SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

I don't play the lottery.

Did everyone see that ONE PERSON won that $690 Million power ball lottery last weekend??

So I started thinking what I would do if I had $690 Million (probably half of that after taxes) and it was sort of fun to dream about it. In my mind I set up my family in new homes and cars and necessities. I would help friends who are struggling. I would definitely make a large donation to the American Cancer Society, the Crohn's Foundation and Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. (I have a close friend with children with both those diseases.)

After a while I started thinking about what I would do for myself. After I took care of everyone else, I'd probably build myself a little rock and cedar cottage on a peaceful lake somewhere - not far from where I am now.

Have you ever thought about what YOU would do with a big windfall like that? I was telling my daughter about my dreams about it and she said ....'well Mom, if you ever decide to buy a ticket, you might win."

Don’t forget to make a large donation to SI!

Your dreams are very nice. Mine are similar. I would also try to set it up so that no one knew I won. Not even my family. Just make all the gifts to them anonymous if possible. It would make life simpler.

My bestie and I discussed spilling the lottery. I would take care of family. Set up scholarships for the kids. I would set up a fund for people who are middle class and struggling with their child’s chronic disease. I would also set up assistance to seniors for food and utilities. I am sure I would donate to Maddie’s fund for spay and neuter. Donate to the library system.

I would build a house on an lake as well and a motor home to travel.

Besides setting up the kids and grandkids, I'd donate to several charities, too. For me, I'd pick a home on near my kids and a place in the beach. Take the grandkids to see a certain famous mouse.

My wife and I had this discussion about a decade ago about what to do if we won a million. She wanted to get a bigger house, new cars and give our kids money. I opted to pay off our mortgage, renew the oldest vehicle and put the rest in savings. When we were debating the cons and pros of each other’s suggestions I pointed out that the property taxes, utilities and maintenance of the larger home would make the payments we sometimes struggled to cover today (at that time) higher and probably more than our present mortgage. I didn’t see the good in getting a big shovel that could dig us out of debt, only to create a bigger hole. By becoming debt-free we could set aside at least the amount of money presently going to debt-payment into savings, enabling us to renew vehicles, help our family and so on.

I once read a survey on people that won significant amounts in lotteries and such. About how these large winnings often turn into a curse for those that get them. They tend to make seriously stupid money-decisions; buy high-cost/high maintenance items and homes, bad investments and expensive habits.

I would hope that if I won this sort of amount I would have the good sense to pay off all my debts and then set as much as possible into a fund with a proven low-risk record.

Fact is that if you have 100,000 saved there is a lot of difference in making 2% or 10% - 2000 or 10000 – and therefore you might be willing to take more risk. There is a direct connection between expected return and risk.
Fact is if you have 100 million in a spread of several safe investments that make 1% above inflation you are getting a million every year. I think I could comfortably live on a mill per year, even after taxes. I could also probably help my kids, family and (some) friends as well as give to charity. But I would also have the Golden Goose giving me the golden eggs safely tucked away as complete as possible.

So basically: Take as little out of the small 300 million pot and let the money go to work for me.

I've witnessed something in the last two months that warmed my heart. In '95, I was a part of a legal team that got an innocent man off death row. After release, he married and had a beautiful daughter who just graduated from College. It took YEARS but the state had to pay him restitution for wrongful incarceration. $2 million dollars. Tax free.

He set up a trust fund for his daughter and his elderly mother and they can apply to a trustee with their needs and get funds from that. He donated $50,000 to a group that works with children who have parents in prison.

Then he went truck shopping. Before 11 years on death row he was a Heat and Air certified specialist. So he wanted a truck to resume his trade. Not a 'new truck' he said -- no need for that - just a GOOD reliable truck. Then he bought himself a nice (but not large) home in a quiet neighborhood in a small town away from his original area. He does heat and air work for low or no charge to low income and the elderly people in his area. He's making a living because his needs are minimal. After 11 years on death row for a crime he didn't do, freedom and all it brings is beautiful to him.

Bigger, I too have heard about big lottery wins really screwing up people's lives -- and some go broke very quickly.

Jeanie girl.

I have a good friend who also overturns wrongful convictions. People in death row and incarcerated for crimes they did not commit.

My friends all talk about vacations and big homes and cars. My kids think I’m crazy b/c none of those things are in my list.

I’d live a quiet simple life and start a fund to help people in need starting with food and shelter.

