Saturday, December 1, 2012

You won the LOTTERY!!

                       CONGRATULATIONS!   
What would be the first five things you'd do?


24 comments:

Always On Watch said...

1. Hire a live-in caregiver.

2. Buy a van equipped with a ramp for Mr. AOW's scooter.

3. Do some remodeling of this old house -- hire a paint crew to paint those rooms that haven't had a new coat of paint since 1982, redo the kitchen, and get the yard completely fenced so as to get a dog.

4. Go on vacation. Hawaii or other tropical clime!

5. Put aside plenty in savings for the next rainy day.

Ducky's here said...

1. Tour the great museums of Europe.

2. Buy a Leica and a Hasselblad.

3. Bank some and give a bunch to the Greater Boston Food Bank.

That's about it.

Thersites said...

Put all my money in an offshore bank.

Thersites said...

...and change my last name to Romney.

Linda said...

1. Call my sister

2. Get a financial lawyer

3. Go to Topeka to get my check

4. Write a big check to my church

5. Maybe give the kids a little!

Linda said...

And, give some to the Salvation Army!

Ed Bonderenka said...

1> wonder how I won since I don't play.
2> pay off my house, debts
3> new car
4> educational trust fund for my kids
5> balance to missions fund

I don't think I've ever heard of a lottery player who led a happy life afterwards. But I have the reverse.

beakerkin said...

Disappear before zombified versions of assorted past girlfriends, wives could locate me

Anonymous said...

Well, I would probably do many selfish things before I started thinking of others. The first thing I would want to do is move my entire extended family here in Venezuela to America. Sadly, I don't think I will ever see America and I would like to even though it is not the America I remember.

Pris said...

1. I'd faint!!

2. I'd help my kids and grandson buy homes.

3. Make an appt. with a financial adviser.

4. Contribute to my favorite charities.

5. Pray that the govt. wouldn't confiscate all of it!!

sue hanes said...


Z - 1. Pay off any debts

2. Find out just how much money I would actually get

3. Set up accounts for my grandchildren.

4. Increase giving to the church.

5. Find a worthy charity to give some money to.

Anonymous said...

@Prisc

That was funny...

1.) I'd pay off all my in laws mortages.

2.) Set up college trust fund for my 6 nieces and nephews.

3.) Buy my sister her own house and set up a trust for her too.

4.) Pay off my car.

5.) Take all my in laws on a European vacation via a private jet!

6.) Buy my daughter a house.

7.) Set up a charity for disabled and unemployed vets for job finding and support.

8.) Bank it all and take a yearly salary from the interest...like Mitt!

I'm sure theres more too.

Joe said...

1. I would purchase a worthy sound system for my church.

2. I would give a sizable donation to my church.

3. I would buy my wife a new car...any one she wants.

4. I would buy new carpet for the house, add a large bathroom, turn the present one into a walk-in closet, add a pool, remodle the kitchen and my "office."

5. Establish some kind of account to help those in authentic need.

FreeThinke said...

It would depend on just how MUCH money was in the jackpot, of course.

Aside from hiring a private secretary to sort the mail and make sure all the bills are paid in a timely manner, and buying myself a really good, comfortable car, instead of the miserable, too-low-to-the-ground, badly-designed Honda Civic with poor visibility I'm stuck with, and a chauffeur to drive me where I need and want to go, since I remain visually impaired after seven eye operations in the past eight years, there isn't a thing I would change about my present lifestyle. Maybe hire a live-in cook and maid, but that would be about it -- for me.

If I had a REALLY large sum at my disposal, I would buy or build a series of large, comfortably-furnished, beautifully-landscaped, fully-staffed houses with a medical facility and a veterinary clinic attached, and open these places to the homeless -- AND their dogs and cats, if any.

These people would be treated like honored GUESTS, fed well in attractive communal dining rooms, have their medical problems attended to, and if possible, be educated and trained to acquire marketable skills and social graces, as needed.

A program would be set up to do everything possible to give meaningful rewards for each show of ambition, cooperation and achievement.

All able bodied guests would be assigned tasks, which they'd preform under supervision, to help keep the house and grounds clean, orderly and attractive.

violence, aggressive behavior, drug use and alcohol abuse would not be tolerated, and would constitute grounds for immediate expulsion.

