You receive an unmarked envelope with a check for $5 000 000 inside. Its a legitimate check. What do you do with it? Do you ever find out who it is from? How does it change your life?
Five million dollars. The cheque was made out in my name, but the envelope was completely bare and gave no hint as to its origin. It was mixed in with my mail for the day, but it has been obviously hand delivered.
I stared at the cheque not knowing what to do. Five million dollars would change my life, but who was it from. Somehow it felt wrong to use the money without knowing where and from whom it was sent. Who would give me this kind of money? No one I knew had access to these kind of funds. There must be strings attached, I thought.
Still highly suspicious, I nevertheless could not tear it up. Instead I opened an offshore bank account, choosing the Isle of Mann for their interest rates and tax benefits, and deposited the cheque. Now that it was safely deposited, I had some breathing room to consider the next steps.
I decided quite firmly that I would not spend a single dollar of the money. There's an old saying, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." But this was one horse I just could not accept blindly. What if someone came looking for it years from now. What would I do? No, the money would stay where it was, untouched.
However, I am not a saint. The interest on the money,now that I would use. 0.5 % interest on five million dollars is still a princely sum of $2000 per month. I would then donate half that every month to a random charity, leaving me with a monthly income of a thousand dollars. With a thousand dollars extra every month, I would be able to pay off mine and my parents home loans. With those home loans taken care of, I would be free to use my salary to take my family on a yearly holiday, all over the world. My parents, my husband and children, would experience everything life has to offer, everything that's within my power to give. We would travel to world historic sites marvel at all that came before. We would holiday at rarely visited places and when the quiet gets too much, adjourn to the hubbub of New York, Paris, London.
In my will, I would stipulate that the original money be left alone in a trust, and only the interest will be available for us. The monthly income will be my legacy to my children. The amount not so large that they can afford to be lazy or entitled, and yet large enough to provide a cushion when they fall. Even if I never find out from whom the cheque came, I would be grateful every single day for the rest of my life.
Five million dollars. The cheque was made out in my name, but the envelope was completely bare and gave no hint as to its origin. It was mixed in with my mail for the day, but it has been obviously hand delivered.
I stared at the cheque not knowing what to do. Five million dollars would change my life, but who was it from. Somehow it felt wrong to use the money without knowing where and from whom it was sent. Who would give me this kind of money? No one I knew had access to these kind of funds. There must be strings attached, I thought.
Still highly suspicious, I nevertheless could not tear it up. Instead I opened an offshore bank account, choosing the Isle of Mann for their interest rates and tax benefits, and deposited the cheque. Now that it was safely deposited, I had some breathing room to consider the next steps.
I decided quite firmly that I would not spend a single dollar of the money. There's an old saying, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." But this was one horse I just could not accept blindly. What if someone came looking for it years from now. What would I do? No, the money would stay where it was, untouched.
However, I am not a saint. The interest on the money,now that I would use. 0.5 % interest on five million dollars is still a princely sum of $2000 per month. I would then donate half that every month to a random charity, leaving me with a monthly income of a thousand dollars. With a thousand dollars extra every month, I would be able to pay off mine and my parents home loans. With those home loans taken care of, I would be free to use my salary to take my family on a yearly holiday, all over the world. My parents, my husband and children, would experience everything life has to offer, everything that's within my power to give. We would travel to world historic sites marvel at all that came before. We would holiday at rarely visited places and when the quiet gets too much, adjourn to the hubbub of New York, Paris, London.
In my will, I would stipulate that the original money be left alone in a trust, and only the interest will be available for us. The monthly income will be my legacy to my children. The amount not so large that they can afford to be lazy or entitled, and yet large enough to provide a cushion when they fall. Even if I never find out from whom the cheque came, I would be grateful every single day for the rest of my life.
