What would you do if you won the lottery?

[vernsgal]

I would finally let my husband retire, make sure the kids are all financially secure, then go travelling. I'd like to go everywhere (thats safe) and try all their different cuisines and wines

 

[olusteebus]

One of the first things I would do is create a foundation where I would put 10% of the winnings in to do what I would consider God's work. I would hope to funnel it through religious organizations as long as it was not to fund churches or even missionary work.

I would help family, put my daughter on a secure path. I would buy a place on Amelia Island florida.

If it was this weeks powerball, I would do a hell of a lot more.

And oh yeah. The foundation would be the second thing I would do. The first would be to replace my 2004 F150 with a new ford, maybe a F250, not sure.

 

[jamesngalveston]

wordy , that was me.....lol

 

[Crown_King_Robb]

Id focus on the tax advantages and security first before collecting the winnings. I would collect thru a representative.

Then Id watch /read all the documentaries where they focus on Lottery winners who went broke or ended up dead / missing .

Any significant money to financially help relatives or friends, I would set up in managed trusts and make sure that JG Edwards could not help them get their money NOW at a steep cost. (predators IMHO) I would also insist that the friends or relatives participate in Dave Ramsey ( or similar) before getting any of the money then it would be a continuous participation. They would also have to watch / read some documentaries on Lottery winners going broke so they remember why Im doing it like this . I would pay to make sure they have the yearly taxes in order for the portion which I have put upon them. I would not want my gift to be their ruin.

There would be gifts with no strings attached as well. Im not a total buzzkill.  But it would not be any more than I think they can handle. (IE they cant quit their jobs) Some cases it would be cash I guess in others it would be a little cash, and then pay their existing bills. Others, it might be more thoughtful gifts.

I think I would own 2 places, neither overly extravagant, but certainly secure. Living out of a suitcase has its drawbacks.

For myself, I would focus my attention on continued education on whatever subjects strike my fancy, and pursue worldly experiences. Those could change at anytime so Ill stay flexible.



ETA: I personally watched a 19 year old kid who got $150,000 (part cash and part annuity) blow thru all of it in less than 10 months. The annuity was in place to make sure he had a steady monthly income for 7 years, enough for rent and bills but he ended up going to JG Wentworth and cashed it in for pennies on the dollar to keep up his rock-n-roll lifestyle. At the end of that 10 months he was darn near homeless and didnt have much more than the shirt on his back and a criminal record to show for any of it. He would have been better off setting the money on fire.

 

[JohnT]

JS, As soon as Julie sees that one, it will straight to the coner with ya!

CK_Rob,

The moral to that story is that youth and money do not mix! We have our will set up in such a way that the estate will be held in trust until the youngest heir passes the age of 40. Until then, then money can only be used for the purchase of a house (a 1 - 1 match of what they put up) and/or education.

By the time they turn 40+, I feel that their life is what it is and the money would have less of a dire impact.

 

[Crown_King_Robb]

JS, As soon as Julie sees that one, it will straight to the coner with ya!

CK_Rob,

The moral to that story is that youth and money do not mix! We have our will set up in such a way that the estate will be held in trust until the youngest heir passes the age of 40. Until then, then money can only be used for the purchase of a house (a 1 - 1 match of what they put up) and/or education.

By the time they turn 40+, I feel that their life is what it is and the money would have less of a dire impact.

I think 40 is a good age


No doubt about that.

If you read into all the Lottery winners that have gone broke within 5 years, and all the professional sports players and music artists that have fallen the same direction. Its not just youth.

Some folks can handle the money, others need to have a professionally managed perpetual trust (?), where essentially they get an allowance and special case $$ for the remainder of their whole lives. And the professional managers keep them from gaming the system through shenanigans like JG Wentworth

 

[jswordy]

Tell ya the truth, the story about that kid is the way most lottery winners end up. There are a lot of news stories tracking the bad ends they mostly come to after winning.

I lived with a millionaire lottery winner when I was in college. Never knew how he got his money or that he was a winner until just before we graduated. He was a few years older than the rest of us. I always figured he was selling drugs and if he was I did not want to know about it. He did not flaunt the cash, but it was clear he had it.

He always had a nice diamond on a chain to give a girl he liked, etc. Heck, one day he showed up to his room and next thing I knew he was yelling, "Get your clothes back on and get the h--- out of here!" Pretty soon here comes this awesome looking girl still putting on some of her clothes and shoes from out of his room. I guess he'd walked in there and she was laid out on his bed naked waiting for him. Hey, he had money!

So the day before graduation, Stan says to me, "You know, I'll never see you again, but you know I have had money." I nodded and said yes, I thought so. "Because I'll never see you again, I'll tell you it's because I won the Illinois State Lottery."

