for 5 million quid today would you take 5 years off your life?

[voiceofmarion]

In a supernatural hypothetical situation if you were told you died 5 years younger than you are going to/destined to by the Gods/creator (whatever) and you get 5 million quid would you take it?

For the people that say they would shorten their life by 5 years because they have seen others struggle in later life, are you planning on killing yourself when you get to a certain age or at the first signs of certain health issues?

I am actually hoping by that time a peacful supported death will be more widely available

Not a chance (and I'm pretty skint at the moment). I know wealthy people and they'd give it all up to live longer. Money is only useful when you're alive and it NEVER a replacement for life itself.

Don't get me wrong, there are material things that I would love to own but I would never give up on (part of) my one shot at life for them.

Am really saddened by a lot of these answers tbh - time (and life) is more precious than money

Plus this isn’t even loads of money!

It does depend on your circumstances. I don't have any dependents to worry about. Thinking about my parents (i.e. my genes) their health went really downhill from the age of 75 and their quality of life shrunk. So if I knew I was going to live until at least 80, I would take the money so I could retire now and make the most of the 25 or so years of decent life quality I could expect to have. But I would never do it without knowing my natural lifespan, as pps have said, you might get the money and drop dead.

Assuming I did this and got the money and lived say another 20 years (taking me to 73) I would not have to work ever again, not worry about how to pay my bills ever again , have a pretty nice remaining life and still leave quite a chunk to my children.
If I died soon after then my children wouldnt have to work ever again, never worry about bills ever again etc.
But my children are grown up, if they were younger I wouldnt take the option.

It's not about things I can buy, I currently buy the things anyway. It's a comfort that money at least isnt a worry, a lot of things can be solved/minimised by throwing money at them.

I don't see that my life would alter so drastically with as you say not all that much money, but no longer setting my alarm, no longer dragging my currently peri menopausal self into work. I could do much lovelier things with my time.
I wouldn't even move house, I still wouldnt buy a car, I've done my travelling for now, have no grandchildren yet nor likely to. Just that money sitting in the bank would give a sense of calm <<<wrong word but cant think of better.

And If my life ended soon after, well, I had a good innings, I'm happy with what I achieved til now, I was always going to die and my children are set for life.

Definitely.

Many of us are clearly not as fortunate as you. To me at least, £500,000 is "loads of money" let alone five million.

They way I look at the OP's question is, is a year of my life worth a million pounds? Clearly the answer is yes, I don't earn anything like that and don't get a million pounds worth of enjoyment each year.

Five million would allow me to retire now, in my early 40s. The way things are at present I will be 70 before I can retire. So taking the OP's deal I will be "up" by the best part of thirty years, before the five years is deducted.

The best thing about this deal is that I might be destined to die in the next five years, therefore would presumably just drop dead immediately. So that would be a lot of problems solved and hassle avoided, plus plenty of money to share out to friends/relatives.

I don't wish to live any longer than I really have to. If the world was a better place, I'd want to be immortal

Like a shot. I've got RA so I suspect old age will not be kind to me.

Nope

No.

Well that’s the problem isn’t it? There isn’t a dignified way to go plus you don’t know when the right time is. Some health things progress slowly or you get over and some you don’t. But honestly I would say the majority of people I know would have done better dying a few years earlier than they eventually did.

With my grandmother there was a “no special measure” in place but that seemed to count for fuck all.

The oldest person in my extended family had definitely lived too long now - it’s very sad, he has forgotten who everyone is, doesn’t care anyway, moves from the bed to sitting listlessly in front of the TV and back and has lost everything he cared about. A few years a go we would have said there was still a quality of life even though he was deteriorating - he LOVED family and just lived for getting photos and momentous in the post (even by that point having too many people round was a bit too overwhelming for him) but he has lost everything now. Everything. I wish he could have died at the right point. The worst bit is that everyone ten- twenty years younger than him watches it and wonders “is that coming soon for me?”

Oh come on- it’s a decent chunk of change and disingenuous to say otherwise. You could have a very nice life investing it and living off the income, even post tax. Time and life can be valuable or they can be torture, depending on your circumstances. Not sure the last 5 years of anyone who lives to be over 80’s life is the showreel so I’m happy to trade quality for quantity.

No, I'd rather not miss a minute with my kids.

I've already started my Dignitas fund. I'd rather cash in my chips early than spend a few years festering on an unchanged, sodden inco sheet. I would like a good death.

Yes,.Then wonder if their is a loophole

in an instant. Give most of it to my family so they can afford to buy homes.
I have fully embraced the thought of assisted suicide if things get really bad for me when I'm older. I don't think anyone should be forced to sit there, hating the fact they are alive in constant pain. We treat animals far better than we treat humans in that regard.

I wouldn’t take the money. If I was faced with your question- no I wouldn’t bring a loved one back for 5 years as losing them once was hard enough. Losing them twice would be too painful.

I wouldn't do it, but would be glad to know I'm guaranteed to live for at least another 5 years. 😂

This. And if I can make it less stressful for my kids to have a secure safe home they own in a nice area than it has been for me ( I've had to work very very hard ) then it's a no brainer for me.

No. I want to live as long as possible to see my daughter as long as possible and be there for her. No money can change that. I might not have everything I want but I do have what I need, a home, food on the table, a family.

Fuck yes!

Not unless it told me in advance how long I'd live. If I was going to live to 85, but instead die at 80, then fine, yes please.

If it meant dying at 45 instead of 50 - no thank you.

Actually, I'd turn around and say... For £1 million I'd give up 1 year... Deal?