In a moment of quiet, I sometimes enter dreamland, as I am sure a few of us do, what would you do if you had a significant lottery win, or had made a sizable bitcoin investment back in 2010 ? In both instances you could be sitting on millions. But only if you had taken the plunge, had the insight, and were not risk adverse to taking a punt with some spare cash. Of course it is not for everyone, and certainly making a long term investment doesn’t suit all, we tend to look at the immediate, which is certainly the case during this current pandemic.
Then having made yourself comfortable for life, both in ‘games of chance’ one could argue, what would yo do with any excess? I have always felt that I would explore my philanthropic nature, it burns within me. Yes I want a enough for myself and my family, but then to help others would be rewarding and bring unimaginable satisfaction. Helping those neighbours and friends who have always partaken in your life would be a joy.
Dreams are one thing, but entering opportunities of chance are available to many of us, even entry level investments are accessible with a bit of spare cash. Sensibly the majority of us work hard to survive and have the odd flutter, few of us are hardened gamblers or risk takers. But then what if…. you can only look back in hindsight.
Remember the guy who in 2010 bought two pizzas from Papa Johns for 10,000 bitcoin, it meant nothing at the time as it was an experiment, but today the very same 10,000 bitcoin are worth $150 000 000 USD (or equivalent to £122 Million GBP) in November 2020 – wow, what an investment return. But as with ‘the Big Bang Theory story-line’ about a bitcoin purchase, have you still got the files/wallet safely stored, or the PC, or flash-key, where the files were originally saved. Also, monetizing large sums of bitcoin can be complicated, even with the available crypto currency exchanges, and don’t forget to pay your tax on any capital gains, it isn’t the Lottery. Importantly can you remember that essential password!!!
So if you had the bank balance where would you start? Perhaps dabble with a spreadsheet and see where monies could go? I always think that after initial family and friends I would support local and personal organisations that I have been involved. For example, schools that my children have attended, universities where they thrived, and charities close to my heart.
Of course giving cash or security away is not for everyone. But on reflection there are only so many assets you can own. Having sizable wealth gives you an opportunity to grow and share opportunity with others. Surprise can be wonderful. This week our neighbour has a leaking flat roof to their house, being able to offer a solution to their seasonal woes would be immense.
So, what would you do?
The Grey Chameleon 