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$500 million lottery

genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
edited March 2012 in General Banter
In this neck of the woods, there is a $500 million dollar lottery drawing tomorrow. And yes, I bought a few tickets. My next-door neighbor admitted with the same sheepishness I felt that he too had bought some. We shook hands and agreed that if either of us won, he would give the other a million. But after that, we also agreed that for any one person to have that much money was obscene on the face of it... take care of family and friends and after that, get rid of it ... charity or whatever.

There's often a lot of hot air about what-I'd-do-if-I-won, but the history of people who actually have won big jackpots is pretty depressing.

So ... what would you do with $500 million?

Comments

  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    edited March 2012
    I'd put a pool in my bathroom, have slide next to each set of stairs and a firepole to get down from my bunkbed... my gold plated bunkbed.
  • Telly03Telly03 Veteran
    I call dibbs
  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    edited March 2012
    I would hire someone to beat up those kids who teased me in junior high, and also pay someone to design a special meditation outfit, with headgear, so I would be the snazziest guy in the Zendo.



    ...seriously... holding onto 1 million would feel gluttonous.. the other 499 would be distributed in any number of directions. Ok... maybe 2 million.





  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
    @RichardH -- You mean you don't want to buy Canada?!
  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    @RichardH -- You mean you don't want to buy Canada?!
    The GDP for the last quarter was 1.3 trillion. I would need to win the lottery 2600 times.

    I'll just have to settle for a fancy meditation outfit, :)
  • ZaylZayl Veteran
    I'd put it all in the bank and live off the interest. I'd try to do good with it. I feel one can do more good with a large sum of money by working diligently at it rather than dumping it all on some charity. At the very least I'd have a nice little beach house near Traverse City.
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    I would spend it all on sewer rats and gathering mangie cats and letting them go loose at political events until November.
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    $500 million is a huuuuge amount of money. Jeez... how do they even come up with that much?!!

    But this is how I'd break it down (assuming I won the entire thing and it wasn't split w/ others):
    $480 million to a charities/causes/etc
    $10 million set aside for helping family/close friends w/ financial things
    $8 million in real estate investment (real estate is crazy expensive here in Vancouver so this is actually not that much)
    $2 million for personal use

    You can tell I've thought about winning the lottery a little bit... :)

    One of me and my gf's dreams is to open our own small bakery/cafe place - it wouldn't be for-profit, just making enough to cover expenses and pay employees well.
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    Remember, a chunk of it goes to the IRS.

    Still, that would leave you with a lot of millions. Do not give it away! Set up a charitable foundation with it, hire employees, create jobs. (I have experience in the non-profit world, @genkaku, if you ever need a grants officer ;) ). The foundation will be run from the earnings off the investments of the principal amount.

    Set up an investment account for yourself with about 6 mill of it, to see you through retirement, old age, nursing home, whatever. With the rocky economy, you never know when a downturn may chew up some of that, so it's not as much as it sounds like.

    Enjoy some if it--take a nice vacation.
  • ethereaetherea Veteran
    I have absolutely no idea! I never ever have the "what would I do if I had" thoughts. I never enter the lottery or gamble so I would have no chance of winning anything, but if I suddenly came into a lot of money I suppose I would put it into the bank and think about it. No doubt I would give some to my children.....................whoa.....................I'm not liking the feeling of "what if" one little bit. I'm happy to say that I'm happy with my lot and let's leave it at that!
  • lamaramadingdonglamaramadingdong Veteran
    Here's a sure-fire winning strategy- just by all the possible combinations of numbers, all 176 million.
    The problem being, to do that, at one ticket every 5 seconds you would have to have started buying them 28 years ago... (not to mention that sticky problem of coming up with $176million). Good luck to those of you playing! Remember us here!
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    I'd probably just be comfortably miserable. Maybe take up heroin or pain killers or something. I'm honestly not sure if I'm kidding or not.
  • seeker242seeker242 Zen Florida, USA Veteran
    I would pay off the mortgage of every Buddhist temple and zen center in the country. Then I would build more Buddhist temples and zen centers everywhere! And then some orphanages, and homeless shelters and of course animal shelters. Can never have too many animal shelters. And of course I would buy some stuff too but not to much. :)
  • BaileyDBaileyD Explorer
    Maybe I'm a little odd or I just like to go against the grain sometimes. I dunno. Maybe I just see things differently.

    I didn't buy a ticket and never planned on buying a ticket. Winning that much money, or any amount of money for that matter, can only bring more pain and damage than not having it in the first place. There's a reason that 9 out of 10 lottery winners are broke within three years of winning; people that play the lottery aren't necessarily the best with money in the first place. There's also something to be said for that "I want it all and I want it now" mentality that goes along with the desire to win a lottery. I like to call it a Veruca Saltiness attitude.

    Personally, if I want more money in my life I will work for it. That way I place my own value on it, not just the monetary value.

    [/dismounts high horse]
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    Now that the Mega Millions jackpot is a whopping $640 million, a lot of us are dreaming of the mansions, fancy cars and luxury vacations we can take should we hit it big.

    While winning the lottery is a fantasy most of us have, there are a few horror stories of big lottery winners who have been cursed with a series of unfortunate events since their win. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/322092/20120330/mega-millions-jackpot-lottery-curse-jack-whittaker.htm
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    There are lots of stories of people who really needed to money, and for whom it was a godsend, too. A woman who had lost her home, unable to pay the mortgage due to illness, won a lottery and bought herself a nice home with it. You have to be smart about how you handle the money, and how you handle yourself. Jack Whitaker (above article) was an idiot, hanging out in strip clubs, then he was surprised when a stripper and the club manager tried to kill him and steal the money that he had stashed...where? IN HIS CAR! He may as well have painted a giant bullseye on his back with a huge "kick me" sign, or "rob me".
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    From what I have seen on TV/internet and in real life, it seems like coming into a fast amount of money does not change a person, rather it enhances their character and who they are.
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