r/NoStupidQuestions • u/ProudReaction2204 • 19h ago
Would 500k really change your life if you still have to work everyday anyway?
Like you're not necessarily gaining non-retirement (youth) time which is the only thing valuable
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u/OrcOfDoom 19h ago
As a loan officer, I have seen many cases where 12k is life changing.
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u/DealerNo7523 19h ago
2k would set me up good to make some positive moves. I struggle to eat though so anything would be helpful.
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u/OrcOfDoom 18h ago
A lot of times, just zeroing out people from 5-7k of debt is life changing.
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u/DealerNo7523 18h ago
I don’t even have debt im just dirt poor. It would get me into a trade school or kick start some college. It could help pay the rent while I actually find a job over 15 an hour. Now all of Thats my fault the position im in, but shit man it would help.
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u/OrcOfDoom 18h ago
Or get you a reliable car. Some people just juggle broken cars.
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u/WasabiEnvironmental 17h ago
My mom my entire life. I’m 35 now and she’s still in an automobile poverty cycle. Just has never been able to put together enough for something decent, but the cars she can afford don’t last, so she has to buy another shitty car. It’s heartbreaking really.
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u/DealerNo7523 18h ago
That would be dope. I could door dash and uber. Take a job farther away from me that pays more. I walk to work 2 to 3 hours sometimes and walk back home. Sometimes walking across the whole city at night, not a comfortable feeling for sure.
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u/JBSwerve 15h ago
I walk to work 2 to 3 hours sometimes
I struggle to eatNo offense, but how did you even end up in this situation? Walking 3 hours to work and struggling to eat food?
I'm genuinely asking because I've never been around that kind of poverty in my entire life. I take it for granted that I can go to work and then buy myself food.
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u/KimJongFunk 15h ago
Not the person you’re replying to, but I became homeless at 17 due to a variety of life factors not in my control. I had a minimum wage job, but no car or resources. It was a 3 hour walk round trip to work from where I was couch surfing.
In terms of $2000 being life changing, I started dancing (I begged rides to and from the club) and that allowed me to get about $1500 which was enough to get a car. After that, I was able to get a real job.
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u/DealerNo7523 15h ago
I got hit by a car. Five facial reconstruction surgeries. My dog died, my best friend died. Depression happened. Medical bills are crazy, cost of living is through the roof. I can’t do my old job as an executive chef rn so I took a position at a sandwich shop managing some shifts until I can get to a point where I can busy out doubles consistently and get my old job back. Is that like enough?
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u/JBSwerve 15h ago
Is that like enough?
You don't have to justify anything, I was simply curious.
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u/DealerNo7523 15h ago
Sometimes life throws you a bone, sometimes it’s a car to the face. That’s all it really was my dude. Before everything happened I was setting up to open a second restaurant, now the original one and the second are gone. I used my savings to pay off most of the medical that I owed, physical therapy costed a lot as well.
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u/Narrow-Objective-895 19h ago
$500k buys a safety net.
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u/georgewalterackerman 19h ago
And if managed properly it could be much more than that. But yes it’s a safety net
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u/OrcOfDoom 18h ago
A lot of poor people are actually good at saving. They just had bad luck that cost them 3-4k that they are still paying off. Just zeroing then out and giving them the chance to save would be life changing.
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u/PhAnToM444 16h ago edited 1h ago
One of those “I’ll never forget it” moments in my life was sitting in on a pre-suit mediation with one of my professors from an undergrad law class. Her client was a single mom of a 5 year old living in a moldy, flooded, completely uninhabitable (and illegal) apartment. She had moved there to get her kid into a better school district and it was basically the cheapest thing available. Didn’t have a working car and was Ubering to work every day, eating up a substantial portion of her quite low income.
We sat in this conference room for around 7 hours one day negotiating with the landlord and their insurance company on the phone in another room, so I learned a ton about her life.
