what would you do with 100,000 ? - Page 2

[karkli]

I would take out appropriately valued life insurance policies on myself and my DH and pay the first year's premium up front.

I would put $10,000 in savings for an emergency fund.

I would put the other ~$89k on the debt and then spend the next [x period of time] paying off the remaining $10k of debt.

At that point, you would be debt free with a nice emergency cushion which would hopefully free up enough space in your budget to start saving for your goals - real estate, retirement, self-sustainability, maybe all of the above. That extra space in your budget should also allow you to afford the continuing premiums on the life insurance plans.

[cappuccinosmom]

With your OP list I would...

Put $20K into savings/moving/future downpayment

Put the other $80 on those debts and then continue paying.

Then I would look for a job in a low COL area, purchase a small house there with as much down as possible, leaving about 6 months worth of living expenses in savings and knock out the last 20K in debt as soon as possible.

[StephandOwen]

Originally Posted by cappuccinosmom

With your OP list I would...

Put $20K into savings/moving/future downpayment

Put the other $80 on those debts and then continue paying.

That's what I would do too. $20K in savings, $80K in debt.

I hate debt. The only debt dp and I owe right now is the house. Both cars are paid off, no CC debt (we both have a CC that we use but pay both off in full every month), no medical debt or other bills. We are very fortunate.

In my situation, if I ran into 100,000.... I'd get married $$ is the only reason we are not right now- ds has autism and dp's insurance won't cover autism related services. As long as we aren't married then the government doesn't take dp's income into account for ds's medicaid (because dp isn't the bio-dad). Once we get married then they take dp's income into account and ds looses his medicaid and, thus, all his therapy. But with 100,000 and some wise investing, we would be able to afford his therapy so we would happily get married

ETA- the $100,000 wouldn't last long in therapy/autism land but it would hopefully get us through a few years until I'm through college and have a job with insurance for ds

[ArtsyMomma]

Not quite sure what I would do in your situation. Probably consider moving (if possible), pay down debt then if anything was left over start saving for the down payment on a home.

In MY situation...
I'd pay off all my debt (17K)
Set aside 20K to finish school (tuition wouldn't be that much, but I'd want a bit of breathing room)
Put the rest towards a house, DP is a tenured so we aren't going to be moving.

[Ruthiegirl]

Debt gives my hives. I don't sleep well when dh and I have debt. Not sure it is the smartest choice, but I would pay off all the loans.

[dancebaraka]

I'd save 5 thousand for an emergency fund & use the rest to get rid of debt. Then I'd create a new budget & re-focus my whole life towards getting myself where I want to be, living how I want to live.

This is awesome ~ Enjoy

[Chicky2]

taxes

15% emergency fund

rest to my mortgage

[philomom]

Pay off debt.

Buy new car.... mine have both about had it.

Any leftover goes to savings.

[KristyDi]

put aside enough to live on for 3 to 6 months as an emergency fund (I'm a bit neurotic about this. My DH's field is unpredictable and we've suddenly found ourselves w/o his income several times)

use the rest to pay off as many of the highest interest debts you that you can completely get rid of. then use what you had been paying on those debts to pay down the remaining debt more quickly.

sorry for the lack of caps i'm nak-ing.

[sbrinton]

I would set up an emergency fund (enough for 3-6 months of living expenses) and then use the rest of pay of debt. Don't add to your debt by purchasing a home. And inevitably the rate you are paying on your loans is significantly more than you would be making on investments.

You could consider using some of the money to move to a lower COL area if that makes sense based on your situation. For example, we live in a high COL area, but my husband's industry is only located in high COL areas. We live in Seattle...our other options are pretty much San Francisco, New York, London...so compared to those, Seattle is a great deal. But if you could find work in a lower COL area, it might not be a bad idea to make that change. But I would still pay of debt first and buy a house second!

[StarJune]

I would invest in something that is independently income generating.

[WorldsBestMom]

Try and study something new. Try one of those online University. I would also put something up my DD tuition.

[noobmom]

First, I'd talk to an accountant and find out how much I'm going to have to pay in taxes on that 100K (if any) and set that money aside.

Then I'd start an 3-4 month emergency fund in a separate account (not mingled with my regular checking account).

I'd use what's left over to pay off the car and probably the student loan debt unless the interest rates are REALLY good (like under 3%). Paying off those loans would free up a lot of money in your monthly budget so you wouldn't be living paycheck to paycheck anymore.

[MtBikeLover]

If I had $100k in debt and I was given $100k, I would for sure pay off the debt first. then all the money that had been used to pay towards debt could be used to build a savings account/401K/house fund. i would also think paying off the debt would help your credit rating which would in turn help you get a lower rate on a house.

I am debt free and it is an awesome feeling! I used to have over $30k in credit card debt and it was like this black cloud hanging over me. The day I wrote that last check to pay off the last bill was the best day of my life!

[zinemama]

We have an emergency fund and are putting a good amount into college and retirement. Our mortgage is low. Dh will get a pension (the real, old-style kind).

I would buy rental property to give us an additional source of income so that dh could retire early.

[Monarchgrrl]

With that list I would:

1st choice: Pay off all debt. Then save what I was previously paying on debt into an emergency fund. Once the EF was established then I'd get life insurance and start a 401K.

2nd choice: Pay off $80K of debt. Save $20K in emergency fund. Continue paying what you were on the $100K debt on the $20K debt and it'll be paid off quickly. Then get the life insurance and start the 401K.

I live in a high COL area, too (bay area like you, OP) and I was able to pay off all debt, nowhere near $100,000 though, and build up our emergency fund to 8 months of salary and we currently live on just my income and bank DW's paychecks so she can be a SAHM someday, hopefully soon. How do we do it in this high COL area? We don't own (or plan to own) a house! I can't imagine spending $500K on a fixer-upper or close to $1M for something nice just to own a house. We live in a nice cottage house right on the beach 10 miles from San Francisco. It comes with a weekly gardener, a huge yard, a huge driveway, and it's our home and we love it. We rent.

[Smokering]

Debt. I hate being in debt, and would feel it was unethical to spend money I owed to someone else.

[SoCaliMommy]

I would pay off the $4,000 cc debt we have

Pay a little towards my van payment

the rest would go towards a down payment for a house