[NullPointerException]

A fun topic about "what would you do with lots of spare time" just turned into a discussion about finances and economic inflation rates.

Only on the NT forums.

Are you implying that discussion on personal finance is not fun? It seems more interesting than a discussion on how people spend their spare time. Perhaps personal finance is more interesting if you think about it like a boardgame, where the world is the game, and everyone has his/her own utility functions (aka values, goals, etc) that he/she tries to maximize. Money is just credits that can help you maximize your utility function. The way you invest it, spend it, etc roughly estimates your priorities in life. So, knowing the way you use money provides a lot of information about you.

[wiarumas]

I would redefine my (financial) goals.

Continue working, possibly switching careers, start my own business, start making riskier investments with a safe amount of my portfolio, etc.

The flaw in this question is that it assumes my goals are static. I prefer to keep them changing and always 5, 10, 20 years out. Never really achievable since they keep adapting to changing circumstance.

[KneeSeekerArrow]

Move to a new country, build a large, isolated mansion and live like a recluse.

[CosmicJalapeno]

Well if I am financially secure I would vagabond it up, go from state to state, hit up canada, south america (i wanna see the salt flats so bad) europe, asia, and africa last. I always wondered what life be like as a traveling homeless man with money. I know you said we already traveled but screw your rules in my fantasy I didn't.

[Polo]

Well, shit. If I've already traveled....

I think I would probably start taking a lot of classes in things that I never knew how to do. Like architecture courses, mathematics, business. Then I would start building places. Dwellings probably, or maybe a library/bookstore, or even a small theatre - but always something kind of quirky. Trying to get adults to let their imagination run wild. I would really want to find a way to help other people start businesses. The obligatory novel writing would happen, I like to pretend. Photography, books, clothes, various arts and crafts. Maybe by this time I can also start exercising like I should.

[snail]

This isn't a "what would you spend your lotto winnings on" type of thread.

The situation is this: you're in your late-thirties or early-forties, you've achieved your financial goals, you are generating enough income to live comfortably without working, you've bought all the toys your heart desires, you've done a big chunk of the travel thing, so what's next?

What do you do to fill your days?

I would draw whatever I felt like and give my drawings to whomever I chose. I would volunteer for charitable causes that interest me. I would play my musical instruments as often as I wanted. I would sew interesting things. I would expand my creative potential by learning to work with a greater variety of tools.

That's close to what I already do.

[hylogenesis]

I think if I ever achieved that much, it'd be a miracle. Should it happen, though? I would simply read as many books as I could stuff into my head--excluding authors like...Stephanie Meyer or Nicholas Sparks. I suppose when I'm not reading, I can spend the extra time hating these crappy authors...that sounds about right...or...OR I could read ALL their work, write up a really detailed paper on every stupid little thing, good (*snort*) and bad about their work, refine it into an argument to why they should either quit writing or try harder, and then submit it to them via USPS in a thin leather-bound volume with the title embossed on the front in gold leaf.

[day_dreamer]

1) Indulge in all sorts of madness which I could not do earlier.
2) Pick up new hobbies and change them as and when my mood permits.
3) Write a book.
4) If I am too bored, I would rather prefer to die.

In fact I am always scared that I will end up getting bored once I have done everything in my life. Boredom has haunted me all my life for a major part of it because my mind is always hungry and nothing seems to satiate it for long. I have a dream of living up to only 60 years because after that I cannot imagine living being dependent on others(physically due to ill health).

[Tess]

I'd definately write a book and set up some kind of foundation, then spend moi days researching for moi book and managing the foundation.