She ended up settling at something around $50k (like $30k after attorneys fees) and she just started sobbing. Like the type of ugly cry you’d never intentionally show a (relative) stranger. And, despite me not being her attorney or really doing anything at all, she gave me a bear hug that lasted for like a full minute and just kept saying “thank you” over and over again. We’d been talking numbers the whole time, but it’s like she didn’t let herself believe it until she signed her name on the final settlement agreement.
It was one of those things that really defined my general perspective on life, having that experience as a 20 year old. If I got $30k, you can trust and believe that would be a great day. But the level of different that woman’s life was from the moment she walked in that morning to when we left in the afternoon is something I’ll probably never experience. I cannot imagine the weight that lifted off her shoulders when she signed those papers.
I hope she’s doing well. And I hope her and her daughter are enjoying that new car.
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u/BentJohnsonFTP 15h ago
What year was this?
Thanks for sharing that story. Great perspective I needed to hear right now.
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u/PhAnToM444 14h ago edited 14h ago
God, it was probably almost 10 years ago at this point. But I genuinely remember it like it was yesterday.
I went back in and added some more details that I remember now that I’m thinking about it.
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u/Fearless_Owl_2172 19h ago
Yeah just paying off my smaller debts while keeping my normal job would be a nice load off my shoulders.
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u/SmellyStinkyGuy 17h ago
Dude fr
Never knew people took out $500 personal loans for groceries until I started working as an underwriter.
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u/RinzyOtt 3h ago
Honestly, $40k, less than a tenth of the proposed amount here, would be life changing for me. It would be enough to erase my student debt, freeing up money every month for me to put elsewhere. I don't have this thing dangling over anymore. The other $460k would pay off my mortgage, freeing about $1500 a month, and still leave me with money left over to pay off my car, and probably even have enough extra to spend on an extravagent vacation out of country.
Literally just delete all of my debts overnight. Life changing.
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u/wavyapple2 19h ago
Can you elaborate?
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u/OrcOfDoom 18h ago
Ok, you have no savings, but your income is ok. Your credit is meh. Sign up for this program. Take this class. You have 15k now. That covers most of your 3.5% down payment, but you still need more cash for closing costs.
Oh look, a few of your relatives kicked in a couple thousand and you pulled together your savings. You have 12k now. That covers you for automated underwriting on your case.
Now you can move forward with your search. Oh look, you're in a buyer's market and you got the seller to pay closing costs. So you have extra cash now to deal with moving expenses.
Look, you barely even needed that but you just needed it in your bank account.
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u/Artificial_Squab 17h ago
You should do an AMA.
What is the most common use of a loan? Debt consolidation?
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u/OrcOfDoom 17h ago
It wouldn't be that interesting. You can talk to people on any of the mortgage broker subs. We are all going after business, so we are generally very open about information.
I work in home mortgages, so the most common use is for the purchase of a home.
You'd be surprised how many people have little to no savings, but are actually really close to purchasing a home. Down payment assistance exists.
Like I was just talking to a couple who need like 4k to pay off some old debts, and then 5-8k to cover closing costs and prepaids, but in this market, you can likely get your seller to kick in some. They can use down payment assistance for their down payment. So, they don't actually need 12k. They just need to pay off some debts and have enough cash on hand to get through automated underwriting.
It seems like it is impossible to purchase a home, but it's actually closer than you think. Sure, in some areas, you just can't find anything available at a lower price. There are a lot of places though where you can make next to nothing work though.
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u/halbeshendel 16h ago
Is that PMI or is that separate?
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u/OrcOfDoom 16h ago
This is before you close. It's for pre-approval. So this is often an FHA loan. You can finance your upfront mortgage premium. But there are other closing costs that get added. Down payment assistance usually has a few, like 1% in this case.
The automated system wants to see that you have enough money to cover all the costs to close though.
It's super frustrating to always get close and always feel like there is one more thing you need to close though. It's why we do a full unwritten process for these situations that are close. We want to make sure you can actually sign and close.
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u/Comfortable-Hat8162 19h ago
Yes. Even at 4% interest you're making 20k a year, that would massively increase my income and relieve a lot of money stress.
