I’m really surprised how many people would take the money. I asked my husband the question and he and I both agreed that under no circumstances would we take the billion, even if it did not have the 5-years-to-live attached. I would never want to have to think continuously about my money and how to spend it and does the charity I want to give it to really spend it wisely and so on. If I had kids I would never want to leave them a big inheritance as I think that would be a great way to ruin their lives. Big money looks to me like a big problem.
Oh shit. Without the life-span issue, hell yeah give me the money. kayT, I’ll take it off your hands if you need me to.
Worried about your kids? Give them:
- College tuition and room and board.
- A house.
and they’re set without being ruined.
Worried about charities? There are funds that will give money directly to folks in low-income communities, and they have pretty good success rates. If you gave $1,000 to 990,000 people, that’d change a helluva lot of lives and still leave you with 10 million to play with.
Five years is too short. It would go by in a blink of an eye, before I’ve even had a chance to enjoy my wealth or see the benefits of my charitable donations. I am simply not that altruistic.
It would pretty much stink if you asked your spouse, and he/she said, “Take the money!” 
I don’t see why you would have to:
I see it as the contrary - you would NEVER HAVE to think about money, because you always had more than you would ever need.
I would derive non-negligible pleasure from being VERY generous - treating my friends/family to everything, dropping huge tips, dropping $100s in beggars’ cups, giving “change your life” amounts to any number of struggling musicians/businesses, etc. I wouldn’t find that a burden at all.
Yeah, I’m not about to orchestrate my own death to leave behind my partner and our (then) five - year-old. I imagine the calculation is a bit different when you have dependents.
And this sounds cheesy, but I want as many years as possible with my husband.
It could be a burden if your generosity leads to hurt feelings among family/relatives.
“You gave Person X twice as much as you did me. DON’T YOU LOVE ME!!”
It could also be a burden if you give money to someone who spends it unwisely and in a way that hurts themselves and others.
I probably would not let anyone know that I’ve become a billionaire. Because I wouldn’t be able to handle all the outstretched hands and the guilt-tripping associated with all those hands. And I wouldn’t want to deal with someone asking what I’m going to do with all my money and them giving me unsolicited advice about how to spend it.
Based on family history, I really had not expected to live as long as I have. I’ll take the money.
Is there anyone who wouldn’t take a billion dollars and have their life shortened by 1 day? (If you were going to die tomorrow you’ll live that long anyway)
Where is the money/time dividing line?
I think the OP might have been structured better if it were something like this: “Let’s say you’re 40 and healthy right now. Would you take ten guaranteed healthy years (five is too short) and a billion bucks, or live your remaining life on its continuing natural course right now? (which might mean an additional 30-50 years of normal life).”
Not directly apposite, but I vaguely recall a short story of a man in Europe who decided to buy an annuity for som eset period, figuring no way he’d live that long. Or perhaps, he’d be happy to off himself at the end. Well, of course he lives that long and decides he isn’t interested in suicide.
No supernatural forces or great riches involved, just (as I vaguely recall) a decent dealing w/ this sort of dilemma.
I would certainly sell the last day of my natural life for a billion. I’m unlikely to make it much past 80 so I’ve got 43 years left max. I need at least 20 years to accomplish some of the stuff I’d want to do with the billion and I’ve probably got 30 years until grandkids (if any) so 35 would probably be a decent minimum. There is no way I’d sell more that 8 years of my life and I would probably aim closer to 5 years for the billion as a fair number.
What I enjoy most in life is not expensive and my life is otherwise pretty good. No thank you to the billion. I also assume the freak who is handing them out gets off on the people who choose death, so that’s another reason!
I’d do it if I were 75 or older. But I’m only 62 and I’m in good health and still active. Five years is not enough.
I would much prefer to live off a pedestrian salary for say, another 40 years than to acquire a billion dollars that I don’t need + a sure death sentence and whatever ridiculous anxiety complex that comes along with it. Time is a far more valuable resource than money. I could tell you a billion things I can do that a dead man can’t. Ok well not a billion things. But a couple hundred for sure.
… but it’s almost as good as being rich 
At 30~40, I’d have taken 1 day and a decent excuse.
I don’t see the guys that actually have a billion dollars doing much with it that helps the world. Maybe Bill Gates.
I could accomplish a lot with a billion dollars, so I’d pick that.
I’d probably create an estate worth 20-50 million for my family and friends, and use that to pay everyone’s bills in a middle class lifestyle for several generations. The rest I’d donate to various charities.
Some people may not agree with it, but Jeff Bezos is putting a billion a year into space travel. Which is good because its a money losing opportunity right now, and someone willing to lose money can help the field.
Paul Allen of microsoft donated a lot of money to neuroscience research.
However chuck Feeney is the only billionaire I know of who actually did give almost all his money away. He had 8 billion or so, and he gave all but a couple million away (the couple million he kept for his retirement).
No way. I quite enjoy being alive and have a reasonable expectation of a couple of good decades.