What if you won the lottery?

[marky]

this has always been a thought on my mind...what would i do if i won the lottery? lets say, with a good 5+ million or so left over after taxes.

ive always told people i would not change my life very much. im a simple creature. i probably would drive the same car, live in same house, etc. i would probably continue working at the same job, at least for a while.

but lately ive come to have this desire that if i did indeed win money like that, i would take a little of it and help close family/friends with their issues first, and the rest would be depositing into a trust, or my own foundation, of some sort. as the investments would grow, i would take the earnings to help people in need. i would want to provide help as annonymously as possible...looking for inner city organizations (for example) that are struggling, etc, to make a difference and just need a financial boost. or perhaps provide scholarships for underpriveldged, yet motivated, children to attend school.

i once found $1,000 in las vegas and through a series of synchonistic events ended-up doing just that, helping a christian-based homeless assistance charity in las vegas that was about to close unless they got a cash infusion to help pay utilities (which were about $700 behind). i gave them the whole $1,000. to hear the lady cry as she hugged me and said she prayed to god that something just like this would happen to help them in their time of need proved to me that there are no coincidences in life and things happen for a reason. she asked, and it was given, and i was a participant in making it happen...i just listened to my heart telling me what to do. i visited them a couple years later and they moved into a new and bigger place, helping even more people than before. it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life to know i played a small role in making that happen.

anyone else ever have an experience like that? or what would you do if you won the lottery?

m.

[Andrew Brunelle]

i would most likely form my own non-profit devoted to helping people in need or something similar to that. Making a difference with the money you were given is the best thing you can do. It would be my pleasure to help people if I had that kind of money. It's not like I'll have a job getting in the way or anything.

[Trina]

I would take care of myself and my husband first. Sounds selfish, but what good are we to anyone else if we are struggling. The last few years have been VERY hard financially for us (starving student syndrome) so I would get a house, a few dependable vehicles, and put away enough money to live a modest life for a while. Then I would share the wealth with family and friends that need it. I have a few close friends and family members that have been having a hard time and are very deserving of some help. Then I would pick a cause that moved me and put not just money, but time into it. If I could put money aside to live off of, I could devote more of my time to the causes I feel strongly about.

That's it in a nutshell.

[Dwane J.]

Originally Posted by marky

what would you do if you won the lottery?

Start a family

Pay the mandatory taxes.

Invest the necessary amount to receive a passive income stream for the rest of my life.

Donate the rest to charity or establish a non profit.

Take a break from life and travel alone for several months.

[Baltar]

I'd continue doing what I'm doing now (working on my business), but with that much money I'd be able to hire employees much sooner than I'll be able to in my current situation. It's kind of a catch-22 in that you need money to pay employees, but you also need employees to work in the business to make the money. In that sense this would help a lot.

[RT Wolf]

Get hammered for a year in someplace sunny and warm and beachy.

Then, probably become a bum when its all gone.

[annie]

I would also continue on with what I'm doing.

If I became a multi-millionaire, I may buy a new car, get a housekeeper and have a gardner (did I mention I HATE GARDENING!)

In my opinion, money is only good for 2 things:

1) to leave a mark on the world (to support your family so you have that opportunity)
2) TRAVELING

(I'm going to Africa to do both 1 & 2 in 48 hours....JUMPS UP & DOWN!)

Give me some ideas on contributing and traveling.....I"m looking to expand my horizons on both areas.

[Steve Pavlina]

If I won the lottery, I'd be freaked out because I've never bought a lottery ticket.

[taylor2]

i would buy a bunch of houses for all my kids and then i would buy me and hubby a piece of land and we would move some kind of log cabin mobile home on it and live there. it would be like 100 acres and my house in the middle.far from everyone...in the wilderness somewhere. i would love it so.taylor2

[MamaDuck]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

If I won the lottery, I'd be freaked out because I've never bought a lottery ticket.

*snorts* That's what I was thinking .