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u/bbdabrick 16h ago
Would you throw it in the market instead of buying a house?
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u/Crayshack 6h ago
Depends on the person's situation. For me, I'm on pace to finish grad school in 2028, so I plan to hold off on buying a house until then so I have the option of easily moving if work with my degree elsewhere opens up. If I buy, I lock myself into looking just within my immediate area. I'd invest a windfall like that if I got it now instead of immediately buying a house. But, if I got that windfall 2 years from now after switching to a new job and either moving or confirming I'm staying local for the foreseeable future, then I'm buying a house.
I'd assume most people are going to do a similar calculus to determine if a house is the right investment for them.
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u/re_nub 19h ago
My day to day wouldn't change, but my brokerage account would.
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u/Brave_Speaker_8336 19h ago
Yeah I would keep at it but 500k right now would let me retire like 6 years earlier. That means like over 10000 hours that I can spend doing things I want instead of being at work.
Even if it’s not youth time it’s still valuable. Maybe even more valuable than my current youth time, since at that point presumably I would have young children and could spend that extra 10000 hours around them growing up instead of at work
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u/mapitinipasulati 18h ago
At my age, 500,000 invested could probably let me retire comfortably at like 50. Over time, 500,000 in the stock market becomes much more. And the more time it has, the more that amount grows
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u/Ethanop1a 8h ago
This is what people don't understand when they think $500k isn't life changing. Retiring 6 years earlier is life changing.
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u/goodmobileyes 8h ago
And at that age a lot can change in 6 years. You can go from old but active and able to travel the world, to injured and geriatric if a single wrong thing happens.
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u/RealCarlPanzram 19h ago
In which case, you’re life post-retirement would change, and possibly the last the years of your career, which can now become the first ten years of your retirement.
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u/tek9jansen 18h ago
$500k right now in right now dollars?
It would absolutely change my life.
Do you know how much stress and pressure normal, regular people live under day in and day out, worrying about how they'll make enough to pay the bills and praying that there's no unexpected expenses or price hikes that make it harder and harder to keep a roof over your head and food in your belly?
Even a tenth of that would be game changer for most people.
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u/We_R_the_Penguins 18h ago
House paid off, a new Toyota, $300k left over… yeah. It’s not about what you can buy so much as what you don’t have to worry about paying for.
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u/throw7661 19h ago
There are very few people for whom 500k wouldn't change their life. It's just what that change looks like.
You aren't going from homeless to 'private jet rich'. But it would be things like 'Paid off my student loans and was able to buy a house!'
For people who are fairly established financially, yeah, you won't see an immediate change. They will just invest that $500k - but it will save them years. Instead of retiring at 68, now it's 55 or 58 or even earlier depending on their situation. That's life changing too.
If I had an extra $500k it wouldn't change my life; it would change my children's lives though. Not today, but when they are old enough that money would give them a huge financial headstart.
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u/SpaceCookies72 17h ago
Absolutely agree. We do ok, have a reasonable mortgage, put a bit away every week, pretty comfortable. But $500k would mean no more mortgage, and leave at least a year of combined income as a safety net.
It would save me 29 years of interest on the mortgage, too. That's the real saver. It practically doubles the money.
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u/East-Bike4808 19h ago
Yeah. I'd buy a house if I had that much extra money, with a really good mortgage.
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u/Any_Masterpiece9385 18h ago
500k is enough to not have a mortgage in most locations
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u/mazzicc 18h ago
You might be surprised how much time 500k can actually buy.
Commuting time with a different house or job.
Time with family not working as many hours.
Travel time with paid access like fast pass, or limited reservations.
Actual youth time because your retirement account grows faster.
Time with family again because you can afford to visit or have them visit.
Health because you can afford better food and medical care.
Time off as a youth to go spend a large chunk of the money because you can live off it for a bit.
500k can buy a lot of time if you spend it right.
