The Mega Millions- what would you do with it?

[Mango]

I NEVER play the lottery, but the mega miilions was at $145 million last week-- so while I was picking up some items at our local grocer, I played a $5 quick pick. This was the same day I won something else, so decided to try my luck.

So, a few days later, I am cleaning out my purse and I realize I had not checked. I look at the numbers and I am off by one number literally on my card. If the number was 15, I had 16. This was across the board. So close, but no dice.
Got to wondering, though.....what in the hail would I do with that kind of money? I've done mortgages for lottery winners and they all burn through it fairly quickly.

Besides the usual philanthropic and donations to good causes, paying off family debt, etc; I haven't a clue what I would do it.
I know people say they could easily find ways to spend it, but at what cost and how would it change your life? You have to get your telephone number changed. Relationships change. Do you know who your friends really are?

Has anyone thought about all this?

 

[scooterbug44]

I would keep it a secret (as much as I could), then turn it into a trust (to keep the carrion away) that would do a variety of things, scholarships, shelters, free taxis to keep the drunks from driving, slowly buy up vacant lots south of 30-A and turn them into a giant public beach etc.

And ever since we saw Pretty Woman, Canoehead and I have a pact that if one of us wins the lottery we go powershopping all over the globe!

 

[Bob]

i had dinner last night in a 10 thousand square foot house, and the market value of the owner's home is between 4 to 5 million. the home had 2 massive christmas trees, voice activated electronics, elevator, ceilings a pole vaulter could not reach, etc. having experienced that complicated environment briefly, I'd most likely opt for a normal sized home, and a full menu of intermittent travel and volunteerism.

 

[TooFarTampa]

I would keep it a secret (as much as I could), then turn it into a trust (to keep the carrion away) that would do a variety of things, scholarships, shelters, free taxis to keep the drunks from driving, slowly buy up vacant lots south of 30-A and turn them into a giant public beach etc.

And ever since we saw Pretty Woman, Canoehead and I have a pact that if one of us wins the lottery we go powershopping all over the globe!

i had dinner last night in a 10 thousand square foot house, and the market value of the owner's home is between 4 to 5 million. the home had 2 massive christmas trees, voice activated electronics, elevator, ceilings a pole vaulter could not reach, etc. having experienced that complicated environment briefly, I'd most likely opt for a normal sized home, and a full menu of intermittent travel and volunteerism.

These sound about right. After fully funding 529s, paying off mortgages, building a Not-So-Big-House style place in WaterSound, with that much $$ I would definitely want to set up a foundation for charitable causes. Then I would spend the rest of my time trying to figure out how to keep my children motivated. :shock:

I'm not sure a lottery win is the ideal situation. At least not one that big.

Mango that is an incredible lotto ticket -- the odds of being one number off across the board are probably as slim as winning the prize itself!

 

[Smiling JOe]

After the usual paying off debt, and paying off family members' notes on their homes, I'd hire a full-time massage therapist and a driver (I hate to drive). Then, I'd work on setting up some additional funding for homeless shelters and food shelters around this Country. I'd also purchase NatureWalk and turn it into a public park, complete with that wave pool that Bobby J is always dreaming about. I'd also travel more frequently.

 

[2bohemians]

After the usual paying off debt, and paying off family members' notes on their homes, I'd hire a full-time massage therapist and a driver (I hate to drive). Then, I'd work on setting up some additional funding for homeless shelters and food shelters around this Country. I'd might also purchase NatureWalk and turn it into a public park, complete with that wave pool that Bobby J is always dreaming about. I'd also travel more frequently.

Sounds dreamy ... can we be part of your posse?

 

[TooFarTampa]

After the usual paying off debt, and paying off family members' notes on their homes, I'd hire a full-time massage therapist and a driver (I hate to drive). Then, I'd work on setting up some additional funding for homeless shelters and food shelters around this Country. I'd might also purchase NatureWalk and turn it into a public park, complete with that wave pool that Bobby J is always dreaming about. I'd also travel more frequently.

 

[hnooe]

Like a majority of these winners, I'd spend the money recklessly and frivilously -- not because I am not used to having money, but just because I could.

I would ultimately find myself living in a rusted trailer eating Spaghetti "O"s, but probably happier and more "unselfish" than I had ever been in my life!

 

[SHELLY]

.
I'd become a full-time Secret Millionaire:

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk_iQXV3vEU"]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/nomedia]

Great show.

 

[traderx]

Mega is currently $170 million with a cash now value of $117 million. After rewarding the federal and state governments for my luck to the tune of $47 million or so, I would change my name to Kilgore Trout and attend science fiction conventions across the globe.

Now, what to do with the remaining $70 million? At that level, money is not about money nor the things money can buy: it is about freedom. The first thing I would do is read Steinbeck's Cannery Row series again in an effort to learn how big money can change you. I would put half into a private foundation that had education and the environment as its causes. But none of the fruitless think tank enviros. Groups that commit real change in the environment like the organization that buys land and conserves it and those crazies who ram the Japanese boats that are killing whales. On education, I would find kids who are poor but smart and work hard in their studies and lay an educational opportunity at their feet. With the other half, I would enjoy my freedom.