[Andrew Brunelle]

It's amazing that you can win so much money playing the lottery. The only thing more amazing than that is the fact I can never bring myself to buy a ticket.

[apt94jesse@gmail.com]

My Soccer coach used to tell me "You can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket." This was supposed to be a metaphor for taking a shot, meaning that you can't score a goal if you don't take a shot.

Kind of funny to plop down in front of my computer 10 years after my coach told me that only to see it manifested from a different angle.

I also think this is kind of a funny topic for the Steve Pavlina forums. I know it is a hypothetical, but with so much talk of Subjective Reality, isn't the lottery something that you could will in your favor? And again, this is only if you believe in a Subjective Reality, but for people who don't win the lottery, what does the lottery represent? Looking through this lens, the lottery seems like some unattainable, instant wealth that I will not win, and really don't want to win. It's almost a connection to the "easy way" to the top, whereas I'd rather find my own path.

Plus (again, with subjective reality), Does me relating my soccer coach's teachings with Steve's "no lottery ticket purchasing" comment have some relevance in my own life? Both people can be seen as authority figures? Maybe I need to take some more risks. Maybe I need to...buy a lottery ticket

Just trying to provide some interesting rhetoric.

Oh, and to bring it back on topic, I'd learn to play the guitar (with the time I would have), I'd pay off family debts, pay off my own debts, travel a lot to visit my friends and family, and start several companies, most of which would entertain people...In no particular order.

-Jesse

[dcldnl]

Originally Posted by Dwane J.

Start a family

Pay the mandatory taxes.

Invest the necessary amount to receive a passive income stream for the rest of my life.

Donate the rest to charity or establish a non profit.

Take a break from life and travel alone for several months.

me too :-)

[Shaden]

Invest some of it in the bank to give me a good annum of interest. Help close friends and family with financial and personal issues. Then buy a one-bedroomed apartment, a high-speed internet connection, a few luxuries and live my passion - blogging and writing.

Then donate the rest to a number of different charities and a middle finger for the White House.

[marktb]

I would help my sister and her family. She has cancer and is going thru some very hard times financially, emotionally, and any way you can imagine. I pray for money b/c I would help her pay her bills so she doesn't have to stress about money issues and just get better. She's 36 years old, married with 3 kids.

Please pray for her. We CAN cure her.

Mark Baldwin

[bossb]

Originally Posted by Dwane J.

Start a family

Pay the mandatory taxes.

Invest the necessary amount to receive a passive income stream for the rest of my life.

Donate the rest to charity or establish a non profit.

Take a break from life and travel alone for several months.

This is the ticket. If I had the money to let me and my future family live a life of happiness, then I would be in a position to be able to give back to society.

Either that or somehow I'd end up blowing all that money on pork belly futures. Hm.

[ChrisCountryGirl]

First, I'd buy my "dream home". Next, I'd donate some of the money to my favorite charaties. Lastly, I'd buy whatever I wanted until the money was gone.

I never buy lottery tickets so, I know that will never happen

[OldTex]

WHEN I win the lottery....?

THAT'S manifestation.

So when it happens, I plan to take care of the people around me, a house and a decent car, donate to charity, create some trusts for the kids in my family (mine and my sister's kids) and a foundation to assist Filmmakers in funding projects.

Not if... WHEN.

[Liara Covert]

If you don't choose to prepare for your circumstances to change, it's less likely the changes will evolve in the directions you would hope for.

This isn't only a question of preparing yourself mentally (i.e. I'll win a lottery), but its also a question of putting a detailed plan together to explain exactly what you would do with it. If you would build a foundation, where?when? with whom? why?

Imagine you were to approach a ventrue capitalist for the $5,000,000. You're proposal would have to be pretty convincing to win him over.

The point is, if you haven't yet convinced yourself of the possibility you could win the lottery, then you won't exert the effort to visualize and plan what to do when those positive circumstances arrive. Forget not buying the lottery ticket. One could fall from the sky and land in your lap. Assuming you won't win means you've already nipped the winning opportunity in the bud.