This was back in 1980. He won in '76, back when a million bux was really a lot of dough.

He went on: "Let me tell you, it ruined my life. Everybody I knew was hitting me up for money - my friends, my relatives, everyone. I lost all my friends because of it. So I just left Chicago all of a sudden, enrolled here to finish up my college degree, and started over. I have never told anyone. That's the only way to get real friendships, is not to let people know you have the money. It ruins them otherwise."

He showed me a newspaper clipping saying he'd won. Then he left me with the quote I have remembered ever since:

"You know, it's a funny thing about money. It cuts two ways. When you don't have it, you are always wanting to get your hands on it. When you do, you are always looking over your shoulder trying to figure out who's sneaking up behind you to take it away from you."

After that day, I never saw Stan again.

 

[jpsmithny]

Great subject, JohnT. I think many of us have pondered this fantastic event at one time or another. One of the states has the slogan, "All it takes is a dollar and a dream" and I always thought that captured the essence of the lottery. "I don't think any reasonable person thinks he or she will win"but it is worth the dollar to dream about all the things one would do with the money. Of course, it would depend on how much the pay out was, but I have a plan that I would put into action immediately. So as long as we are fantasizing, say the payout was net $100 Million, I would do the following:

- $25 Million to the Wounded Warrior Project
- $25 Million to friends and family (excluding my Daughter and Grandchildren)
- $25 Million to my Daughter and Grandchildren (in the form of a trust managed by my Daughter)
- $25 Million to my favorite people in the World, Bev and me!

I would not go crazy spending our money but there are a few things I would like and one is pictured below. It is just outside of Pienza, Italy in the Val D'Orcia in southern Tuscany. In its present state, it needs a whole lot of work and due to restrictions in that area, all work has to be done in the original manner of construction. I figure the house, land, orchards and vineyard (Sangiovese grapes!) would cost about $500,000 and the repairs/improvements would be another $500,000. I would spend about 6 months in the States and 6 months in Italy each year. That would be my dream!

" I don't think any reasonable person thinks he or she will win"


I guess I'm unreasonable or just dreaming too much.

 

[jpsmithny]

There are some very thoughtful replies here. I'd guess that anyone here who really did win would just go on as they have. Not one of these answers is reckless;except for James but he'd wake up soon from that I'm sure.

That sounds like the Playboy Club!

 

[Crown_King_Robb]

Right out of today's news articles...

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/20/us/lottery-windfall-disasters/?hpt=us_t4


excerpt:

(NEWS) -- Jack Whittaker had the noblest of plans.

Upon winning the then-largest-ever $314 million Powerball jackpot in 2002, the West Virginia construction company owner said he wanted to pay tithes to the Church of God, get some of his laid-off workers back on the job and start a charitable foundation.

He might buy a helicopter, and he'd definitely pamper his daughter and granddaughter, he said.

"I'm not going to buy anything for myself," he said during a news conference announcing his windfall. "The very first thing I'm going to do is, I'm going to go home. I'm going to sit down and make out three checks to three pastors for 10% of this check. That's the very first thing I'm going to do."

Already a millionaire via his company, Whittaker predicted the money wouldn't faze him at all. His life, he said, would carry on normally.
Who won the $400 million Powerball?

"If I can help it, it's not going to change. I'm content with my life," he told reporters. "I'm not going to change my life much."

Yet by 2007, barely four years after what should have been the luckiest day of his life, Whittaker was a broken-down man who had lost his granddaughter to drugs and who had a reputation for DUIs, frequenting strip clubs and getting robbed. His divorce would be finalized the following year. His daughter would die the next.

.....................


"Since I won the lottery, I think there is no control for greed," he told the station. "I think if you have something, there's always someone else that wants it. I wish I'd torn that ticket up."

 

[Boatboy24]

What would I do? Free premium memberships for all active members!

 

[corinth]

If I won the lotto for big bucks?

I truly love all the answers about family, off bills and donating to charities. I am not sure who stated some obvious facts that Many of the people who won it big were broke within a certain amount of time.

Many people who you never knew come asking for money not to mention what the government takes.

I think if I won the lotto the first thing I would probably rationally do and change my name and move to somewhere where no one other than family knew me. I would continue to donate to my causes but with bigger amounts but it would be done anonymously.

But let me put this into another perspective: A famous person much smarter than me once said you start by helping the person next to you.

I

 

[corinth]

iF I WON THE LOTTO

Oops-hit the button too soon.

I think what all of you are doing out there by helping one another is truly priceless!

That will transcend and help others exponentially . I know i only speak for myself in this one area of a myriad of areas of your expertise.