I run a successful startup. I dont make a fortune, but all of a sudden I have a lot more money then ever before. And guess what - I have not clue what to do with it.
Today, I read this:
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/27/DIME.TMP
And there is a sentence: "The person who sold the dime is Oakland businessman Daniel Rosenthal, who was unavailable for comment, perhaps because a person newly in possession of $1.9 million has got better things to do than answer a lot of questions."
I really would like to know: What are these "better things"?
What are those better things I could do then chillin on my sofa and reading ycombinator and stuff?
Oddly enough, YC itself is an example. We may make money eventually, but our main motive for doing it was that it was a cool idea.
Is it hard to be motivated when you know that low risk investments could keep you comfortable? Though I'm sure the pleasure of a fancy car wears off, what about a beautiful home or travel etc? Is there life long satisfaction from the achievement (ie not the money but the job well done)?
Getting rich can be a danger to people who aren't very driven. But you don't have to worry about that problem if you're starting a startup. If you're not driven, it's unlikely your startup will make you rich.
An example of comparative advantage: it doesn't make sense for a $500/hr lawyer to do pro-bono work for the poor. It would make more sense to work for that hour and use the income to fund 10 $50/hr lawyers. The benefit would be much higher for those in need.
So my point is that charity isn't necessarily the best way to give back to society.
And besides that... school??? Sitting on my ass, listening to someone sounds not like a lot of fun to me.
Then you'd really never need to work again, and you can focus on making interesting things.
There is plenty of life automation that you can do. Laundry, grocery delivery, maid services, restaurants, financial planner.
You can easily spend $1M on travel for months, building a dream house, etc.
I'd go for a foreign stock index fund.
I don't have $4M to put in the bank. But I do have a comfortable income. My goal would be to work on interesting problems without needing a paycheck.
Things like financial planners, grocery delivery, and cleaning services are all excellent value for the amount of time they save.
After that, it really is not what can you do with freedom, but what do you want to do with your freedom? For me, at least at the moment, I like to work on Internet startup ideas and help people (as best I can) who are doing the same. For you, maybe it is something different, perhaps along the lines of some of the other comments.
Finally, I think your situation just lets you slow down a bit. That is not to say you have to have less motivation, but just that you don't have to run at a million miles an hour all the time and hit potential burn out periods. You now have the opportunity to take things at a comfortable pace. And that can be a good thing for innovation because you can read more disparate things, try different projects, and even work on may projects at the same time.
That does not exclude the other 2 points. In fact, currently most of my fun comes from my business.
I want plenty of Girls.
This TED talk says that the key to fulfillment is to grow, so you have more to contribute to others: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5625548517080716077
Seriously, I don't see the issue. Do you have any friends? If you're lacking in the friends department then don't read any further and work on companionship as your number one goal. I find a lot of joy organizing events, outings or exciting weekends for my friends. Make sure the trip has a baseline that everyone can afford and then maybe cover a tab or two while you're out. Ideas don't have to be grandiose they are just excuses to hang out and enjoy life together. I thought of a few things I enjoy and listed them below. Have fun planning these events on your own. Research destinations fully and be prepared to promote your trips so others will join you! Its time consuming (and fun) to figure out the 'best' places to go. Does the outing require that you buy any gear? Research the equipment and then buy it!
Go Camping
Hiking
Deep Sea fishing
Host a wine party / plan a trip to a winery
Trip to another City for the Weekend
Trip to another Country
Get a boat
Attend a music festival (Jazz Fest for example)
Take up a sport like Biking (Road or Mountain)
Hopefully this helps you out somewhat. If you wish to be as happy as me, I'll require $5 to share 'the secret'.
Enjoy :)
If yes, build/help to make open source (and free) software better and more "commercial" looking so open source+free software can be used widely.
Basically be a disruptor.
Make the next Perforce (either support git or make a new one).
Make the next IDE (a complete one like Visual Studio) for Python so that Python can become the main language for enterprise.
One example of disruptor in this area that is starting to rise is Ubuntu.
Be is harder IMO. Do you want to be a husband? father? grand father (you need help on this one obvious)? Do you want to a champion whatever? These are the questions I would ask myself. With the answers, you can start taking concrete steps.
Purchase time with your money in hiring other people to do the chores in your work & life.
(This may not apply for you) Purchasing real estate close to your work, reducing commute times to 10 minutes from maybe the hour or two you have already.
Don't forget the Ferrari though. ;)
Start another.
or
Spend a year in Argentina reading and building a boat. This is my plan upon retiring (2.5 years to go!)