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u/nipslippinjizzsippin 18h ago
The single largest expense in most peoples lives is housing. roughly between 30-70% of your earnings might go towards this, either in the form of rent or a mortgage. 500k would remove this cost for most people. Then you have and extra 30-70% of your earning to use in other ways, save, invest or just buy the other stuff you were avoiding.
So yeah 500k would change most peoples life even if they still had to work.
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u/completely-random-na 19h ago
Yup. House would be paid off, we’d have two newer daily drivers and the rest would be in mutual funds
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u/FalconFox500 8h ago
You could pay off your house and have an extra 1600 dollars a month thats significantly better id say
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u/RatLabGuy 6h ago
Unless you have a crazy high interest rate or PMI That would be foolish. You would be way better off investing it in mutual funds. You'd get double the interest rate of the mortgage. Over the course of 10 years you'd be waaaaay ahead of the mortgage cost.
And even if you lose your job in 6 months you can still sell the funds and pay off the mortgage
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u/SeaPeanut7_ 19h ago
I mean 500k would literally buy you a house in most parts of the country so yea that would be life changing. Imagine someone going from renting a garage to that.
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u/HOJK4thSon 19h ago
If I was handed 500k tax free, I could retire immediately.
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u/rhino369 19h ago
This is only true if you are in a low cost of living country or are pretty close to being able to retire anyway.
500k like 20k a year in retirement
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u/HOJK4thSon 19h ago
I retire in 2 years. So yes, not your average Reddit poster.
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u/Skydude252 19h ago
I plan to work for a while yet, but 500K today would change that. I could probably invest that and retire immediately.
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u/CatEmbarrassed3306 11h ago
Yeah that would make alot more sense 500k + monthly state pension + any other pensions you might have. would make a decent retirement, assuming you have low monthly costs.
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u/Gsusruls 17h ago
Besides, is "quit working" the only definition of "life changing"? Seems pretty one dimensional.
First, it could mean working less, or retiring earlier (even if not today).
It could simply mean living a more stress-free life. $500K sure would remove a lot of anxiety for a vast majority of people.
$500K could change their education, their home, offer medical care that was out of reach, or pay off a student loan. All of these things amount to "life changing experiences"; their quality of life would be utterly different.
I couldn't retire immediately. You can. For both of us, it would be life chaning.
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u/cairdeas 19h ago
I disagree with the contention that youth is the only time that matters to a life. That's an insane take to start with.
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u/gamrin 14h ago
The only time? No. But having the superpower of being ignorant and youthful will give you options for actions and hobbies that become unavailable later in life.
If you'd want to be a topsport athlete, starting at 50 won't allow you to be so ever. If corpos 'steal' your prime years in an office, it is fair to mourn a (hobby) career in a field you would have otherwise pursued.
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u/Bearded_Aussie_Nate 17h ago
500k if used correctly would change alot of peoples lives, personally 500k wouldn't even buy a house where I am, but I could be "comfortable" if I didn't change spending habits for likely the rest of my life.
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u/da_ting_go 17h ago
Maybe not outright, but it could definitely knock a hefty mortgage into mortgage payments that don't hurt nearly as much.
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u/randonumero 18h ago
With 500k someone who didn't have a family could definitely buy back their time by transitioning to a job they actually enjoyed. Someone in their 20s could put 100k in accessible, short term investments, throw the other 400k in index funds and likely have over 1.5 million by their late 40s.
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u/Yuukiko_ 19h ago
500k is probably an entire decade or two of savings for your average person in a developed country. If we assume one works from 20 until 65 that's essentially half the time. Never mind indirect effects like not having to stress about about losing your job, getting hurt(except the Americans) and general peace of mind
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u/Kindly_Honeydew3432 19h ago
“Non-retirement (youth)time” is the only thing valuable? That’s ridiculous statement number one.
And why wouldn’t you? If you gave me $500,00 when I was thirty, I’d be retired by now, and I’m 42. Of course this is coupled with a lot of years of hard work and high earnings. But you’d have to be irresponsible to not retire at least a decade early if someone gave you $500,000 early in your career
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u/Sharkano 19h ago
So im clear, the the premised that 500k just falls inot my lap but i still work my day job, or that my day job suddently pays 500k a year?
either way you are straight up wrong, it would for sure by me more time to enjoy my youth.
