If You Had A Billion Dollars...
Pages
| Author | Topic: If You Had A Billion Dollars... |
|---|---|
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 6102
|
written Wednesday, July 13 2005 03:14
Profile
Um...interesting song. Well, if people want to express how they want to spend a billion dollars in a song, that's fine with me. Quite creative I think. -------------------- "Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies in the heart of mankind." -Edward D. Morrison Posts: 220 | Registered: Monday, July 11 2005 07:00 |
|
This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
|
written Wednesday, July 13 2005 04:03
Profile
I would have to find another billionaire and have a race to see who could squander their fortune first. -------------------- Voice of Reasonable Morality Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
|
By Committee
Member # 4233
|
written Wednesday, July 13 2005 05:23
Profile
quote:It's also by the Barenaked Ladies, substituting "billion" for "million." Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00 |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 4153
|
written Wednesday, July 13 2005 08:27
Profile
Homepage
I was waiting for somebody to post that... too good of a joke to waste. :P -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
|
? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
|
written Wednesday, July 13 2005 09:04
Profile
Once again, Drakey decides to trump us all. *this message sponsored by the slightly less ambitious bare naked ladies* Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
|
Infiltrator
Member # 5806
|
written Wednesday, July 13 2005 13:23
Profile
Homepage
If I had a billion dollar I would register all the spiderweb games and save the rest so I can live as a full-time author in Great Britain. With so much money I would not get any problems if all the publisher will reject my manuses. Living costs! -------------------- So, as the great Groxy, I have come back to be served by goblins. In the "main hall" of the goblin cave was a large totem which resembled very much of... me. Posts: 437 | Registered: Friday, May 13 2005 07:00 |
|
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
|
written Wednesday, July 13 2005 21:09
Profile
Homepage
My first thought was that I'd fund a physics research lab. (Mainly basic science and spaceflight.) However, a hobby like that would cost a lot more than a billion. Particle accelerators are very expensive toys, as are various spacecraft. So I'd have to find some way to turn that billion into billions. Preferably a substantial enough stream of them to afford to keep up that expensive research. Unfortunately, most of the ways to do this aren't very moral. Bribing politicians in third world countries to get full control of natural resources is extremely profitable (worked for Russian oligarchs), but isn't a very nice thing to do. (And could get you killed or thrown in jail if one of those corrupt politicians suspects you of being a threat.) The fastest way to turn a billion into billions while bringing benefit, rather than harm to society is by funding high tech startups. So that's what I would probably do. Biotech looks pretty promising right now and with a billion dollars you could afford a few mistakes. So I'd start a venture company focusing on high tech, and particularly biotech. If the venture company is successful, I'd use some of the profits to open a physics research lab with focuse on basic science and space exploration. As for personal expenses, 50,000$ a year would be far more than I'd need. I'd also pay off my parents' morgage and give them a 80,000$ a year pension. (Dropping millions on unprepared people is far more likely to ruin their lives than to make them happy and 80K a year is far more than my parents would need to maintain and improve their standard of living.) -------------------- Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword, For it too has the power to kill. However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword, Can also have the power to heal. Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00 |
|
Shaper
Member # 3442
|
written Thursday, July 14 2005 01:15
Profile
Homepage
I'd blow it all trying to win the love and affection of my sweetheart. No, seriously, I'd donate a heck of a lot of it. I wouldn't deserve it since I would have to win the lottery a couple of times to get that much, and there are far more needy people than me. Then I'd buy Cuba! -------------------- "I am a living sign..." Thus endeth this post. Posts: 2864 | Registered: Monday, September 8 2003 07:00 |
|
Master
Member # 4614
|
written Thursday, July 14 2005 17:05
Profile
Homepage
The problem is, he who gets a billion dollars, loses a billions dollars eventually and is right back where he started. With that kind of money, right at first anyway, time becomes much more important. After all, no one can just all of the sudden win 10 years of life, barring religious references. -------------------- -ben4808 For those who love to spam: CSM Forums RIFQ Posts: 3360 | Registered: Friday, June 25 2004 07:00 |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Thursday, July 14 2005 17:59
Profile
Homepage
