If I had a million dollars, I’d learn to dream big while living small

Stop judging me, Abe

I created this blog so We the Savers would give me $100, but they didn’t 🙁 You lucky readers get to read the blog they rejected, yay for you!

Maybe it’s a lack of imagination on my part, but until recently, if I won million dollars, I would have used it to pay off debt and buy myself some necessities. Goodbye, student loans! Hellooooo, new car and trip to Europe! (I do consider a trip to Europe to be a necessity, just one circumstances have conspired to keep from me).

But as I age like a fine wine, I’m trying to stop dreaming small. Instead of making cosmetic improvements to my finances, I’d rather do a major overhaul. After the screaming and joyful tears stopped, I’d visit an accountant and invest my filthy lucre in safe but aggressive ways. Because I’m relatively young—28—I would have to weigh the money I’d save on student loan interest vs. how much that money, invested instead, could earn me in the next 60 years.

There’s nothing too terribly sexy about what I’d do with a million dollars; I’ve rejected my delicious fantasies of fabulous French food in favor of cold, hard cash. Maybe I wouldn’t go to Europe for three weeks right after collecting my winnings. Maybe I’d go to Europe for a year in a few decades. Maybe I’d retire there.

Having a million dollars fall right into my lap would make it hard to resist throwing all caution to the wind and getting myself what I want right when I want it, but I’d rather dream big now and live big later than spend my golden years regretting my haste.