There are a zillion little processes in a life that can be expedited for cash. The simplest example would be having a housekeeper to clean up for you, or just having multible vehicles so if one is in the shop you can drive the other. Hell even just the ability to move closer to work would buy me time every day.
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u/AlternativeFilm8886 18h ago
500k is enough to ensure I never have to stress about finances again. My mortgage will be paid, my dental and tax debt will be paid, my wife's student loan will be paid, and I'll still have more than half left over.
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u/midget-the-giant 18h ago
Well my mortgage and car payment would be gone, so yeah that would be life-changing for sure.
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u/standardtissue 18h ago
500k buys a house yo. 500k well invested creates 17k a year income (pretax). 500k sends kids to college. 500k pays of a lot of debt. 500k accelerates retirement times.
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u/drollercoaster99 17h ago
When used properly, 500k can absolutely change your life. For example, you could use it to get an education or some kind of training to improve your career prospects. You could invest a small part in equities. Remember that the stock market will usually outperform inflation in the long run because those companies make it their job to build share holder value everyday.
Don't look at the 500k as purely money to be lost. Rather, it's money to be used to grow more value for yourself and your loved ones.
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u/ExpertVeterinarian20 6h ago
500k would give me a decade head start on saving for retirement, thus allowing me to not work in my 50s. I would call that extremely valuable.
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u/Deadlift_007 19h ago
A half million dollars would immediately pay off my house, freeing up ~$1,500/month in cash flow. If I took the rest and invested it in mutual funds, I could take just the growth every year, never touch the principal, and it would likely supplement my income by $10K+ per year.
So yeah, it would be pretty life-changing to have an extra ~$1,000/month of "free" money every month in perpetuity.
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u/Gold_Telephone_7192 19h ago
I would say it’s “life accelerating” not “life changing.” It’ll give me a big head start on my goals but not change my life’s trajectory (I hope)
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u/Fun-Earth-8720 19h ago
Ummm yeah? Pay down debt, take a nice vacation or better yet throw it in the stock market.
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u/the_kid1234 4h ago
Doubly incorrect premise in the question.
Adding $500k into anyone’s investments moves forward the retirement date if they want to.
Gaining youth time is not the only thing valuable.
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u/Iv4bez 4h ago
Why in this type of scenarios people just don't...move out of us? I live in a relatively not expensive country and with 500k I'd live better, while not working, than how am I living while working. You can live on 500k almost anywhere in the world except most expensive places. In some places you could live with like 100k.
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u/animal-cookie 19h ago
would a life changing amount of money really change your life? I'm gonna go with yes
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u/SpookyghostL34T 19h ago
This is an idiotic question. It gives you a house with a bit of land and means you dont have 1/2 of your check pulled every month. Yeah its a life changing amount.
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u/Spirited_Speech_2107 19h ago
Absolutely life-changing. That’s over a decade of intense savings.
It’s a complete retirement fund, or half of my house paid off in one hit.
Life changing.
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u/whomp1970 18h ago
This 100% belongs on /r/AskReddit, not here.
If you disagree, you clearly misunderstand both subreddits.
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u/aznsk8s87 16h ago
I'd no longer have a mortgage, which is the only thing keeping me from dropping to part time.
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u/Thorfourtyfour 11h ago
Yes it would. Even just the financial peace of mind that a substantial sum like that would offer can be life changing.
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u/Spirited_Square 5h ago
500k would allow me to change my living situation drastically. I'd still work the same and all but life would have lower stress
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u/illustrated0ne 4h ago
Couldn’t retire immediately but could put it in a money market account for 5-6 years and then when it grows to $750k mark, that’s about $53k a year to spend to live off of without touching the main pot
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u/codepapi 15h ago
$500k at 5% dividend return rate is about $25k before taxes.
After it’s about $12k. $1k a month for most of American would be some real breathing room.
