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Found Money: What Would You Do with a Huge Sum?

Written by Nickel - 9 Comments

As a followup to my recent post about picking up money off the ground… A bus driver in Austria was cleaning out his bus at the end of his shift when he discovered a shopping bag containing 390,000 Euros (ca. $510k).

Yowza!

And guess what? He turned it in. With the help of a deposit slip, the police were able to track down the owner.

Kinda makes me story about helping $1100 find it’s way back to home look small time, doesn’t it?

So, dear readers… What would you have done? Be honest.

Source: Reuters via The Consumerist

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Published on December 6th, 2012
Modified on December 16th, 2012 - 9 Comments
Filed under: Miscellany

About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

9 Responses to “Found Money: What Would You Do with a Huge Sum?”

1
Lance @ Money Life and More Says:
December 6th, 2012 at 7:18 pm
Honestly, I’d feel horrible if I kept it. I’d have to turn it into the police and pray no one claimed it and I get it back
2
Monica Says:
December 6th, 2012 at 8:50 pm
Turned it in. Sure, I’d love a huge windfall like that, but I couldn’t stand the thought of being responsible for crushing somebody else’s dreams or livelihood by keeping it. $390k could be startup funds for a business, or paying off a home, or college funds for your kids, or the money you’d saved up so you could travel the world or write your screenplay or… well, just about any dream.

Good for that Austrian bus driver.
3
mike Says:
December 6th, 2012 at 10:57 pm
yep, I’d turn it in….all $410k, right officer.
4
Jay @ effumoney Says:
December 7th, 2012 at 12:24 am
Being that there was a deposit slip which could be used to track down the owner and it was the bus driver who knew the time table of where the bus had been it only makes sense to turn it in, not just because it is morally the right thing to do, but because if/when someone claimed it you might have trouble explaining the new beach house on a bus drivers salary.

On the other hand if you happen to find a bag of money just sitting on the street and there are no ways to track the owner then, leave it, run away and don’t look back…. That is how mob movies being, and those never end well for the poor sap who thinks they won the lottery…

Just saying…
5
Johnny @ Our Freaking Budget Says:
December 7th, 2012 at 12:45 am
I’d probably play around with it for an hour or two, because who knows when/if I’ll ever see that amount of cash ever again.

I’d rent a hotel room (on my own dime) and then jump on my hotel bed while throwing the money in air. Then I’d pick up every last dollar and place them neatly in the silver briefcases that make an appearance in every Bond/mob movie. And then I’d call it a day and give every last dollar back to its rightful owner.
6
BG Says:
December 7th, 2012 at 9:08 am
What shopping bag?
7
Andrew Says:
December 7th, 2012 at 9:21 am
Aside the guilt ridden conscience I’d suffer if I did keep the money, reality TV has also set a healthy paranoia with regards to anything like that. How would you like to be the fool on TV keeping the money?
8
Viola Says:
December 7th, 2012 at 7:48 pm
I’d turn it in straightaway, as I’d be paranoid that it had mafia ties or something. Then, I’d ride that good Karma wave into the ground
9
Jo Says:
December 7th, 2012 at 10:30 pm
I would definitely turn it into the nearest PD, but so help me if they got dirty and kept it for themselves….just sayin’.

I believe in doing the right thing. If I did decide to hold on to it and kept quiet to see if anything came of it, which didn’t transpire after a few weeks, I would pursue my dream of becoming a philanthropist….

I would invest the money and then set up a foundation. This could be for educational, medical, animal shelters in dire need, conservation, definitely children (aka St. Jude’s Hospital)and shelters for the homeless….America FIRST, and then if all went well, the rest of the world.

Dreams, I know….which would go right back into the community. Using any of it for myself….that would depend on what the returns turned out to be. Keep working? Absolutely….

First thing, however, would be to see if an owner turned up…..above all else.

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