quote:A million dollars, sure. Even ten million. A billion dollars is a whole lot of money, though. You'd have to put serious thought into frittering it away or you might die of old age first, which is I guess what you meant with the time. No, it takes a real expert to lose a billion dollars. Perhaps you should consult with Mr. Ebbers. —Alorael, who knows people will suggest things like buying planes and cars and houses. All of those take time and effort to acquire, though. Wouldn't you get sick of speaking to salesmen and real estate agents eventually? Then what do you do with your remaining millions? Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
|
By Committee
Member # 4233
|
written Thursday, July 14 2005 18:30
Profile
Pay people to take care of your problems. Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00 |
|
Guardian
Member # 2238
|
written Thursday, July 14 2005 19:59
Profile
Homepage
It's quite simple, really. You build a giant "laser" beam and place it on the moon, aimed at Capital Hill. You commence holding the world ransom for one simple demand: complete control/world domination. You'll also need to invest in some needlessly elaborate and easily escapable death-traps, to keep the British secret agents busy. C'mon guys... it's a fail-safe plan... [ Thursday, July 14, 2005 20:00: Message edited by: demonslaeyr ] -------------------- The critics agree! Demonslayer is "a five star hit!" raves TIMES Weekly! "I've never heard such thoughtful comments. This man is a genious!" says two-time Nobel Prize winning physicist Erwin Rasputin! Posts: 1582 | Registered: Wednesday, November 13 2002 08:00 |
|
Too Sexy for my Title
Member # 5654
|
written Thursday, July 14 2005 20:15
Profile
quote:I agree but I don't think there is need to worry about what to do with the remaining millions. There is so much stuff you could do with the money, and if you knew how large my family is, you would be surprised at how fast the amount money goes down. Posts: 1035 | Registered: Friday, April 1 2005 08:00 |
|
Shaper
Member # 3442
|
written Thursday, July 14 2005 23:09
Profile
Homepage
quote:The only problem is that you'd have to spend hours of your life conversing with, and ultimately revealing your pan to, the aforementioned secret agents. Which would then enable them to ruin it. As well as wasting precious time... -------------------- "I am a living sign..." Thus endeth this post. Posts: 2864 | Registered: Monday, September 8 2003 07:00 |
|
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
|
written Thursday, July 14 2005 23:14
Profile
Homepage
quote:How fast do you spend money? For me, a billion dollars would be 50,000 years wages. There's no way I could spend that much. -------------------- Sex is easier than love. Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00 |
|
Too Sexy for my Title
Member # 5654
|
written Thursday, July 14 2005 23:20
Profile
quote:I'm pretty good at managing my money, but I'm pretty sure that I could spend a billion if I put my mind into it, After freezing enough money to not have to worry about working in my life of course. All I am saying is that I know so many people that are in need of money or whom just need help that I don't think I would stay a billionaire for long. Posts: 1035 | Registered: Friday, April 1 2005 08:00 |
|
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
|
written Friday, July 15 2005 00:09
Profile
Homepage
Oh, giving it away. That's easy. -------------------- Sex is easier than love. Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00 |
|
Agent
Member # 3349
|
written Friday, July 15 2005 10:40
Profile
Homepage
I'd first work on making a Home Entertainment Room with three TV's, get an X-Box, Gamecube, and PS2, put at least four computers with all kinds of stuff on 'em like Flash Animation and Shockwave Plugin. Then I'd probably add an east wing into my house and make it a much bigger room for me. After I finished messing with my house I'd buy every Jimmy Cone in America and close them all and eat all the ice cream. After the ice cream is gone, which should take a while, I will take the rest of my fortune and move to Ireland, where I whence came from. I will frequentally take trips to Spain, but I will live in Ireland with the rest of my family. -------------------- And everybody say....Yatta! Posts: 1287 | Registered: Thursday, August 14 2003 07:00 |
|
? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
|
written Saturday, July 16 2005 00:30
Profile
Okay this is frustrating the hell out of me. Someone out there must have formulas for computing compound interest rates on savings. I found an online calculator, but that only allowed me to accumulate 25 million. I want to know how many years of savings it would take to save a billion dollars. To be honest, the amount saved per year shouldn't make that much difference. My rough guess, based on the arc of a baseball as it clears the left field bleachers, is about 10,000 years. Please note that it is only savings that is being counted here, if you look solely at income that is an easier compute. A rough calculation measuring steady income growth from age 21 to 58 using $25000 as starting salary and ending at $82000 shows gross income of just under $2 million. So it's obvious that we need better paying jobs, or a ridiculously devalued dollar, in order to come close to a billion. Without the formula I can't figure the true savings figure, but it is far far less than earnings. Anyhow, there was some guy on npr a few weeks ago talking about the forbes list, and how impossible (literally) it would be to get onto it unless you were born with the money. *this message sponsored by the resurrectus mortis topicus foundation* Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
|
...b10010b...
