Lyfeportal’s 8 things to do with $16M Toto winnings

Do you have your 6 Toto numbers yet? Are they about to change your life? Hang on to the seat of your pants, because after tomorrow (because tomorrow = results), you might be the lucky one in desperate need of our tips! Here’s Lyfeportal’s 8 things to do with SGD$16,000,000!

Upgrade to waterfront city living.

The Oceanfront @ Sentosa Cove image courtesy of Channel News Asia

To awake in the city with the seabreeze against your face and breathtaking unblocked horizons, you need look no further than The Oceanfront @ Sentosa Cove. Located along 281 Ocean Drive, The Oceanfront sits within the exclusive District 4 and will easily accord you access to fine dining under the stars at Sentosa Cove’s Quayside Village, rich people sports and recreation at One Degree 15 Marina Club and Sentosa Gold Club, and a short drive to the Resort World Sentosa integrated resorts. The only hitch: it's 99-year leasehold. Babies at this fashionable address will set you back between SGD$2M to $16M per unit.

Or buy waterfront villas in the region.

Emerald Bay Waterfront Villa Puteri Harbour image courtesy of Edgeprop

True step-off-your-dock-into-the-water residences at Sentosa are going to be out of your S$16M price range (sad, right? 🙁), so shop in adjacent neighbourhoods! Southeast Asia is ripe for some of the most gorgeous not-Singapore priced, step-off-your-docks-into-water properties! Two off the top of our heads are units at The Light Waterfront Collection in Penang, going for between RM1.6M (S$515K) to RM18.3M (S$5.8M), or for something closer to home, the Emerald Bay Waterfront Villa, Puteri Harbour in Johor, going for RM6.5M (S$2.1M).

Do we need to say it? INVEST.

Photo by Tech Daily on Unsplash

Spending eight figures is the easy part – it's holding on to enough of it for the rest of your life that’s the challenge. So set yourself up for long-term millionaire-ing. Invest in a diverse portfolio: Squirrel some into pure savings and channel some into fixed deposits. Place others into mutual or index funds. And if you don’t yet know how to do it - learn to trade, and make smart investments in smart stocks. OR, if you’re even more hands-on and into physical projects, buy/sell or flip properties.

Space tourism.

Four civillian passengers on a SpaceX flight. Image courtesy of SpaceX.

This one takes the cake in our books. It’s literally a page out of the lifestyles of the super rich. While S$16M may not actually get you into space, you sure as heck will be close to orbit. Many times over. For a cool US$450K a pop, the Virgin Galactic will give you the training you need, your very own space suit, and a flight that will take you just south of the Karman Line (an imaginary boundary between earth’s atmosphere and space). At its peak, the flight will allow you to experience true zero gravity (none of that fake zero G force) for a few minutes, before returning to earth.

Alternatively, if you’d like to hold out for your second Toto win, you can consider an 11-minute trip with Jeff Bezo’s own Blue Origin. For a measly US$28M, you get a flight into the actual big, black void that’s properly past the Karman Line.

We also don’t need to say this: Settle all debts!

Photo by Igal Ness on Unsplash

The mortgage, student loan, reno loan, car loan, business loan, etc et al. Outstanding debt is the number one obstacle to worry-free living. Without the encumbrance of monthly repayments (coupled with ample liquidity – say – S$16M worth), you truly are free to live with zero stress. No debt + S$16M = Instagram influencer life.

Look into starting a sustainable business.

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

This is for the non-sloths of us, who “can’t even” with an IG lifestyle. If you’re still itching to do something with your life (because: winning S$16M Toto still not achievement enough), then consider starting a sustainable business. These are evergreen, and seek to fill mortal needs. Think: Food manufacturing, Agriculture, Medical supplies, etc. These needs will exist as long as humans exist, so demand will never be in short supply (see what we did there?). Word of caution: Starting a business with eight-figure capitals is one of the easiest ways to lose said eight figures, so tread with a lot of knowledge, wisdom and caution.

Contribute to conservation: Reforest forests!

Image courtesy of The Nature Conservancy

And this is for the borderline do-gooders of us who want to be heroic IG influencers. Climate change data of the past 24 months have convinced multiple countries around the world that we need to drastically reverse the heavy impacts of human industrialisation before it’s too late. With S$16M, you'd be in a great position to do just that. Contribute to reforestation efforts! Organisations such as The Nature Conservancy have Plant A Billion Trees campaigns that are constantly on the lookout for donors. Under their program, a tree costs just between US$1.50 to US$3 to plant. Give them S$1M, and you would have given life to at least 246,666 trees. That’s a small forest all by itself!

Go Robert Downey Jr: Build a farm (in New Zealand).

Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash

Even before the pandemic, Middle Earth has been attracting high net worth migrants. Unlike land scarce Singapore, a million or two dollars will easily get you some decent acreage (read: more than 30 hectares of open greens) to till and support farm families (the poultry and cattle kind). You will also more than likely have enough land and money left over for llamas, pygmy goats, and some design-and-build human countryside abode. With these resources, you’d be more than a few steps towards living it up Robert Downey Jr.