Mega-Millions lottery - WWYD?

[DaddyB]

So the mega-millions nationwide lottery jackpot is supposedly over $650 million (and I'm betting over $700 million by the time it's drawn tonight). Let's say you are the sole winner and chose a lump-sum payout. Let's also speculate that after taxes and such, you'd walk away with just over 200 million dollars.

This kind of money isn't just life changing. It can be WORLD changing.

What Would YOU Do with the winnings?
Would you try to change the world? how?
Would you just keep it in family?
How many vacation houses does one really need, anyway?

[tuckere7]

The first thing I would do would be to consult with tax attorneys and financial managers to protect the assetts. After that, High on the list would be: pay off bills, new home, new vehicles, gifts to kids and siblings, donations to charities that I support including wounded warrior project and Air Force Aid Society and Air Force Enlisted Village, then start planning world travel with my wife. Oh, did I mention purchasing a home in the WDW developement Golden Oaks? Purchase a nice vacation home near Disneyland resort. Maybe go out for a nice seafood dinner!

[bodhran105]

^I think most would go with the first few parts. I'm gonna call seconded. I settle all debts and plan for future worthy (Not that they must be worthy) purchases. I wouldn't plan for wasteful purchases. Things like home, car, college, and kids college... Maybe not Ivy League, but a decent college. And then I'd guess the rest would be to help settle the rest of the family and then to charity. Some might call me rude for trying to fend for myself first and then going to charity. But when looking in on it and seeing that probably only at most 3-5 million would be spent on me and the family- even to say that keeping 50 million and "only"- if you'll call it that- giving 600 to charity is rude and inconsiderate, that's being rude and inconsiderate to me. 600 million?! My gosh! I be glad with winning just 1 million! Which is more than enough to pay the personal debts and prepare for the future with still a decent portion for any local charity.

By the way, a summer home near Disneyland sounds nice, but I was thinking more like Paris or Shanghai. They're pretty nice during the summer no?

[DaddyB]

I don't know if anyone can argue how you'd spend imaginary money!

Personally I KNOW I'd spend a bundle on my family all the way out to my cousins. But it's SO MUCH money. I can see a lot of wells dug in Africa ending a lot of suffering there. George Clooney actually BOUGHT A SATELLITE to have it stationed over Darfur to keep an eye on the warlords there (since no country do legally do it, but an individual can). I'd like to spend some money on getting that Kobe guy (and I don't mean Bryant).

Wouldn't mind being George Clooney's neighbor in Italy, I think.

[Disneyland_DHI]

Well... I would definitely consider using some on iTunes songs, because it's so hard for me to find CD's of songs I want, and sometimes it's just ONE song that I want. THEN, I would definitely try to finish off some collections, be it a DVD collection, a book collection, and even my Disneyana and Toy Story collections (I guess it counts as Disneyana, but I have more Toy Story than anything else). And yes, I agree with who said a vacation home near Disneyland. Oh, and not taking anything into consideration, let's throw in a few overnight trips to the rest of the Disney Parks.... But with my own personal wants aside, I would definitely use a million to help the cause that needs most help right now, and that seems to be Kony. Then I'd save the rest for later, which is actually hard for me to do.

[Aurorasmiles]

After taking care of my loved ones, donating to a few charities, and getting involved with some humanitarian efforts, I would throw a private party at Disneyland. It'd be more like a vacation with travel expenses paid! I'd invite family and friends. If ever there was anything I wanted it was to enjoy Disneyland with a few of my closest friends and family. I love spoiling when I can. I think I could manage it as a mega millionaire! This would definitely include a host of Viffers...haha!

[DaddyB]

I had several people assure me that if they won, they'd make me a millionaire. Yeah, that didn't happen.

[CostaFreak]

Option A: Invest in a theme park.

Option B: Move out, buy an really nice apartment either in Hoboken or Manhattan, get an Audi R8, get a complete high end audiophile sound system, snag some Sennheiser Orpheus headphones, and build up my CD/LP collection to unsafe levels. After that, start a band, start a record label, start up an animation company consisting of former Studio Bones, Madhouse, Ghibli, and Disney employees (maybe finally putting 666 Satan into production, along with perhaps my own graphic novel), travel the world multiple times; then when my empire is built up I invest in a few theme parks, first in Miami and then Memphis under the "Rock N' Soul" title and taking away some Universal employees for this, then build an Americana themed park near Washington D.C. and steal some Disney employees for that. Finally, before I die I would give most of it to charity and leave only a couple million to any descendants.


Too bad you have a higher chance of getting struck by lightning twice in the same spot, getting your limbs bit off by a velociraptor, and if still breathing, being eaten alive by bacteria than winning the lottery.

[Mouseketeer1955]

The first thing I would do would be to consult with tax attorneys and financial managers to protect the assetts. After that, High on the list would be: pay off bills, new home, new vehicles, gifts to kids and siblings, donations to charities that I support including wounded warrior project and Air Force Aid Society and Air Force Enlisted Village, then start planning world travel with my wife. Oh, did I mention purchasing a home in the WDW developement Golden Oaks? Purchase a nice vacation home near Disneyland resort. Maybe go out for a nice seafood dinner!

All that is great but avoid buying a house in Anaheim. It's called "Anaslime" by the locals for a reason.