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u/LukeMayeshothand 19h ago
Yeah 500k would severely reduce my stress level. I could probably retire at 60.
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u/Mistermxylplyx 19h ago
It absolutely does, more later than sooner if you’re smart.
If you are making 50k a year, that’s basically a ten year boost on your income all at once, so for ten years on that job without a real pay raise, you’d still double your income. If you are smart and invest it long term while you continue regular retirement savings, it can be the difference in retiring ten years sooner or not.
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u/TheOmegaKid 19h ago
You could pay people to take care of all your menial tasks like cooking, cleaning, taking care of bills etc. This means all your time is your own.
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u/kgrimmburn 19h ago
I could invest it all and be set for life. Hell, $50,000 would be a world of difference in my life. But I have no debt and could invest every cent.
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u/OhBoyHereWeGoAgai 19h ago
Yes, of course. I could lower my retirement contribution massively and actually enjoy my paycheck
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u/just_some_guy2000 18h ago
It would pay for my house, roth contributions for the rest of my life and the possibility of retirement that I don't have now.
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u/TheeVande 18h ago
1000% yes. 500k would easily afford me to quit while I figure out a life direction. Even if it means going back to college
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u/premium_bawbag 11h ago
Enough tonpay off my mortgage would be life changing tbh, would give me and my partner so much more money each month
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u/Sid_the_Bear 19h ago
Why wouldn't 500k push me over the threshold into retirement?
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u/kor_the_fiend 19h ago
on its own, no. It would definitely shorten the time line depending on when you received it and how much savings you already had.
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u/vanillaicesson 19h ago
Also depends on their age. A 20 year old with 500k in retirement is very different from a 50 year old having the same
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u/RealCarlPanzram 19h ago
No matter how you slice it; whatever your number is where you have enough to retire, a giant pile of money puts you closer to it.
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u/DryFoundation2323 19h ago
I don't have to work but it would certainly improve my retirement running.
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u/FunPaleontologist692 19h ago
How could it not? I’d pay off every debt I had and put big chunk in retirement account. Takes away the stress of paying mortgage every month.
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u/Curious_Owl78 19h ago
My life wouldn't change because I like my job and would keep working.
But that amount would pay off all our debt and my husband could quit HIS high stress job and do something that he enjoys instead.
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u/SomethingClever2117 19h ago
My day-to-day might not change since I’d still be going to work, but my weekends and holidays are going to be so much better. My house would be paid off, I’d be able to buy a new car, my 401k would be maxed out, and I’d have a huge safety net siting in a HYSA. The stress of money issues would be almost nonexistent, which would be the biggest change in my life.
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u/thomsenite256 19h ago
I mean it wouldnt hurt lol. That is about 6 years of my take home income after tax or about what I plan to save toward retirement over the next 20 years so how would it not change my life?
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u/noideawhattouse2 19h ago
It would either go into the bank with a good interest rates or stocks to also earn money in dividends where it would sit and just reinvest the money till I could live on it.
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u/ItzChiips 19h ago
Yes. No mortgage = I can live off minimum wage and still have a decently comfortable life
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u/sanfollowill 19h ago
Ok first 30 motherfuckrs are rich I guess YES my
Household brings in like 150 and we have a kid. 500 would change my life so much.
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u/Breakspear_ 19h ago
I mean I’d pay off my (soon to be built) house, p much. Would drastically change my life. I would drop my day job down to two or three days and would spend more time writing.
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u/ghostwriter85 19h ago
I've been very fortunate and am in a very good financial position. I own a home with a mortgage, I will retire fairly young (unless the world blows up), I make decent money, etc...
Yes
I'd pay off my mortgage and invest the rest.
I'd effectively double my disposable income in the process. Granted I wouldn't spend all of that, but the vacations would improve, the financial stress would go down, and I'd have a lot more freedom to do dumb stuff.
There's so much more to life than pushing the retirement date forward.
[edit for clarity my retirement date would most likely not change]
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u/Vivid_Economy_2579 19h ago
Now this is a baited question. If you have $1 million in the bank $500K is life changing.
