# For 20 million would you.... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348 "2009-01-15T00:10:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/21 "2009-01-15T03:48:32Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Well, I’d have enough money to go see a shit-load of great concerts for one. The Beatles had stopped touring by then, but I would have previous knowledge about the rooftop show and would have dropped in. > > So, let’s see, January 1969 eh? I would be very well prepared to go to Woodstock, and would have brought food. (And maybe some non-brown acid. ;)) > > The Doors and The Who were touring, as was Hendrix. The Toronto Maple Leafs vs. the Montreal Canadiens of the day would be fantastic to see. You could really impress your friends when you say 'See those guys that are calling themselves The _New_ Yardbirds, they’re the guys to pay attention to, especially that Page fella." ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/22 "2009-01-15T04:08:09Z")
No. I’m hoping some kind of life-extension procedures are developed before I die (at least at a normal age), and I don’t think going back in time 40 years would improve my odds. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Karyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/fbc32d/32.png) [@Karyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karyn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/23 "2009-01-15T04:33:53Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Then late at night on 9/10/01, I’ve got a couple of friends I’ll call to help me with an “emergency” to keep them out of the WTC. That adds an interesting twist to it. I could easily keep the technology that I would know is coming to myself but I don’t think that I could live with myself if I didn’t try to prevent disasters that I knew were about to happen. There’s always a disaster somewhere and either I’d drive myself mad or be committed. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/24 "2009-01-15T05:16:51Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Actually, looking at the base percentage rates, taxes in 1969 were much higher. > 1969: > \<=$25k: 24.2% > \>25k: 52.8% > 2008: > > # 10% on income between $0 and $8,025 > > # 15% on the income between $8,025 and $32,550; plus $802.50 > > # 25% on the income between $32,550 and $78,850; plus $4,481.25 > > # 28% on the income between $78,850 and $164,550; plus $16,056.25 > > # 33% on the income between $164,550 and $357,700; plus $40,052.25 > > # 35% on the income over $357,700; plus $103,791.75 > > I haven’t accounted for inflation, but I doubt it’ll make much difference. Nor have you accounted for location. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/25 "2009-01-15T16:10:39Z")
Brush up on my COBOL skills, and I’m golden. Of course, I would have to live thru disco again, but I still have the leisure suit, so why not? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/26 "2009-01-15T16:19:25Z")
No. I don’t have 20 mil. But I would certainly pay all I have in the bank to be grooving in the late sixties. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/27 "2009-01-15T16:22:28Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > No. > > I don’t have 20 mil. > > But I would certainly pay all I have in the bank to be grooving in the late sixties. I think the OP means you’d be _given_ $20 mil to do it, not have to pay. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/28 "2009-01-15T16:25:24Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Nor have you accounted for location. ☹ Since those are federal income taxes, I fail to see what difference it makes, ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/29 "2009-01-15T16:40:57Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Since those are federal income taxes, I fail to see what difference it makes, Psst…(check his location) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/30 "2009-01-15T16:56:25Z")
Definitely. I would look up a couple of young Brits named Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber and invest the money in their projects. ---
**Author:** ![Karyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/fbc32d/32.png) [@Karyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karyn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/31 "2009-01-15T17:02:29Z")
If we get to use our knowledge for investing then it would be worth it even without the 20 million. You could make more than that easily if you knew what to buy and when. ---
**Author:** ![Telcontar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Telcontar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telcontar)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/32 "2009-01-15T17:24:54Z")
> [@Karyn](#): > > If we get to use our knowledge for investing then it would be worth it even without the 20 million. You could make more than that easily if you knew what to buy and when. From a purely self interest standpoint I could probably swing a Nobel prize (sorry Danny and Amos, but I’d have 4 years on you). I’d certainly go down in history as the greatest psychologist of the century. Also, given 20 million in seed money…history might look rather different. Muskie in 72! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/33 "2009-01-15T18:15:08Z")
> [@Karyn](#): > > If we get to use our knowledge for investing then it would be worth it even without the 20 million. You could make more than that easily if you knew what to buy and when. Investing? Hell, it’s January 1969. Think of the odds you could get just by betting the Mets will win the World Series this fall! ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/34 "2009-01-15T18:53:55Z")
Sure. I would make pals with that silly young geek Bill Gates and give him a few bucks to start his business, asking for just a simple 49% of the shares in his company as collateral. Happy to be his silent partner. Might even saunter over to that garage where that smart-assed, whippersnapper Steve Jobs is tinkering with technology and give him a few bucks for the same deal. Would buy some land on the Strip in Las Vegas, maybe get a few acres in Malibu, perhaps find a guy named Trump and go 60/40 with a building in NYC. Give that Spielberg kid a few bucks to make a movie or two, maybe invest in some stupid show about Cats, even though I hate cats, and as a tax donation, I would buy new voting booths for Florida without paper chads. Secretly have somebody pay a few drug addicts with Arabic accents to make anonymous calls to the FBI about hijacking planes on 9/11, and to be safe, have them make a bomb threat to the WTC and Pentagon. I am sure there are some other things that would occur to me, but that would be a nice start. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/35 "2009-01-15T19:02:12Z")
> [@bluecanary](#): > > I think the OP means you’d be _given_ $20 mil to do it, not have to pay. Yeah. See what I did there? ---
**Author:** ![CAT\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@CAT\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CAT_1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/36 "2009-01-15T19:11:39Z")
I am almost 44, and always wishing that my son, who is 5, could have had the same experiences I had as a kid. I grew up on a farm and was outside playing, or working from sunup till sundown. We had 3 channels to watch on our TV, and one didn’t come in very well. But I had the best time! So, yes, I would do it if I could take him with me, and was given 20 million. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/37 "2009-01-15T19:19:54Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > -maybe invest in some stupid show about Cats, even though I hate cats, This is pretty much how the London production _was_ financed. When Andrew Lloyd Webber couldn’t get a backer, he mortgaged his house to raise a quarter of the total, got a quarter from around 2,000 individual investors, and the theatre forgave the rest, taking a chance it would be a hit. So if you could survive until 1981 and had some money to invest, CATS would have been perfect! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/38 "2009-01-15T19:31:23Z")
There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for 20M. In fact, I’d do it for free. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/39 "2009-01-15T19:42:01Z")
I was ready to say unconditionally “Yes!” However, on further review, Mrs Shibb is Asian which means my kids don’t exactly “blend” (yeah, like you blend). I’m not sure I’d want them to face the institutional racism/ethnicism that was endemic in the late 1960s United States. There are a number of cool things that I’d personally love to see from my 47 year old perspective versus my child’s perspective. Just not sure it would be worth the price of admission. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348/40 "2009-01-15T20:06:48Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I was ready to say unconditionally “Yes!” However, on further review, Mrs Shibb is Asian which means my kids don’t exactly “blend” (yeah, like you blend). My kids are Asian, too. But I got twenty mil. > [@Larry Holmes](#): > > I used to be black. Now, I’m rich. Same deal. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-20-million-would-you/481348.md?page=3)