What would you do if you get a basic income of $2500 every month for 1 year

4 points by user-on1 ↗ HN
How you would plan each hour of that one year and each dollar?

16 comments

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I would keep working and just save most of the money. 15% would go for new toys and gear.
I would work full-time on my own projects / ideas. Might work a little bit on the side as well, if I need some extra help (hire designers, etc...), cause in that case I don't believe this money would be sufficient for me, even when working from a cheap country.
I would keep working full time and invest all of it
If it's only one year I would keep working. But spend much more time on my own projects to start a business with. If it's indefinite, like basic universal income, I would release more open source projects since money would be less of an issue.
If I knew beforehand it would only be for 1 year, I would keep working, maybe a little less (80% of a full time position for instance).

I would save/invest a certain amount, give a fair amount to charities and go out more to restaurants...

I would dedicate the whole year to trying to find employment in I.T...currently I work in construction. If I found work, I'd put any remaining income into courses/certificates that could help me with work in I.T, those things are expensive.
Pay my rent, bills, student loan, and car insurance and gas. Which would be all of that money.Keep working for money for groceries and other things and health insurance.
full-time on my projects and maybe go back to school
Is 'What would you do with UBI?' the new 'What would you do if you won the lottery?'?
same if i won the lottery I wouldnt just sit around I'd be board. I'd take my time get my masters and start a company. I'd also donate some of that cash to some non-profits I used to work for.
If it's known to be to be time linked, it's clearly not a basic income, just a one-time $30,000 windfall.

And, I'd pay off debt (or if I ha already done that, invest it), and it wouldn't have any meaningful effect on my use of time.

I think being time linked is a good approach. Given one year time and free resources one would be expected to utilize that time and come up with ways to generate value using which life can be sustained after that one year.

Like in that one year work on building a product or service which will make $2500 or more every month so that after one year one can live on that.

That will be a healthy output.

This. $30K is the size of a not-unreasonable annual bonus for a high-performing profession. This money would be pocketed for debt pay-down or invested into future passive income (e.g. real estate). My employment status would not change - just my tax bill (more income = more taxes).
The ultimate goal of UBI doesn't seem like giving free money, it is freeing an individual's time which one used to spend in making up for basic needs and giving freedom to do more useful stuff which will have a greater impact beyond one's family.

What if one doesn't have the job one has at present?

I would finish school. Start my masters.