but I'd not want anything ridiculous.

My money would probably go into pension, and being placed in trust for the children so that they NEVER have to worry about money.

Pressed post too soon.

Money doesn't make you happy, but it does help if you have money worries.

My manager said if he won the lottery he would offer us £100,000 each on the condition we quit our jobs instantly lol

He was being serious

I would hate it

@Kbyodjs

I think that sum of money would cause differences in my friendships and family relationships which would make me unhappy after the initial enjoyment. I’d be very happy with something along the lines of £500 000 so it’s enough to pay off my mortgage and give us money to do what we want to our home. That would essentially solve all my financial worries without bringing other worries with it.

With that some of money you could make all your family and friends millionaires too.

It would make life a damn sight easier to have pots of money. So yeah i think id be happier if i could choose what to do with my time.

Money buys time.

You don't have to work
You can pay someone to all the mundane jobs like cleaning, food shopping, servicing the car, etc.
You don't have to wait for healthcare.
You can pay someone to do your hair, make up, waxing, etc.
Every service you use - builders, mechanics, gardeners, etc - can be high end and will do the job efficiently. You don't have to worry about the cost.
You can pay for travel and visit wherever you want, whenever you want, using the quickest and most comfortable option available.
You can pay for personal trainers and dieticians to make a healthy lifestyle much more achievable and less time consuming.

Money definitely makes life easier and allows you time to do the things you want to do, rather than the things you have to do.

109m is in my opinion a very poisoned chalice. You are immediately looking at a life of needing personal security for yourself and your family. You’d need to employ a squad of people to manage your money and never quite know who to trust. You’d be the target for every charity, beggar and scammer. Need I continue?

10m very nice though. Still doesn’t bring health or happiness though.

I have mentally spent that much. Having enough to facilitate an amicable relationship break up would be first on my list! Followed by lots of big financial gifts for people who have helped me throughout my life. I would keep enough to buy myself and my DD a lovely home and several nice holidays a year. That would be more than enough for me.

This is such an interesting thread

I'm pretty ok off now. but have been really really poor in the past. I still have to pinch myself that I am no longer poor

If I won millions I'd just want to live mortgage free, I'd like a little bit bigger house than what I've got and ideally with a pool but nothing too big. And a horse for my daughter as she loves horse riding but we can't quite afford her own horse just yet.

I would help close friends and family pay off mortgages, debts etc off. Buy a house for my best friend who rents currently. Then I would buy as many houses as the money allowed and I'd rent them all out lower than market value. Tenants would be given lifetime secure tenancies same as the old style council houses.
It would not be for profit, rent income would go into maintaining the houses and possibly buying more. basically I would set up my own housing association. When I was poor - I think the worst thing was paying expensive rent for shitty houses and having to move all the time. I'd absolutely love to be able to alleviate that for as many people as possible, and give them a secure affordable home. I've thought so often about this 😅

@ILoveHuskies

This is such an interesting thread

I'm pretty ok off now. but have been really really poor in the past. I still have to pinch myself that I am no longer poor

If I won millions I'd just want to live mortgage free, I'd like a little bit bigger house than what I've got and ideally with a pool but nothing too big. And a horse for my daughter as she loves horse riding but we can't quite afford her own horse just yet.

I would help close friends and family pay off mortgages, debts etc off. Buy a house for my best friend who rents currently. Then I would buy as many houses as the money allowed and I'd rent them all out lower than market value. Tenants would be given lifetime secure tenancies same as the old style council houses.
It would not be for profit, rent income would go into maintaining the houses and possibly buying more. basically I would set up my own housing association. When I was poor - I think the worst thing was paying expensive rent for shitty houses and having to move all the time. I'd absolutely love to be able to alleviate that for as many people as possible, and give them a secure affordable home. I've thought so often about this 😅

This is my HUGE win dream too. A kind of housing association thing. I'm one of the people currently stuck in a run down rental and constantly anxious about having to move. I'd buy lots of houses and flats around the area and help people through secure housing. I'd also donate money towards local infrastructure and build a community centre, fund courses and clubs etc. My £109m probably wouldn't last long!

I would never tell anyone except immediate family.

I would look after my family and DC etc

I would also give generously and try and do a lot of good in the world.

In my 20s I wasn't motivated by money at all and didn't think having more money would make me happy (I had an okay job so wasn't totally skint). However, strangely in my 40s I think money would solve a lot of my problems. It would mean I could access private health care for a chronic condition, and send my child who has been bullied to a lovely nurturing (fee paying) school, and give up paid work and spend my days doing fulfilling voluntary work, and creative things and spending time with my kids. And I could have a personal trainer and buy lovely healthy food. And spend money on travelling the world and having amazing experiences. And know that I had money invested for my retirement and that my kids might have a hope of buying a house one day. I don't want stuff, or cars or a flash house, but money would improve my lifestyle in so many ways. Obviously good health is the really big one, but I think money comes second

I wonder who this person is and whether they know yet? I remember reading about a £33 million unclaimed ticket a few years ago. Just think, there’s someone out there, probably working a boring 9-5 job unaware of ‘what could have been’ had they just checked their ticket.

I’d have been quite happy to claim on their behalf 😝

*OP has very much suggested that anyone with money would very much have a life of eternal happiness and 0 worries.

Only she has then backtracked to say that this would only be the case if you won over £100m because apparently a few million wouldn’t be enough*

that's not back tracking and you are clearly taking my points out of context. A poster said her friends who had multi millions to their name were the same as them and frugal. I said a few million was very different to 109 million and even with 5 million in a family it's not enough to be careless with property prices, 3 kids and old age care costs these days.
In contrast to this though 109 million is at a very different game even in a family of 5 as you can have much more freedom with it. That's not me backtracking, it's making the comparison between very different sums of money. It's like talking about fame and comparing say astronomical fame like Britney Spears or David Beckham's fame to an actor from Eastenders-very different ball game.