- Paid off the mortgage
- Bought another section, built an ideal house on that over a couple of years
- Went to Disney World, took the nieces and nephews to Disneyland (yeah, I'm still cheap)
- Sent mum to the UK for a holiday
10/10 would slave away at a startup again (actually that's a lie, once was enough). We didn't owe any money other than the original mortgage, so there wasn't really anything else pressing to spend it on. Already owned a number of guns, motorcycles, and a basic sports car. No real plans to spend the rest, it's in the bank/bonds.
Basically I'm still living the life I always have, I just have a giant workshop now in which to play with my toys and pursue my hobbies. I think if this had happened 15 to 20 years earlier in my life, I'd be looking at things differently, but at this point I just plan to retire a bit earlier than I would have and not change much else. My father was also very savvy financially, I suspect he would have some pertinent ideas.
I now work for a small company as an integral cog in a relatively low pressure environment. I get to build things every day, come and go as I please, and my contributions are respected and valued. It's lovely :-)
Paying the mortgage is usually a bad idea. Assuming we are taking about the US, mortgage interests are tax deductible up to 750k (there are also deductions in most other countries), you already paid the mortgage origination fee, and usually you pay an interest rate that is not too high (if it is, you should consider renegotiating your mortgage, rather than paying it off).
10/10 would slave away at a startup again (actually that's a lie, once was enough). We didn't owe any money other than the original mortgage, so there wasn't really anything else pressing to spend it on. Already owned a number of guns, motorcycles, and a basic sports car. No real plans to spend the rest, it's in the bank/bonds.
Basically I'm still living the life I always have, I just have a giant workshop now in which to play with my toys and pursue my hobbies. I think if this had happened 15 to 20 years earlier in my life, I'd be looking at things differently, but at this point I just plan to retire a bit earlier than I would have and not change much else. My father was also very savvy financially, I suspect he would have some pertinent ideas.
I now work for a small company as an integral cog in a relatively low pressure environment. I get to build things every day, come and go as I please, and my contributions are respected and valued. It's lovely :-)