What is a life changing amount?

There seems to be a point in DOND when we instinctively know that the player is in life-changing territory, but what does this really mean? At its most general definition it is going to mean a change from their current lifestyles. The idea being that the money will allow them to do things that they would otherwise have been unable to achieve. But this could just be a holiday - we don't mean that do we? I think we are talking about a change that should be permanent.

The UK current average wage is just over £22,000 per annum (£36,000 for a professional), and the individual will take home approximately between 65% and 50%% of that after tax, national insurance, etc.

There seems to be a perception that the life-changing amount could be as low as £30,000. Why? £30,000 tax free for the average non-professional worker in the UK would be the equivalent of just under 3 years wages after tax. With a three year break they could go to university, get a degree and become a professional (they could!). Or they could start their own company with say, two-thirds of their winnings, and hope that after 12 months it makes enough money to keep them going. Either way they would be working again but hopefully earning a bit more. So they would probably buy a larger house with a bigger mortgage and end up spending more than they ever did before.

The average cost of a house is £150,000 ignoring regional differences, which means that most people are locked into their jobs for a very long time to pay-off high-geared mortgages.

People tend to see their work as something that pays the bills, if their bills are paid they don't have to work. So winning an amount of money that pays off the mortgage would mean that these people would be likely to quit work. Of course that simply means that they are now sitting on a good asset - they used to have an excuse when family members needed money that there wasn't any, now they can't argue that point (especially if they have won the money on national telly). So the chances are that the mortgage will re-appear, the children will go to private school, or the daughter will have a much more expensive wedding, or whatever. In any case, it will be back to work.

At one level it seems to me that even £250,000 is not enough for these people to change their lives. However I think there is another way to measure this:

I don't believe in any recognised religion, to mis-quote Groucho Marx: I would never join any religion that would have me. I believe that you are sure about today, you can't go back to yesterday, and you may never have tomorrow. So if you need to change your life then get on with it.

Walk the talk: In my life I have trained as an RAF pilot, been a policeman in the hardest parts of Glasgow, hiked across two thirds of the world, had three companies, worked for four others and tackled two university degrees - and I have still 20 years before I am supposed to retire (I will never retire). On my grave stone I want 'What happened next?'.

For more than ten years now I been in a job that I love - I wake at 4.00am thinking about the day ahead, and might go to bed around midnight, only able to sleep if I am satisfied that there is no more I can do. If and when I get fed up with that, I will do something else.

If you are reading the above and thinking 'he has done a lot', I haven't even told you half, and I feel that I've barely scratched the surface of what is out there. My point is that life is too short, a life changing amount has nothing to do with money.