The 1stWife, I'm with you. My daughter and sister say if I won something like that, I'd be broke within a year because I'd give it all away to those in need. They are probably right!

Yes, I'd make a huge donation to SI!

I would also love to start an animal rescue. I've actually thought about this since I was ill - and I have this beautiful land next to a small lake ... just being there. Animals, especially dogs would love it here. Not sure my Deer herd would like it though. I have several deer families living down back of the property.

So if I won the lottery, I'd probably do that and even have a VET on call 24/7 to help animals. At this point I'm just not sure if I will go back full time to legal work. Until I'm past the one year clear scan mark, I'm working on getting healthy.

I see the lottery is ONLY about $70 million this week.

My husband and I have this conversation at least every couple of weeks!

We'd buy cars and houses for all the relatives, and have a dinner party with our friends where we'd hand out checks. How fun would that be?

There's a 7 acre empty lot behind our house where coyotes and other wildlife still lives in the middle of encroaching suburbia. We'd buy that so that it can't be developed.

H wants a big puppy farm where he'd rescue all the old and unwanted pups and give them a wonderful life.

I'd donate to a lot of causes, and I'd travel. A lot.

And I'd probably go on a huge spree at TJ Maxx/Home Goods. I love that place. lol

1/2 would go to St. Jude’s.

I would keep my present house and vehicle...plenty for us.

I would get each of my sons a good, perhaps new, reasonable and reliable vehicle.

I would set $ aside for my grandkids education...although I have no idea what a "college education" will look like in 15 years.

And the rest, like Bigger said, would be put back to earn more money with.

Funny to see this while I'm reading "Nine Perfect Strangers" (I've not seen the TV version), where there's a couple whose lives seem to go into the toilet after winning a giant lottery payout.

For me, I'd buy a decent home on a quiet street and set up my time for "do good" work vs what I'm doing today, set my kids up with decent trust funds (they would NOT be buying the fancy cars, etc.), and hire full time help for my parents.

Jeaniegirl- that was a wonderful story, thank you for sharing.

Trip around the world

Tummy tuck

Personal trainer, chef etc to get n great shape

New wardrobe. Shopping spree Pretty Woman style

Nanny for youngest so i can do things for myself like a spa day or haircut or tiny plastic surgery (like laser refinishing)

Rest to savings

I know of a man who sold his share in a really successful family business.
I’m not clear on the total amount, but I would guess anything between 20-30 million after taxes.
He went on to invest in real-estate, only he did so at a peak AND with a combination of money and loans. Long story short – I doubt he’s poor but I wouldn’t be surprised if he lost at least 2/3 of the cash.

Had he simply placed the 20,000,000 in a mutual fund averaging 7% he would have just over a million per year after taxes. Had the rates dropped to 5% he would have had to manage on a "measly" 500k after taxes.

Two options:
Wake up after an uneasy night wondering how the market is doing, if the contractors are on schedule, if the renters have paid, property taxes, accounting, price of real estate, interest rates, cash-flow…
Wake up, grab a cup of coffee and read the paper with not a debt to your name and not a worry in your head.

There is a definite amount of lobster and caviar you can eat, and a definite number of Lamborghini you can drive. A definite number of hand-crafted fly rods you can cast and a definite number of rivers you can cover in a season. I would prefer the later scenario all day every day.

Admittedly that much money seems scary. I dont think we've ever had a jackpot go over 70 million.

There is a jackpot here with two weekly draws that regardless of the jackpot amount there is a 1 million winner drawn from the tickets sold. Two winners every week of one million dollars guaranteed. Its both a lot of money and really not that much lol.

In that case some serious investing to have that money go as far as it can go.

Have you ever thought about what YOU would do with a big windfall like that?

I have only purchased lottery tickets a couple of times in my life... and only when the jackpots were really big. I discovered that after buying lottery tickets, I would obsess over these thoughts until after I lost.

In hindsight, I don't think that it's good for my mental health to buy lottery tickets.

Speaking of, I have heard that the suicide rates for lottery winners is crazy high compared to the normal population. As the saying goes, mo' money, mo' problems.

So... with all of that in mind, I would buy myself a couple of nice (not extravagant) places to live in parts of the USA where I would like to be (some place warm for the winter? Some place cool for the summer?), invest enough so that I could have a comfortable life while living off of the interest, and then donate the rest to something.