If you won Ten Million Dollars in the Lottery...

[pitterpatter]

Quote:Yeah! But then again, I'm 19. I would probably invest 95% of the money, then spend the other 5% on gear and promoting my music - including hiring people to help me do it Zircon:How did you get to be so 'brilliant' at age 19. I was watching Oprah a few shows ago. Apparently, 70% of people who win the lottery lose it all and are in even worse financial shape after winning then before. You are already smart enough at 19 to know to invest your money. You are way ahead in the game. If I was 19 years old again, I'd set aside $100 each month into investments. By the time you retire, you will be a millionaire with the compounding interest over time. Look into this. If I was your age again, for sure I would do it. You'll be a millionaire when you retire no matter how your music stands the test of time. In Canada, investment brokers will give you advice for free and they can tell you all the options for saving for your retirement. Really. Look into it. It's one thing I wish I had done. But, it takes a lifetime for the compounding interest effect to take effect. You have the right number of years ahead of you to do it. It's too late for me but if you start now, you will be a millionaire when you retire. And it will only cost approximately $100 per month.

[Casey H]

Quote:Quote:Yeah! But then again, I'm 19. I would probably invest 95% of the money, then spend the other 5% on gear and promoting my music - including hiring people to help me do it Zircon:How did you get to be so 'brilliant' at age 19. I was watching Oprah a few shows ago. Apparently, 70% of people who win the lottery lose it all and are in even worse financial shape after winning then before. You are already smart enough at 19 to know to invest your money. You are way ahead in the game. If I was 19 years old again, I'd set aside $100 each month into investments. By the time you retire, you will be a millionaire with the compounding interest over time. Look into this. If I was your age again, for sure I would do it. You'll be a millionaire when you retire no matter how your music stands the test of time. In Canada, investment brokers will give you advice for free and they can tell you all the options for saving for your retirement. Really. Look into it. It's one thing I wish I had done. But, it takes a lifetime for the compounding interest effect to take effect. You have the right number of years ahead of you to do it. It's too late for me but if you start now, you will be a millionaire when you retire. And it will only cost approximately $100 per month. Why is it too late for you? I looked at your birthday and you are young!! It's never too late and starting at your age would still yield great results.My wife and I have been contributing the max we can to our 401K plans for a long time. Even with that, you never know if you have enough for a decent life at retirement, especially after if you have kids to put through college. So save!Needless to say, if I won the 10 million, before I'd start having fun, I'd make sure my kids college educations were paid, a very nice retirement was planned, and there was a decent reserve protected from any possible foolishness. I've read about all those lottery winners who pissed it all away. It's hard for me to understand. Why couldn't they put away 1/2 as protected and play with the rest? I guess I"d have to walk a bit in their shoes. I know that a lot of friends, relatives, charities, and crooked investment people come out of the woodwork when you win. And you have to move away, unlist your phone number, and hide from the media and the public. But I'd like a shot at having THESE problems. Casey

[jchitty]

I would still write songs. Who was it that said, "some people are condemned by the Gods to write?" Once the songwriting bug gets in your blood, I don't think it's that easy to stop writing. If you think about it, most songwriters continue to write after they strike it rich (say they've made ten million off their songs instead of a lottery).....they probably write because they feel like that's one way they can contribute something to society....well, in their own way, of course.

[zircon]

Quote:Quote:Yeah! But then again, I'm 19. I would probably invest 95% of the money, then spend the other 5% on gear and promoting my music - including hiring people to help me do it Zircon:How did you get to be so 'brilliant' at age 19. I was watching Oprah a few shows ago. Apparently, 70% of people who win the lottery lose it all and are in even worse financial shape after winning then before. You are already smart enough at 19 to know to invest your money. You are way ahead in the game. If I was 19 years old again, I'd set aside $100 each month into investments. By the time you retire, you will be a millionaire with the compounding interest over time. Look into this. If I was your age again, for sure I would do it. You'll be a millionaire when you retire no matter how your music stands the test of time. In Canada, investment brokers will give you advice for free and they can tell you all the options for saving for your retirement. Really. Look into it. It's one thing I wish I had done. But, it takes a lifetime for the compounding interest effect to take effect. You have the right number of years ahead of you to do it. It's too late for me but if you start now, you will be a millionaire when you retire. And it will only cost approximately $100 per month. Thanks for the advice! But, I'm one step ahead of ya... I already have a savings account that I am depositing money into. I don't generate enough income yet to afford $100 per month (being a college student) but I do drop $50 a month into a 12-month certificate of deposit earning about 3.25% interest, which is better than most banks around here. Also, whenever I do earn a chunk of money (like I did recently w/ a library deal) I try to save at least half and put it into the account. The more I earn this way, the higher rate CDs I can invest into (higher minimum deposits). For example, by the end of this 12 month period I will have enough to move up to a CD offering 6% APY.My goal of course is to be able to afford zero-coupon municipal bonds, which typically cost thousands of dollars to purchase but offer incredible interest rates. Not only that but municipal securities like these are typically exempt from federal income tax! The downside is the high minimum investment, longer period of maturity, and the lack of interest payments over time - you get it all in one lump sum at the end.Err.. anyway, back on topic, the story about the guy who invested his winnings into a record is a little sad. If there's one thing I've learned in the last few years about the music business it's that you better be SURE your music is good before you try to do anything with it!!!

