Hey, c’mon. A brother has to dream! As the music industry has gone into massive decline over the last decade or so, there have been many naysayers running around saying that music is dead, and that there will be no more huge stars in the music industry. Then, there was Lady Gaga. And Muse. And Adele. Adele… wow.
It occurred to me this morning that I have some pretty strong ideas about this topic – and I thought it might be interesting to share, although I could have legitimately titled this blog “what I won’t be doing with my $1,000,000” or something like that.
So… the crazy hypothetical: I just earned $1,000,000. First thing, find the nearest tax haven. Seriously. (Random-ish tangent… to all of you purveyors of taxation – I have nasty words for you in my head that I keep to myself. What I will say is that the popularity of this idea tells me two things: 1) the “rich” aren’t the only greedy bastards around (everyone knows envy is one of the seven deadly sins, right?) and 2), none of you believe in your own upward mobility, which is sad indeed.)
Ok, now that I have that out of my system..
1.) Obvious – I would pay off all of my debts. Yes, including my house.
2.) I would give away 10% to charity.
3.) I would re-invest 20% into my own business.
4.) I would have roughly 55% left. The next 20% would go into a rainy day fund for my family.
5.) The remaining money would be invested into growing the businesses of artists I know and believe in. Yep. Is it the most practical thing? No. But it would change the lives of a lot of my friends.
What wouldn’t happen – a nicer house, huge gifts for my friends and family, sending parents to Hawaii, rice-burners, giant stereoes… I’m honestly over that stuff.
So… what would you do if you had $1,000,000?