“Thomas Edison’s last words were “It’s very beautiful over there“. I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope it’s beautiful.”
― John Green, Looking for Alaska

Happy Saturday! It’s the last day of May 2025. As I write this, I am closing in on $500,000 in investments.

It made me take pause and reflect on the journey I had been on to get to that number.

The sleepless nights wondering how I was going to pay the bills and how I would afford to pay for retirement was over. Even with a return of investment of less than the stock market average of 10 percent over the last 30 years, I would still hit the $1 million nest egg milestone before I retire. So it made me think, what would I do with $1 million dollars of investments?

With that type of money, if you wanted to, you could buy a house with cash depending on where you want to live. This includes places inside and outside of the United States.

The cheapest places to buy a house in the U.S. include states like Iowa, West Virginia, and Mississippi, as well as cities like Scranton, PA, Weirton, WV, and El Paso, TX. This year, West Virginia has the cheapest homes in the country, with an average house price of $146,578. Several countries also offer affordable options for buying a house outside the US, including Colombia, The Philippines, Italy, Nicaragua, and Mexico.

I even heard Italy was letting people buy homes for $1! That’s a pretty sweet deal! Bravo, Italy. It makes me want to pack my bags and say ciao bella!

Even if staying in the U.S. is what you want, you do have options on where you live and what you do in retirement.

That is enough scratch to start a business, travel the world, start a charitable foundation for college scholarships or to help donate to meals on wheels. The possibilities are almost endless.

I may not be able to give away billions, but I sure could start a college scholarship fund for underprivileged kids with $10,000 starting capital for $500 each one towards books or other education related expenses. Maybe I could do something for medical students and start a scholarship that pays for med school application fees or supplies.

The point is that you have options. Many options. Especially, if you have a paid off home and no debt.

I remember Dave Ramsey saying that most people acquired their first million by consistently investing in their 401k’s and paying off their primary residence. In addition, the people they did a study on became millionaires from five professions: teaching, law, management, accountant, and engineering. So if your in one of those five fields, then you got a real good shot kid of being a becoming a millionaire.

Just taking stock of myself, I did pay off the personal and auto loans. Then redirected that money to my savings and investments. The auto loan was $450 and the personal loan was $333. The goal is to get to a savings rate of 50 percent . I then want to direct my attention to paying off my mortgage and having no home payment. That allows me to be in the driver’s seat of my future time after punching the clock.

So what would I do with all that free time and one million dollar nest egg? I think I will start a second career. What would I do if money was no object. Maybe voiceover acting. I was told once I had a great voice for radio! I was also once a background actor for a Hollywood movie. I could expand my creative pursuits outside of blogging.

I could teach personal finance and home economics at the local library.

I could backpack through Europe.

To be specific, I could buy a first-class ticket to London, stay at the Ritz Carlton or Savoy and have high tea while also taking in the sites of places in the Ian Fleming novels and have my martini shaken not stirred. I could visit the home towns of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.

Maybe I will go to visit the fictional town of Stars Hollow from the show Gilmore Girls.

In the book “The Count of Monte Cristo,” Edmond Dantès (the Count of Monte Cristo) lives in several locations. He lives in Rome and Auteuil, outside of Paris. The author of the book, Alexandre Dumas, also built a mansion called Château de Monte-Cristo in the French countryside, which was a real place. Maybe, I’ll go for a looksee.

“What is the point of being alive if you don’t at least try to do something remarkable?”
― John Green, An Abundance of Katherines

The point is to have goals and have some fun. Go on adventures. Dream big. Hard work should be rewarded. It can take decades to build a million-dollar portfolio. Live a little. The most successful retirements are the ones of which people retire to something.

To quote the author John Green, “The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle. Like, I will probably never be struck by lightening, or win a Nobel Prize, or become the dictator of a small nation in the Pacific Islands.” However, I can fly to Paris on a Monday, have high tea in London on Wednesday, and stay at the Palace in New York City like Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl.

You can check out my post on the show called Money Advice from Gossip Girl.

My miracle may not have been to live next door to Margo Roth Spiegelman like the protagonist in the book Paper Towns in which the quote is borrowed from, but I still can create my own miracle. The gift of free time and financial freedom. A life that is well-lived and leisure that is earned.

So with all that said, the question you are to ask yourself, “what would you do with a million in retirement?”

Would you sail around the world?

Would you visit the Louvre in Paris, see the pyramids in Egypt?

Or maybe you would try out your Spanish language skills you learned on Babbel in Spain or Barcelona?

Or would you visit the beaches in Rio?

As for me, maybe I will visit all the places The Chipmunks went to see in the 1987 film The Chipmunk Adventure.

I could buy a Porsche 911 with cash.

I could rent out a beach house on the California coast.

I could stay at the same hotel as James Bond in Montenegro.

I could buy a season ticket to see the Yankees or the Knicks play.

I could buy a ticket to ComicCon in San Diego and go meet my favorite actors from the Marvel Comics films. (Just FYI…I got to meet Orlando Bloom aka Legolas from Lord of the Rings at a comic convention and he was an absolute gentleman!)

I could buy a front row ticket to a concert.

I could fly in to whatever city they decide to visit to get my replica Book of Shadows signed by the cast of Charmed!

Yes, I’m a comic nerd, sue me.

I even have a Betty and Veronica fridge magnet. Yes, from the Archie Comics. Maybe I’ll have a lost weekend like they did on Riverdale and dance the nite away at a club in Vegas. I might even steal Veronica Lodge’s dance moves!

I once flew in to ATL for a day just to go to Six Flags over Georgia!

I have never swam with the dolphins or run with the bulls. However, I did get to meet the iconic actor Val Kilmer and got to be in a Hollywood movie as an extra! Both were pretty cool.

I once even decided on a whim to take the train to New York on a weekday afternoon so I could sip cocktails at the Plaza Hotel.

Just know whatever it is, it will be epic!

About The Author

Miriam started Greenbacks Magnet in 2016 to keep a scorecard of her goal of $1M in investable assets. Armed with a Master in Management (MiM) and a calculator, she teaches readers how to achieve financial independence while also helping them learn how to smell the roses along the way. The palpable response she got from sharing her personal finance goal in a public speaking course at Georgetown University encouraged her to share her story and teach finance on her website. She invests in AI companies as artificial intelligence is the new iPhone of the moment as she likes to invest in companies that are disruptive.