[pitterpatter]

[/quote]Why is it too late for you? I looked at your birthday and you are young!! It's never too late and starting at your age would still yield great results.My wife and I have been contributing the max we can to our 401K plans for a long time. Even with that, you never know if you have enough for a decent life at retirement, especially after if you have kids to put through college. So save!Needless to say, if I won the 10 million, before I'd start having fun, I'd make sure my kids college educations were paid, a very nice retirement was planned, and there was a decent reserve protected from any possible foolishness. I've read about all those lottery winners who pissed it all away. It's hard for me to understand. Why couldn't they put away 1/2 as protected and play with the rest? I guess I"d have to walk a bit in their shoes. I know that a lot of friends, relatives, charities, and crooked investment people come out of the woodwork when you win. And you have to move away, unlist your phone number, and hide from the media and the public. But I'd like a shot at having THESE problems. Casey[/quote]Hi Casey: It's not too late for me generally speaking. It's just too late to generate the kind of compound interest return that Zircon could generate being 19. It's the last few years on these plans where the money really multiplies. [[/quote]Thanks for the advice! But, I'm one step ahead of ya... I already have a savings account that I am depositing money into. I don't generate enough income yet to afford $100 per month (being a college student) but I do drop $50 a month into a 12-month certificate of deposit earning about 3.25% interest, which is better than most banks around here. Also, whenever I do earn a chunk of money (like I did recently w/ a library deal) I try to save at least half and put it into the account. The more I earn this way, the higher rate CDs I can invest into (higher minimum deposits). For example, by the end of this 12 month period I will have enough to move up to a CD offering 6% APY.My goal of course is to be able to afford zero-coupon municipal bonds, which typically cost thousands of dollars to purchase but offer incredible interest rates. Not only that but municipal securities like these are typically exempt from federal income tax! The downside is the high minimum investment, longer period of maturity, and the lack of interest payments over time - you get it all in one lump sum at the end.Err.. anyway, back on topic, the story about the guy who invested his winnings into a record is a little sad. If there's one thing I've learned in the last few years about the music business it's that you better be SURE your music is good before you try to do anything with it!!! [/quote]Okay. You really are brilliant, Zircon. You obviously don't need any advice from me. You seem to understand the principle of saving money pretty thoroughly. Are you sure you are only 19?

[zircon]

Heh. Thanks for the kind words. I try to learn about this stuff as fast as I can now because I intend to have a career working for myself by the end of college. When I graduated high school I knew I wanted to work with music for a living, and I also knew it was going to be a really long and hard road. I also learned pretty quickly that there's a ton of business related stuff involved, so I figured it was logical to study things like finance (and copyright law, contracts, accounting etc) if I want to be self-sufficient. Of course, between writing and learning about music, and studying all that other stuff, I miss out on all the frat parties.

[og]

Three cheers and a tiger for you, young man! You have your head screwed on wa-a-a-a-y tighter than mine was at 19. Hell, at 40! Way to go. Casey, we have a station here in the St. Louis area that is just like you describe. It's KDHX Community Radio, and it seems to be fairly unique. It's mainly listener supported, and staffed by volunteers. DJs have 2 hr shows that range from punk, reggae, country (the real stuff), bluegrass, Singer-songwriter, and the absolute best blues. It streams online http://www.kdhx.org Really cool station. Jchitty, one of the great writers--Twain, Hemmingway, or one of them--allegedly had a sign above his desk that read "Just write it, damn you, what else are you good for!"

[jchitty]

LOL, og. Be it Twain or Hemmingway, they knew were they were talking about.

[horacejesse]

I was playing ploker once at the Oaks Club in Everycille CA, (that is like part of Oakland). I was playing in a big game but right next to us was a smaller game and in that game was a guy everyone like to point out to strangers as someone who won $6 million in the CA lottery.Pretty soon there was a ruckus at the other table. The millionaire was throwing an absolute fit over a dollar he thought he had already put in. Others were saying he had not put it in yet though. This guy was going crazy over that dollar. Finally they got it settled but by that time he was too upset to play so he quit.Just an incident from the past for which this thread sparked the memory. I hadn't thought about that for years.This guy was goofy and also goofy looking for sure. Someone said he had been a street person before. I wonder if he has any of that jack left. Probably so, the way he guarded it.

[nomiyah]

Quote:I was playing ploker once at the Oaks Club in Everycille CA, (that is like part of Oakland). The Oaks Club! Hey, that's my neighborhood. You live in the Bay?Here's a pic of a show I did at Sweet Jimmy's, down the road from the Oaks Club.http://www.nomiyah.com/dashboard/galler ... 000023.jpg