I’d give half (or whatever similar amount minimized the tax consequences for all parties) to family, but otherwise, Vegas, hookers and blow, pay off car and rest into the mortgage.
I thought the exact same thing, which is why I didn’t vote.
I’d probably stick half in a savings account, and invest the other half in a range of index funds. The first half would be earmarked toward bailing out whichever of my or Mrs. Giraffe’s parents hits total financial ruin first due to their complete lack of retirement planning. We of course wouldn’t tell them this, though, as that would simply accelerate the ruin.
I’d probably use most of it on a down payment for a bigger appartment. But other than that, I don’t expect I would do anything drastically different with my lifestyle. My budget is based on my monthly income, not lump sums I receive now and again.
I chose home improvements because we’re in the midst of some projects and it would be great to have a bigger budget. But I would definitely take a chunk and travel.
Assuming there’s no tax to be paid -
10% to church, pay off the mortgage, split the remainder four ways for my wife and kids to blow. I would probably take my wife to Vegas for the weekend with my share.
Regards,
Shodan
I love Las Vegas, but the idea of taking a windfall to Las Vegas makes me laugh for some reason. What’s the up side? “Woo hoo, I quadrupled my money! Now I have $200k! Off to Vegas…oh, wait.”
There doesn’t seem to be a pay off debt choice. That amount would pay off the house, the car, and the card. There’d be more than $50,000 left, most of which would go into house improvements.
Some of it would go into the 457, though. And into savings, maybe of the CD variety.
Half into savings.
Pay off debt.
About 5 grand for my wedding, 15 grand for the honeymoon.
Kickass tv.
And the rest into investments.
Not to make more money - to blow my share on shows and hotels and buffets and stuff. I’ve never been to Vegas, neither has my wife.
I don’t expect to have a dime left when we get back - that’s the point.
Regards,
Shodan
OK, that makes infinitely more sense. 
Me too. I would pay off all my crap. Then save the rest.
Hmm… pay off debt seems to be a popular choice. That’s what I would do. Yet, it’s not up there. It’s all about spending, upgrading etc. I have about 100k debt on my house, about 35k in student loans… that’s most of it there. I’d probably put some of the rest of it towards buying baby stuff for when I have a kid and use some of it on my honeymoon, really living it up.
err… and
…paying off debt was an obvious omission as well…
having said that I also didn’t include the Cappyburra’s fighting fund…
… stupidly :smack:
Give half of it to my parents and save the rest for something else - traveling, down payment, whatever comes up first.
‘Pay Off The Debts’ seems to be a common theme…, I had a conversation with my sister earlier about it, and that was exactly what she proposed.
---->still kicking myself for not putting on the poll
Followed closely by “And also get the floor re-sanded/polished, and buy a pool” type idea’s, her reasoning is that doing these things improve quality of life for her and her family.
Fair point.
I go the other way, yes you can do these things but given that they are already things your generally trying to achieve, wouldn’t the free money be better spent on doing something that otherwise would never happen?
Travelling for example… the memories will last a lifetime, and there’s no way in hell yer going to get a second mortgage to do it… (or, if your inclined, the three days in Vegas, which may well give you just as vivid memories as a three month trip…, or, on reflection, none at all :eek:)
…
Another one asking “where is ‘pay off my mortgage’?”
I’m already self-employed and have no interest or need for the rest. Right now the best investment for me would be to wipe out that mortgate; I realize I could play the numbers and max up the deductible and all that jazz, but I’d much rather just get it off my back.
I’ve got no interest in spending 3 months traveling unless I get paid to do it (which I usually do); I’d much rather know that whenever I get vacation, I can go on a trip without having to take the mortgage into account.
The rest would go straight into the Kidlets’ accounts. If I give money to my nephews while alive, it doesn’t pay taxes; if they inherit it, it pays 16%. So live it is. My paternal grandmother followed that same strategy and it came handy many times.
Tithe it and get completely out of debt. Stick the rest in the bank and sit on it until we’re ready to buy a house.
Pay off the consumer debts (car, one credit card).
Make some donations
Put a big chunk toward the kids’ college funds.
Put a chunk toward the mortgage
And use whatever’s left to fund our 401(k) / IRAs for a while.
I picked upgrade my house, but I would really pay the house off and use the rest to pay off my car and credit card.
The way I look at it is if I pay off my debt I’ll pick up an extra ~$2,000/month which would mean that I could take that memorable vacation every 8 years or so for the rest of my life or more realistically I could spend $20,000 on very cool vacations every year for the rest of my life. Being out of debt would give me more memories then just blowing the cash.