If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?

[TheMan419]

Pay off the house and invest the rest. That way I could retire much earlier than current plans.

 

[MossRoad]

I purchased some land ~15 years ago,,
the state forester told me the forest was mature,, and needed harvested,,

I ended up getting EXACTLY $5,000 per acre for just the timber, and I did not have to lift a finger.
That was 4 years ago, the 30 acres now has ~20 foot tall trees covering it, and it looks nice.

I doubt that I will be able to keep the haul roads open,, everything is growing over so fast,,,

Why would anyone sell land for less than the timber is worth!!?? (I only paid about $1,000 per acre)

That’s the part I don’t get. I did a search and there is indeed many large parcels of land selling in Maine for under $600 per acre. Mind boggling. I saw 500 acres with a lake for under $300K. It wasn’t that far from civilization, either.

 

[Eagle1]

Seen a friends fathers place sell for ~170K. 222 acres, 1/2+ of river frontage, 80ac flat river bottom pasture, rest mixed grassland. Multiple springs, newer mobile home on a full walkout basement and solid barn. That was here in Missouri about 4 years ago. On black top, a negative in my eyes.

 

[Wakey]

The 50% drop in value

It has happened 7 times since June 2011.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

In FRAZZ,, the newspaper cartoon,, the same question was asked,,
the student responded ,,
"invest in a mix of bonds with growth stocks" (or something like that)

Then,, both Frazz and the boy both giggle A LOT,,
then the real answer,,, "BULLDOZER,,, DUH!!

True that. Any big iron will put a big dent in a megabuck. What does a D6 run? A quarter mil plus extras?

 

[Larry Caldwell]

$1,000,000 would buy 2000 acres? That’s only $500 per acre. What am I missing?

You might be able to buy cutover stump farm for that, but nothing with any timber on it. If you figure $50/year/acre for a plantation, that's $1500/acre, plus the land cost. If there is mature timber on it, the price is determined by a cruise. A local mill paid $8 million for a single section not long ago. That's $12,500/acre, but they were buying the timber rather than the land.

20 years ago, Weyerhaeuser left the PNW. They cut everything bigger than a toothpick and then sold the land. My privately held local timber company picked up 137,000 acres pretty cheap at the time, and they are already milling 2x4s out of the commercial thinning. To come out on timber land your investment horizon has to be 20-50 years.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I would NOT donate any to the big name charities. The Mayfield tornado has taught everybody in this area that the big name national charities are nothing but scams. I would donate to the charities that I have seen boots on the ground doing work seven months after the disaster. Samaritans Purse, Bread of Life, and believe it or not the Mennonite Disaster Relief Fund (may not be correct name). Those are the ones still working with no advertising other than a cheap sign in the yard telling who they are. Bread of Life doesn't have a lot of people out laboring but instead have people referred to them who need help and provide funding for those. Nobody managing that organization gets paid a cent and most are out quite a bit doing their duties. All those charities would get sizable donations.

The rest would be invested in CDs laddered so than one would be coming due every three months. So when the stock market starts back up I could invest the money in Mutual Funds. These funds would be in my and my wife's name with each of my four grandkids getting them POD. Both daughter's would have all debts settled and retirement accounts set up for them so they could do as I have done and retire before 60 years of age. They already save quite a bit but I would match everything they invest. The next generations in my family would be set up much as my wife's and my parents have done for us.

My lifestyle wouldn't change much. Maybe an extra vacation every year. Maybe trade vehicles every five years instead of eight to ten years. Might buy a pontoon boat to take grands out on. Would invest in the grands not with toys but with experiences. Take them skiing. Teach them to SCUBA dive. Teach them to play golf. Take them to the state capitol. Take them to Washington D.C. and Arlington National Cemetery to see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown. I would take them to colonial Jamestown, Yorktown, Fort Sumter, Gettysburg, Shiloh, and any other place I consider educational. Would also take them to Disney, Universal, Sea World, and Discovery Cove (to swim with a dolphin, I highly recommend it).

I would keep an eye out for people who need a helping hand and try to give it to them without them knowing about it. I would look for hard working youngsters and try to help with their education and/or training.

I would enjoy life to the fullest and try to leave this world with my descendants set up for success. And I would hope to leave the world not regretting anything.

And I take a bow.

RSKY

People need to know that big national charities spend their money on fundraising and executive salaries, leaving little or nothing to those who need help. Give locally. There are local food banks, animal shelters, homeless shelters, and rural clinics that will spend the money providing services in your local community. Screw the freaking Sierra Club. Donate to your local garden club instead.

 

[Snobdds]

I purchased some land ~15 years ago,,
the state forester told me the forest was mature,, and needed harvested,,

I ended up getting EXACTLY $5,000 per acre for just the timber, and I did not have to lift a finger.
That was 4 years ago, the 30 acres now has ~20 foot tall trees covering it, and it looks nice.

I doubt that I will be able to keep the haul roads open,, everything is growing over so fast,,,

Why would anyone sell land for less than the timber is worth!!?? (I only paid about $1,000 per acre)

Because the timber was just harvested...

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I purchased some land ~15 years ago,,
the state forester told me the forest was mature,, and needed harvested,,

I ended up getting EXACTLY $5,000 per acre for just the timber, and I did not have to lift a finger.
That was 4 years ago, the 30 acres now has ~20 foot tall trees covering it, and it looks nice.

I doubt that I will be able to keep the haul roads open,, everything is growing over so fast,,,

Why would anyone sell land for less than the timber is worth!!?? (I only paid about $1,000 per acre)

There's a huge ignorance tax.

 

[Jstpssng]

I purchased some land ~15 years ago,,
the state forester told me the forest was mature,, and needed harvested,,

I ended up getting EXACTLY $5,000 per acre for just the timber, and I did not have to lift a finger.
That was 4 years ago, the 30 acres now has ~20 foot tall trees covering it, and it looks nice.

I doubt that I will be able to keep the haul roads open,, everything is growing over so fast,,,

Why would anyone sell land for less than the timber is worth!!?? (I only paid about $1,000 per acre)

That's... $5000/acre for stumpage? I'm impressed... WOW! We have a lot of pulpwood mixed in with the high quality trees, so even 20% of that would be high. It's also an altogether different mix. Having said that, 15-30 years ago a lot of the traditional large landowners were selling out; typically for 80% of stumpage value, with no bare land value considered. 800,000 acres or so around here went for 200$/acre including a lot of lake, river, and stream frontage. They then sold off the development rights as a Conservation Easement, recouping nearly 25% of what they had paid.