If you were given 1 million dollars...

Hypothetically, if you were to receive $1,000,000, how would you go about investing this money? Would you quit your job and try and do your own thing? Would you invest passively into the stock market? how much would you keep in cash etc.?

Would this be enough money for you to jumpstart your own company if that is a goal of yours?

Any specific plan of how you would leverage 1MM into a downpayment for CRE and which asset type/strategy you would take to start your own "empire." I am aware that 1MM isn't a lot of money in the world of commercial real estate, but my question is geared towards how you'd make best use of the money as an entrepreneur and reap the rewards in the future as a long-term play. Once the money is fully deployed, what's next?

any creative thinkers out there?

31 Comments
 

$1MM? Honestly I'd buy $1MM of VTSAX and ignore it for a few decades. That's not enough to build the things I want to build.

If I had to invest it into real estate, I'd either try to team up with others on the GP side so that my million plus their money would be a sizable enough GP or maybe try my hand at townhome development.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Use all of it as a downpayment to acquire non-resource debt to purchase an attractive piece of dirt. Then enter into a 99-year ground lease with a developer who wants to build on the site.

The annual return will easily outperform the market. Your core asset (the dirt) will appreciate. You have no headaches or expenses. You can either enjoy the long term cash flow (which is quasi-secured)...or sell off the dirt at a 4-5.5% cap rate (which would net you a few million).

 

I know a few families who did this and made out like a bandit. They're still collecting cash 30+ years later.

No pain no game.
 

Ok. I'll indulge you.

  1. I didn't say a purchase price of $1MM. I said using the $1MM as part of a financing package that includes debt.

  2. You really believe it's difficult to find land at that price point? I'm involved in two ground leases right now at a comparable price. There's a whole big world out there outside Manhattan.

  3. I highly, highly doubt any parcel in NYC is worth $400MM (land value) unless it's several acres.

  4. There's other reasons people do ground leases besides the value of the land being cost prohibitive. I'll give you three reasons from the perspective of the land owner: cash flow...estate planning...and taxes.

 

Bitcoin and I know I will get burned for it. I think BItcoin in the future will be worth $1,000,000 per bitcoin. You just need to hold it HODL (Hold onto dear life). Disclaimer, crypto-currency is extremely volatile and it will fluctuate everyday in value. Don't invest in things that you aren't willing to go zero.

"It's okay, I'll see you on the other side"
 

You can throw monkey sh*t at me but the Winklevoss twins became billionaires off bitcoin. It's a speculative asset that you can't do a valuation on. Wrong asset class if you want to value it. Chamath Palihapitiya, owner of Golden State Warriors is a Buffet disciple but he is a Bitcoin believer and against what the mainstream.

P.S A guy paid 10,000 Bitcoin for a Papa Johns Pizza, if he held the bitcoin, at the top, he paid $196,000,000 dollars for a pizza.

https://www.investopedia.com/news/bitcoin-pizza-day-celebrating-20-mill…

"It's okay, I'll see you on the other side"
 

$1 million, is too small. I'd prob invest in art, a couple pateks, and a nice car.

$10 million

Pay $7.92 million in taxes

$4 million in a laddered A- to BBB+ corporate and municipal bond portfolio with 1-15 years maturities, for living expenses = $400,000/ year.

$2.5 million in mutual funds & ETFs

$2.5 million in VC and PE funds. (Would be nice to be a qualified investor)

$2.08 million - buy ~600 acres of good farmland somewhere in the Rocky Mountain West

$1 million to build a distillery and barrel house on the farm capable of producing ~4000 to 6000 cases/ year

Sit on the porch with my dog and watch the barley and corn grow.

When my last bond matures, my first bottles of 15-year-old whiskey ought to start rolling off the bottling line....

What concert costs 45 cents? 50 Cent feat. Nickelback.
 

I'd buy a condo in which I could do two chicks at the same time.

I come from down in the valley, where mister when you're young, they bring you up to do like your daddy done
 

I spent half of my money on booze, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.

I come from down in the valley, where mister when you're young, they bring you up to do like your daddy done
 

I saw a listing for a $1 million, 6 unit building with a vacant unit. NOI = 60K in a cool neighborhood. Couldn't you just buy it, live there, and collect $37,800/year after taxes? Or am I missing something?

 

Quam itaque perspiciatis tempora praesentium eum quia. Rerum dolorem qui itaque aspernatur vitae similique. Ipsum fuga praesentium rerum pariatur dignissimos optio provident. Et ut ut veniam rerum laborum suscipit. Qui nemo tempore suscipit sint. Suscipit id unde non rerum ducimus adipisci aut.

Est vel tempora id quia dignissimos eius. Consequatur atque commodi rerum voluptatem aliquam. Alias sit laborum deleniti ut quia est dolores. Amet occaecati enim velit quaerat et architecto corrupti. Vel consequatur distinctio fuga ea tenetur. Nemo velit numquam neque autem delectus atque. Ut nemo veritatis laboriosam libero explicabo odit.

Fuga fugiat quis dolores necessitatibus amet quo voluptatem. Blanditiis ut id est voluptates cum. Sed vitae nostrum accusantium sunt maiores veniam ipsam. Et libero veniam error excepturi.

Iusto quo maiores corrupti non accusamus sit consequatur. Laboriosam et itaque veniam illo.

 

Est natus aut harum aperiam ratione dolorem. Assumenda voluptatem voluptatum deleniti corrupti provident.

Sed quo eos soluta eos ullam. Vero dolor qui molestias optio quam sit alias quo. Et consequatur doloribus sed voluptatem omnis rem esse. Laborum facere et et non iusto enim animi quod. Eius sequi deleniti quia quae.

Nihil quia saepe quia asperiores nobis quos. Qui ut dignissimos numquam non. Officia et delectus minus et. Et quia voluptates delectus dolorum cupiditate modi quia voluptates.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”