I find this to be a question that tells a lot about people’s financial priorities, and it let’s you know where they think the market is going.
Do they even consider paying down their debt? If so, in what way? Where?
If they would invest it, in what industries?
So how about it? Have lot’s of debt? Would you pay it off?
Go into real estate in a few months assuming it is bottoming out? Buy up a lot of beaten up stocks?
Strippers and cocaine. What does that say about me?
Strippers and cocaine. What does that say about me?
That your priorities are right in line with about 50% of lottery winners.
JJ
Strippers and cocaine. What does that say about me?
Are you Rodney King?
I would put it into my mortgage, refinance the remaining 70k in a 15yr and continue paying the same overpayment to my mortgage and be done with it in 4-5 years. So in 5 years I am debt free, own a house, and start considering a new career without worrying about the dent in my lifestyle.
So basically, the same thing with the 100k that I will do with stimulus rebate, my normal tax refund, and any other lump of moeny that comes into my hand.
And for what its worth, I put all of our family’s retirement funds into money markets on September 9th of last year, which will tell you all you need to know about where I think the market is going.
Probably college education for the kids. I’d invest in whatever my financial advisor told me to invest in – I can tell you that it would be diversified by industry and country.
I guess it really depends on the mood I’m in when I got the money :-). I doubt I’d use all of it to pay down my mortgage. I might use some of it to pay it down a little and then refinance to get to a slightly lower payment. Probably a big chunk in the retirement funds.
OTOH I have, have had several “Business” ideas that would probably do well if it started off with some capital investment that didn’t have a lot of overhead. 100K would be a decent start for some of them.
So I guess it would depend on a lot of things.
~Matt
I’d be willing to go into real estate today. I’ve been looking at a place “in the city” that I have some interest in. It’s a little out my range right now, but $100K would take care of that.
I would probably pay off my student loans and some bad consumer debt that I have. Pretty much any money that I get whether it be $100 or $100k will go towards non-mortgage debt until it is gone. I just can’t wait to have that weight lifted from my shoulders. Then, I’ll throw a large portion of the remainder towards retirement, spend a bit of it on something fun, and then if there is any left over, I would apply it to my mortgage.
100 K would pay off our mortgage and leave enough to restore our classic boat.
College fund for my daughter on the way, can’t even begin to imagine what it will cost 18+ years from now.
Easy - mortgage pay down, use the resulting LOC wiggle room to flip the loan at the same interest rate into an investment loan - net result is that I have exactly the same mortgage payment, but a 100k more in my investment portfolio with interest being tax deductible…
Good question.
I would pay down off my higher interest student loan debt (7%), pay off wife’s mini van, then sit on the rest for a few months. Then select a few of the more stable stocks that have been a victim in this market and start doing some selective buying.
I’d use the 100k to pay off part of my credit card debt… 
Pay off my debit (less than 20K) and then splurge on a vacation for my wife and kids. Left over money I would buy stocks like GE, Lowes, Home depot along those lines and let it ride.
One thing we have never done is taken a real vacation to some far off place. In all of our other plannings we have done well I guess.
I would give great consideration to buying a 20’ boat as well which clearly is a step backwards but at this point it would be much more fun pulling my kids around a lake with that then going to a computer everyday wondering what said stocks are doing.
I want some fun in that money.
Not $100K, but I recently had a similar “problem”. I paid off the principle on my auto loan, because it was at an absurdly high non-deductible interest rate. If I had credit card debt, that would have gotten paid off first too. I maxed out my Roth IRA contribution for the year. Some of the balance will likely go to a down-payment for a first home. The rest is in a blend of a high interest savings account and a brokerage account with laddered CDs with a slightly higher return than the savings account and a mix a various sector and industry funds from the S&P 500. I shorted the S&P 500 on the Market’s open on Monday with an inverse S&P fund, and that has worked out well. I will probably keep that position throught the spring. Looking to pick-up a technology fund, since tech has gotten beaten like a red-headed step child recently. I’m bullish on Emerging markets to hedge my short position on the S&P. That is a long position.
I don’t know…we shall see…
At the moment: bump us up a house, then put the rest in a short term fund while keeping an eye out for either a franchise or other business opportunity.
$100K? I’d get me one of them Foreman grills, we’re running out of pressure treated for the woodstove
Seriously… I’d pay off the mortgage, $10K in each kids 528 account, and if there’s enough left granite counters for the kitchen.
Some money will be put into the mortgage.
Some money will be put into RSP (Canadian equivalent of 401K)
Some money will be put into some house renovation
Some money will be put into travel
Some money will be spent into “fun” stuff…
A little bit of everything but with focus on Mortgage (to be debt free sooner) and RSP (to be able to retire and enjoy life.
Fred.
Good question!
Since I’ve sipped at the Dave Ramsey kool-aid, this is not too hard:
I’d then plow most of the freed up cash flow from (1) in to 401K / Roth and maybe paying down the 1st mortgage.