Houston Don
Member
"Just very limited options" -> I agree, which is why I stated it depends on what quality of life you desire.@Big Daddy Don the 69th
There are options for living cheaply within $2mil for the rest of your life. Just very limited options
There’s a big difference between living based on your means and living based on a lifestyle you want to keep
If you can’t afford the area you’re in then guess what? You have $2m, go find somewhere cheaper. Sell everything you have aside from bare minimum so you're not lugging it around if it's cheaper to re-purchase then moving it
I agree with Stephs statement that you could live on $2mil for the rest of your life. I also think it doesn’t have to be used in that way. You could use it to set yourself up to generate more money.
The area I live in you can expect rent for $300-600 a week. Groceries a family might spend between $100-300 per week. Yet I know a couple that lives on only $30 per week total by camping. I know another couple that don’t have to fork out for rent or very little because they do housesitting. The rent fee is them looking after the property on behalf of the owners so it’s not burgled while on holiday.
If you can adapt you can live off of $2mil without supplement. If you can’t you need to use the $2mil to set up a passive income or better income
Most people never have so much as $50k in the bank. So if you have a lump sum $2mil and you can’t do either then you have a serious money management problem that can’t be fixed by throwing money at it.
"go find somewhere cheaper" -> Again, that factors into your quality of life, many just do not want to move away from family and friends, etc.
"You could use it to set yourself up to generate more money." -> As long as you already have the basics covered and are willing to work, this is also true but every investment netting you more than inflation carries risks that most of you casually ignore.
If your rent is $600/week and groceries are $300/week, you are already spending at a rate that would exhaust your jackpot in Stephen's 50 years, no money for taxes, medical coverage, transportation, and everything else people routinely embrace as part of living a decent life. Granted, I know people that would love to camp part of the year and could pick up odd jobs but that goes back to the necessity of working to sustain a certain quality of life most are accustomed to having, no government programs are going to supplement your lifestyle nor would any of those odd jobs like house sitting provide the kind of benefits most care for as a safety net. So it goes back to specific assumptions such as are you single, will you be working, do you already have a home, a car, and many others. Sure, given $2 million and starting with nothing else, a single person can do great, it's just that the reality is that most people will spend it within a few years because most people have "serious money management issues".
If you're around Stephen's age (as implied by his previous comment how he's paid taxes for some 50 years), it's a lot easier than someone in their 20's but I fully agree with your premise that if you are willing to work for a living or camp as a lifestyle, you will manage to survive. As a point of reference however, a single medical incident can wipe that slate clean if you aren't covered by insurance, and comprehensive, un-subsidized health insurance can dip into those savings quickly if you aren't employed.