[HappytheStripper]

I live off the interest and figure a way to double the principle sum.. then triple.. then quadruple.. and so forth.. ahhhh what if..

[Margaret]

I would buy my son and his wife a house, they live with me. I would make sure my daughter in law could stay home with her sons, she is a great mom. Then I would attempt to wipe out child slavery in Ghana. It costs about $4,200 a child, as young as four. This supports them for 2 years with education. Teaches their parents a trade, so that they dont sell them again. Also buys tools for the slave owner, or trains him in a new profession, then he will not buy more child slaves. They estimate the numbers to be in the low thousands, this sound doable with just several million dollars, it is also a chance to change what has been going on for hundreds of years in that part of the world.

[Kevin]

I'd like to start off by throwing a party for my friends and family, giving each a nice personalized gift and a check. But that would make things WAY too complicated -- in truth, I'd have to keep it mum that I won, so as not to cause conflicts between myself and the people I love. I'd probably tell a select few people, and tell each of them that I wasn't telling anyone else. If word got out, my ironclad rule would be "Nobody gets anything they couldn't pay for themselves without hardship."

I have a friend who's pretty substantially in debt. I'd pay it off for him. I'd also pay my mom's bills and get her a nicer place to live. Then I'd take care of my uncle, who's disabled and can't work, and my aunt, who has done me a lot of financial favors in the past and asked very little in return. I might start a college fund for some of the younger members of my family, or some of my friends' kids. I'd give a substantial one-time cash gift to my best friend's brother and his wife, since they've been having financial trouble for a while now.

I'd probably get a condo in the city, but also a farm somewhere, where I'd start a wildlife rehabilitation center. I'd start a small charitable fund to support socially-conscious media producers -- indie documentarians, photojournalists, journalists, and the like. I'd grow organic flowers in a greenhouse on the farm. I'd invite kids and adults to volunteer -- people who might otherwise not be exposed to the outdoors. I'd invite overweight people who want to exercise more, and I'd pay them with good meals made with real food. I'd have hayrides at Halloween and weekly outdoor movie screenings. If there was enough money, I'd buy a moviehouse in a small town and renovate it. I'd have free kids' movies on Saturday afternoons and post-screening discussions at an attached coffeeshop. I'd donate a substantial amount of cash to my college, on the condition that they use it to create more journalism classes and recruit more minority students. I'd travel the world to teach myself more about it.

I'd help my girlfriend set up her singing career. I'd create a studio in an outbuilding of the farm, or in the basement of the main house. It would be high-tech but user-friendly.

I'd sponsor free money-management classes for people who have too much debt. I'd sponsor health club memberships for people who are serious about getting healthy. I'd sponsor organizations that bring fresh organic food to school lunch programs. I'd sponsor environmental clean-up groups and groups that maintain local parks and trails.

I'd carry about $10 in ones and fives on me at all times, in case I saw someone on the street who could use a buck or two.

And I'd get myself a seriously killer comic book collection.

[Lauxa]

I would buy some land and begin creating a self-sufficient communal-living arrangement. There would also be gardens and ranching for food production, but mostly it would be an artisan/craftsman type community with great tools provided for all types of crafts like sewing, woodworking, metalworking, sculpture, cooking, computer graphics, etc. I'd get top-quality artists to come join me and then invite people to come and take classes in a positive and tranquil setting. I would also create a great environment for any kids in the commune where they could have lots of freedom but still be safe and could learn from masters about any subject that interested them.

[Liara Covert]

I find it curious that nobody has yet mentioned they'd buy another lottery ticket and hope to win again. I know people who have won more than once.

Another popular question describes a genie who emerges from a brass lamp and asks you to make three wishes. Many people who are asked this question respond by saying they would use the third wish to ask for more wishes, so they could have infinite wishes. What woud you do and why?