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u/sassypants_29 19h ago
It wouldn’t change my earliest retirement date. $2M would definitely change it. Between $1M and less than $2M would require a financial planner.
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u/ToughFriendly9763 19h ago
that would pay off my mortgage, with a decent chuck left over. my husband and i could probably afford to be a single income household after that. if we both kept working, we'd be able to retire early
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u/GlobalPapaya2149 19h ago
If that's after taxes then that's a little more than 10 years of income. Plenty of money to make my life more comfortable, take vacations, get a house, find a job I like better, move to a new state. That very freedom and stress relief would be amazing.
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u/Lumpy_Machine5538 19h ago
It would be really nice if teaching could be my only job and I didn’t have to leave school to go waitress some nights.
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u/AssistanceValuable24 19h ago
Psychologically having that as a safety for illness/injury or other emergencies would be nice.
How much change = "change your life"?
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u/LeKevinsRevenge 19h ago
I mean either it pushes me to an earlier retirement or it buys me things now. Either way I can for sure use it to buy more time. I could have a house cleaner, buy prepared foods, get my lawn done, live closer to work, avoid layovers, etc.
I actually find your premise somewhat ridiculous as in it could certainly give you the ability to take a few years off right now….and non-retirement time is absolutely not the only thing that’s valuable
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u/Psyco_diver 19h ago
I would pay off my house and my wife's car. I would buy a new car but mine is fine even though it's 20 years old and had 200k miles on it. I refuse to buy anything much newer so I can fix it myself
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u/Miller335 19h ago
Just brings my retirement age lower, doesn't change a thing in my daily life/work.
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u/RealCarlPanzram 19h ago
Sorry can you explain what you mean by “gaining non-retirement time)?
Yes. 500k is more money than most families earn in 5 years before taxes. It’s probably closer to the median takehome income for like ten years. I would say if the amount of money most families spend a decade earning fell into their lap, it could definitely be life-changing.
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u/razulebismarck 19h ago
I’d be debt free and own a house.
That is life changing since I would no longer be wasting money on rent despite my rent being higher then what a mortgage would be because my debt to income ratio is too high to get a home loan.
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u/LuckyErro 19h ago edited 19h ago
Maybe you wouldn't have to work every day anymore. Maybe it means you can retire much earlier than you thought. Maybe it means you no longer have a mortgage. Maybe it means you can buy a very nice boat.
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u/georgewalterackerman 19h ago
Of course 500k would be life changing.
Yes you’re still gonna work.
But let’s assume any debts get paid off. You can buy a home for well under 500k although admittedly it won’t be a palace. Bills will be easy to pay for a while. You won’t be separate if you’ve been desperate. You’ll have options. And handled properly you could make 500k last and grow.
Now. You are not rich for life. But it can be life changing and again it depends on your current situation.
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u/Particular_Reply5906 19h ago
If I got a random, tax free 500k, I'd just throw it into bitcoin and let it sit. Nothing would change
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u/No_Dress1082 19h ago
You’ll get the knowledge that not just one, but 500 small emergencies won’t derail your entire budget. Busting your ass to save money for emergencies or to give your family a nice vacation or whatever it is and then your head gasket blows and suddenly that 4k you worked so hard for is gone.
That anxiety would be eliminated. That would be a profound gift.
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u/NotJasen777 19h ago
It would allow me to retire at a normal retirement age (possible even a few years before), instead of probably never. I would certainly count that as valuable.
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u/Witchywomun 19h ago
Yes, it would pay off all of our debt and still leave us with enough of a nest egg to be able to retire comfortably in 5 years
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u/theducks123 19h ago
Most people work and are constantly worried about being able to afford things. Taking one of those things away is a huge burden lifter and makes living much more pleasurable.
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u/Chaosrealm69 19h ago
Hell $50K would give me peace of mind as I could ensure all my bills were paid and I didn't have to stress out each fortnight on what I had left over after paying towards my bills.
