Many are wondering how singer Richard Goodall will be spending his $1 million prize after winning America’s Got Talent 2024. That’s an astounding amount of money for a middle school janitor from Terre Haute. Even though much of the prize is still subject to taxes, the AGT Season 19 winner has shared how he and his wife will be using the money on and whether that might help change his life.
How will Richard Goodall spend his America’s Got Talent prize money?
Richard Goodall will “try to be conservative” about the $1 million prize from America’s Got Talent, choosing to “invest a little” of the money and “plan smart.”
The AGT winner said this during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, where he added that he and his new wife, Angela, will not be doing “anything fancy or extravagant.” This isn’t too surprising given that Goodall seems to be a genuinely humble guy during his interviews on and off the show.
Goodall says that he doesn’t have a lot of expectations of what will come next, though he “would like to sing music across America.” He believes that it’s important for him to inspire people not to give up on their dreams, and that “people just need a little bit of hope and kindness and tenderness … in today’s age, it’s kind of lost.”
In an interview, Goodall shared that after buying a house, he plans to remain a janitor for at least “a little while”. While he and his wife are excited about their new home, he still dreams of renting an RV and touring around different places.
That said, Goodall wisely mentioned that the $1 million prize “doesn’t always go very far,” citing TV shows about lottery winners who “two years later got absolutely nothing.” Indeed, it should be noted that a million dollars doesn’t actually come to that amount especially after taxes. As pointed out by Forbes, winners can either take the AGT prize as a lump sum of $300,000 pre-tax range or over a 40-year long annuity with an annual pre-tax payout of $25,000 per year.
That said, past singers who have won AGT have had other opportunities after the show, whether it’s in the form of albums or live shows. In the AGT finale this season, Goodall performed with former members of Journey, including guitarist Neal Schon. So strike one off the bucket list.