Member # 869
|
written Saturday, July 16 2005 01:03
Profile
Homepage
quote:http://www.moneychimp.com/articles/finworks/continuous_compounding.htm The above has the formulas you want. Continuous compounding is the simplest case (and the most favourable), but it's pretty hard to find any real-world method of saving money that offers continuous compounding. As a simplifying assumption, my advice is to just plain ignore any amounts you put into savings per year after the initial amount, as after the first few years it won't make much difference anyway. The time it'll take to save up $1,000,000,000 depends on the initial amount you save and (much more importantly) on the interest rate you're getting (after tax, and after inflation if you want to factor that in). [ Saturday, July 16, 2005 01:04: Message edited by: Thuryl ] -------------------- My BoE Page Bandwagons are fun! Roots Hunted! Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
|
? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
|
written Saturday, July 16 2005 01:17
Profile
Hmm... There was a perfect chance to do my work for me, with my vote hanging out there, and you didn't jump. I assumed $2000 initial investment, 4% real interest rate, and a 50% tax at the end. In order to realize a billion, I would have to stay alive for another 345 years. But wouldn't my year 2 investment of $2000 also be increasing at the same rate? I might have quite the tidy sum in the year 2350. *this message sponsored by the mason jar company - a safe place for your investment* Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
|
...b10010b...
Member # 869
|
written Saturday, July 16 2005 01:22
Profile
Homepage
I haven't actually done the figures, but investing every year instead of just making a one-off investment might leave you with 10 billion or 100 billion at the end of the same time period. This sounds impressive, but in reality it means a difference of no more than a couple of decades in the time it takes to make your first billion. Working with exponentials is fun because it means that even if your initial assumptions are an order of magnitude or two off, it doesn't make much difference in the end. (Fiddling with the interest rate will make a big difference, though. Fortunately, if you're looking for long-term gains you can safely invest in a high-risk portfolio, which will on average produce considerably higher real interest than 4%. Well, probably.) [ Saturday, July 16, 2005 01:25: Message edited by: Thuryl ] -------------------- My BoE Page Bandwagons are fun! Roots Hunted! Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
|
? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
|
written Saturday, July 16 2005 01:27
Profile
What would be even more impressive would be to find a place to put that money where you could be assured that the government and banking system would remain rock solid for the next 345 years. But I do maintain that it is all silly, as a person has earned many billions in order to save that single billion. Edit - appalling spelling, even for 3:30am... *this message includes an extra billyawn in homage to the great carl sagan* [ Saturday, July 16, 2005 01:30: Message edited by: Jumpin' Salmon ] Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
|
Master
Member # 4614
|
written Saturday, July 16 2005 16:56
Profile
Homepage
If you had a good paying job, saved a lot, created a bunch of high-interest CDs, and continually invested your money wisely, you'd be quite well off into retirement. The problem is, most people don't do this, and instead spend their time in front of the computer replying to message boards. Well, maybe not exactly that, but whatever. While you may not get a billion dollars, anybody could be content with a million or so, provided it wasn't wasted. -------------------- -ben4808 For those who love to spam: CSM Forums RIFQ Posts: 3360 | Registered: Friday, June 25 2004 07:00 |
|
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
|
written Saturday, July 16 2005 17:13
Profile
Homepage
quote:Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. -------------------- Sex is easier than love. Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00 |