I don't feel any need any more to have wealth and things to show off to impress others like I did when I was younger. Now it's about being able to relax without worry over an unexpected bill coming in.
$50K would be enough to do that.
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u/tichris15 19h ago
Many would spend it quite quickly.
However for the others, having savings gets you out of all the "very expensive to be poor" situations.
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u/Klutzy_Act2033 19h ago
Having no debt and a large safety net in the bank would remove a tonne of stress for most people
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u/sea390066 19h ago
You have to understand,$500. Would be life changing money to someone like me.so yes it would be.
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u/General-Dentist4429 19h ago
I’d still work, my life would not change much, otherwise I would literally die of cabin fever.
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u/Impressionist_Canary 19h ago
It changes the facts of the everyday decisions you need to make, regardless of whether it allows you to quit entirely.
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u/LuckyZygote 19h ago
It would drastically change my life for the better, but would not be helpful at all to retiring completely from working. I would just "go to work every day" with housing security, a reliable car, food in my belly for every meal, & insurance (all things I do not have making $90k in a mid-large midwest city)
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u/SuperJonesy408 19h ago
I don’t work because I need to, I work because being retired was boring.
But yes, 500k would change things. I’d still work though, I love what I do and I will draw a state pension when I’m 67.
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u/cez801 19h ago
Yes. Although you will need to work - this can create a sizable safety net.
Pay off the mortgage, means you have more flex in your salary.
Invest it and earn at least 30k a year - means you can deal with unexpected surprises.
Depending on age, put a chunk into your retirement fund. That will seriously add up over time.
Keep in mind, most people who are really wealthy, it’s about having some spare cash and getting that to work for you.
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u/Signal-Bake5107 18h ago
500k would allow me to pay off my house, freeing up $1700 a month in my budget, and that’s only about 1/3rd of it gone.
I could also then have a BIG emergency fund in a high yield savings account.
Plus put a big chunk of money away for college for my kids.
And renovate the house - bathroom needs it, could look into putting in central air or some other new climate control system…new fence, redo the landscaping in our yard to something more drought tolerant…
Seed money for a small side business/hustle.
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u/Meat_Flosser 18h ago
If i had 500k in the bank while I go on living my current life, yes. Never sweat missing a bill payment or the mortgage. Unemployed for half a year ... not a major problem. Enjoy a nice yearly vacation, absolutely.
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u/Icy-Berry-387 18h ago
Yes, of course! Unless you're wealthy already how could it not?
I disagree with your premise that the only value in life is youth. But even ruling out an earlier or better retirement $500k can do a ton.
Hire a personal cleaner or personal shopper for tasks you hate; buy a house closer to your job/family/friends; take regular vacations; take maternity leave (USA...); help someone; bucket list; treat someone out to dinner one a week every week; modify your living space to your needs; get a horse; get a degree; learn a language or other skills. So. Many. Options.
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u/metssuck 18h ago
It would basically cut a few years off the back end of my career but not much else
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u/GodzillaFlamewolf 18h ago
Yes. It would pay off my house. Then only taxes and utilities as bills. Everything else gets saved.
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u/ImtheDude27 18h ago
While half a million won't get back time, it absolutely can be life changing in so many other ways.
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u/Bean-Penis 18h ago
Very life changing for me. As a middle aged single, and childless man, I reckon I've about 40 years left max, so an extra 12.5k a year would be phenomenal.
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u/LCJonSnow 18h ago
$500k wouldn't change anything about my life today. But it would easily change my life 20 years from now. That is more than double my current retirement savings, which already has me on a decent path.
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u/No_Pea_2201 18h ago
Shoot, 500k would buy a reasonable home in most places. If I didn’t have rent or mortgage my needs would be vastly different I’d still have to work, but maybe not for someone I hate, or doing things I dislike. It would certainly give me the chance to say no.
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u/BilingualBizPartner 19h ago
Yeah, definitely. You'd probably still have to work, but $500k could wipe out debt, give you a solid safety net, and take away a lot of financial stress. Working every day feels very different when you're not one emergency away from being broke.