Let’s say I’d won the Powerball lottery, $300MM. What would I do with that kind of money?
Okay, let’s say that I decided on the lump sum, like the winner, ending up with $112MM after taxes.
What would I do?
Yeesh.
Okay, so I’m set for life. I could spend a couple mil a year, straight out of principle, and probably not go broke in my lifetime.
That still doesn’t solve the problem.
Actually, at 4% interest, I’d be making $4.5MM a year. Woo-hoo!
Do I stay in my house? Hmmmmm … maybe not. A nice place in Cherry Hills Village or something is more likely. I don’t want to move out of the area.
Quit my job. I like what I do. But I could do more enjoyable things. Especially enjoyable things that didn’t involve getting up at 5 a.m.
Charitable contributions. But how much? And how can I say, “Hey, I could live on $1MM a year,” and not then give $3MM/year to the charities of my choice. And I know I’d have choices.
Travel. Lots of travel. At least until Kitten is in school.
Travel to California becomes easier. Limo service from the airport — or, maybe, just buy a car for out here, stationed at the airport of my choice. How much are charter flights?
College for Katherine is taken care of. And her kids. When do I cut her off, though? If she can indulge herself at will, when does she learn not to?
When do I learn not to?
I could write. I could have a room for writing.
I could do more gaming. That implies keeping my friends.
On the other hand, if I knew my friends needed money, how could I not give it to them? Especially if both of us knew I could afford it? How many houses and college educations could I afford to pay, both for family and friends? How many could I afford to not pay?
Hmmmm. Maybe keeping it a bit secret wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Don’t get me wrong — I think these are the sorts of problems and questions I’d love to face. But I can also understand why these sorts of sudden windfalls cause such problems.
Life might be simpler if I simply got enough to pay off the mortgage, maybe with enough so that we didn’t have to work or worry about college for Katherine. That would cause strains enough. The amount of money talked about above — it would be difficult to be the people we are.
I think you’re so right… life would be MUCH easier if one could just win enough to pay off the house, cars, debts, with a bit left over to make a comfortable yearly return at a measily 4% interest rate. I was going to say “enough to sock in the stock market”, but I don’t want to have to gamble with money I win, and I don’t care what anybody says, the stock market IS gambling, even if you’re very adept at playing it.
I know someone who won Powerball a few years back. This was when NH had a streak of like three PB winners in a row. One of the winners refused to name himself, and had a lawyer accept the money on behalf of two trust funds.
The person I know (it’s a friend of Lou’s brother) said that they get mail from people asking them for money. They divided into three piles – no, possible, and yes. I can’t imagine writing to a stranger and just asking for money, but then again, maybe I’m not that desperate.
Lou and I have talked a lot about what we’d do if we win the lottery, but giving cash to our friends and family is always part of the deal. Though a lot depends on just how much we win.