Husbands, wives and their children would be kept together as would couples and family-style alliances of any description.

If I had REALLY big bucks like Buffett, Gates, Soros and Trump, I'd put carefully selected, talented deserving kids through college, and set up a fund to supplement the income of those suffering with catastrophic illness on a sliding scale.

No one has the power to save the entire world, but I believe we owe it to each other to do the best we possibly can for each other AFtER we've adequately met our own needs -- as defined by us as individuals.dddddddddddddddddd

It's vital always to keep in mind that no good works count for anything, unless they're done wholeheartedly and unstintingly with love.

Duke Ellington with his own unique brand of eloquence put it another way:

"It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that zing. Doo wah! Doo wah! Doo wah! Doo wah! Doo wah!" ;-)

~ FreeThinke





(((Thought Criminal))) said...

1. Cash the prize out into as many paper one-dollar bills as possible

2. Start a bonfire

3. Go back to my life, same as yesterday

Always On Watch said...

FT,
a series of large, comfortably-furnished, beautifully-landscaped, fully-staffed houses with a medical facility and a veterinary clinic attached

Great idea!

I love the idea of an attached veterinary clinic. Pets do bring such joy to our lives. Sorrow, too, of course.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

1. Cash the prize out into as many paper one-dollar bills as possible

2. Start a bonfire

3. Go back to my life, same as yesterday

JonBerg said...

If the amount was sufficient I would seek more freedom, independence and atonomy. However, at this time, I don't know the specifics.

Kid said...

Get a Financial Advisor(s).

Setup a blind trust and whatever else the smart guy/gal convinces us to do to channel the money as anonymously as possible.

Get a lawyer(s) on retainer.

Get some doctors in various fields on retainer and discuss rough cash prices for future services which would be provided on a priority customer basis.

Start setting up the ranch in an undisclosed location.

FreeThinke said...

After I'd done my good works outlined above, if enough money reined, I'd love to take a beautifully furnished apartment in a decaying old palace in sight of the Grand Canal in Venice, and end my days attending concerts, eating elegant, beautifully served meals, and watching sunsets as the venerable city -- the perfect symbol for Old World European Civilization -- sinks ever more deeply into the sea.

Bob said...

Since I didn't win, I don't have to worry about all this stuff. If the winners were thinking, they would all trash their existing cell phones and home phones, hire a security company, and start interviewing financial advisers. An estate lawyer is mandatory.

Prayerfully, consider the ministries to be supported. There are many out there, and most deserve your help, but you can only go so far in you efforts.

Hire a private detective firm to establish whether Beamish and Ducky are the same person.

beakerkin said...

Bob

The Duck and I go back a decade and he is clearly not the Great Gas Masked Patriot.

You should rent the great films from the Mr Beamish collection

The Man in the Iron Gasmask
The Great Gasmaski
and
Moby Ducky

Rita said...

I know many people do not believe me but thinking about winning that kind of money immediately makes me realize that all I could see is having my personal life torn apart.

We would obviously want to split the money with all of our family and some very close friends. And therein lies nothing but arguing, fighting and ultimately misery.

Now I wouldn't mind winning a couple million, net one million and being able to pay off our Florida home and retire.

Besides if they don't extend the Bush tax cuts, the next generation would lose FIFTY-FIVE PERCENT of their inheritance.

Z said...

Rita, it could be VERY problematic. I have an immensely wealthy close relative and he helps EVERYBODY he knows well; not always in huge ways, but he's there (though the economy has even affected him and he's considered selling one of his homes!)... he even had high school friends write to him for help with their teens' braces years ago when their children were of that age, imagine!? People he hadn't seen since graduation day! I guess his saying no prompted them to talk badly about him, right? Who'd DO THAT?

I'd DEFINITELY help my siblings and their kids, but I'm afraid that would be it. Maybe an idea would be starting a foundation run by others who I trusted and whose decision-making and characters I valued?...people who'd make the decisions about who got my money? That could work. If they said "no", I could say "Well, the folks on my foundation said no, so, I'm sorry but I go with their decision!?" :-) Might work.

I'm sure I'll never have the problem. I'm quite sure I've only bought lottery tickets once when I attended a party years ago and we were asked only to bring lottery tickets for the birthday boy!