If you were to win $50 MILLION, what would you do?

a reply to: Telos

for 600k here in the north you can get a bad ass house.
that is probably about what i would spend on a house.

i would definitely have a library and an instrument room.
aside from all the guitars i want, there are a lot of instruments i would like to get my hands on.

i certainly wouldnt ever work again. the day i found out i won that much money i would quit.

a reply to: Ghost147

Give almost all to charity, family and friends.

a reply to: Ghost147

I'd make sure all my loved ones are taken care of - then...

I would buy myself a tiny house - and I mean tiny. I like tiny. It would have lots of windows and skylights and a smallish yard...bee friendly, xeriscaped - with bird feeders. Of course

Then, invest in anything that supports the health of our environment. A little vague - but I don't have that $50 million yet, and there's so many choices. Just sitting here watching a program on designers that have invented cook stoves that are efficient and essentially clean. Sustainability - green tech - kinda a big category :-)

Then - I would find a way to employ people that are ordinarily not so employable. If I could combine that with the whole green thing - even better. I'm not exactly entrepreneurial material - but, I'm sure I could come up with something

Useful - I would like for that money to be useful - and start something that can continue to be useful for as long as possible

Lately I've started to believe that I could maybe do the same thing with $50. Shoestring philanthropy :-)

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: kosmicjack

With that much money, we run out of things we want/need. We are actually fairly happy as we are now. And the stuff I listed above should be doable with much less than the amount of the winnings, so at some point you are giving it away to people who need it more than you do.

Totally on board with you there. I have thought about this for a long time, and for me I don't have too many large and expensive wants. And once I had the things I want and need, and after setting things up for future security there just isn't much left I need that much money for. Money only buys any degree of happiness until you reach the point of security after that it is subject to diminishing returns.

Take care of my dad and sisters, travel the world, then live the rest of my days comfortably, indulging in my hobbies and learning new things.

a reply to: Ghost147

I'd give some to friends and family. Some have medical issues so they'd get a bit extra for treatment so they don't go broke. Most of it would go to charities. The rest would go to buying some land, having a house built (nothing really big, a modest sized log cabin is fine), furniture for it (nothing fancy, just functional), and I'd get a car (good condition used Jeep or something along those lines). I'll live off of what's left.

a reply to: opethPA

THat would be one other pie in the sky materialistic thing we might think about for one year. Buying a family suite in the new press box side of The Bill at K-State for one year. Friend of ours is a good vet surgeon and impressed a client with some work. As an appreciation gift, the client gave him four one-game passes to the company suite ... Wow! Those things are nice - stocked mini-fridge, theater seating, indoor-outdoor ability so you can watch the game from inside if the weather is bad (but they have overhead heat units too on the outdoor), not to mention the all-you-can eat catered buffet that's served up until the third quarter and is replaced then with a dessert/snack bar ...

And it comes with up to 15 passes (parking included) you can hand out game to game.

We thought it might be nice to contribute to the uni and buy one for a year just for friends and family.

originally posted by: KeliOnyx

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: kosmicjack

With that much money, we run out of things we want/need. We are actually fairly happy as we are now. And the stuff I listed above should be doable with much less than the amount of the winnings, so at some point you are giving it away to people who need it more than you do.

Totally on board with you there. I have thought about this for a long time, and for me I don't have too many large and expensive wants. And once I had the things I want and need, and after setting things up for future security there just isn't much left I need that much money for. Money only buys any degree of happiness until you reach the point of security after that it is subject to diminishing returns.

The only real extravagances we have are our computers, and that's only when they need hardware upgrades and I would like to get back into aquariums again which takes a certain amount of money, but even then, I know ways to cut costs and avoid taking the expensive route in a lot of places. And since the joy of fish to me is the ability to watch them, I wouldn't ever really see myself wanting a dedicated fish room for much except maybe grow out and live food culture. You can't watch fish in a fish room.

a reply to: ketsuko

I've seen places where the aquarium takes up a whole wall. In fact, it is the wall. Kind of cool.

originally posted by: AdmireTheDistance
Cocaine and hookers.

haha my man have a crazy wild cheese burger orgy with a side of coke...

I'd buy a castle and then hire minions and start my quest of taking over the world 😈a reply to: Ghost147

a reply to: Ghost147

Going by the current exchange rate, that's about US$40M. Just converting it to make it easier for me to compute.

I'd pay off our house (~$90k), pay off our cars (~$35k), pay off student loans (~$105k), pay off our credit cards (~$30k), and set up a trust for my children's college (if they decide to go, if not then they get the money in an annuity starting at 25) (~$200k). That leaves me with about $39.5M. I supposed it would be prudent invest heavily into CD ladders. That would easily be $10M there.

So now I'm left with about $29.5M.

For my family, I'd buy my parents a house outside the city of Detroit and pay off their few bills. For my in-laws I would pay off their house and cars. That would probably knock me down to $29M.

I'd probably buy a small home in Cozumel, Mexico. We went their on our honeymoon. It's absolutely beautiful there. Call that $500k initial, plus $15k annual expenses. So set aside another $500k in investments to pay for those.

Down to $28M.

I'll need a way to get my family, both immediate and extended, down to our fancy home in Cozumel. Guess I'll need to buy my dream plane!

A Cessna 208 Grand Caravan with cargo pod looks to be around $2M, plus annual operating costs of $500k. Set aside another $5M in investments to pay for those. It won't get us where we want to go fast, but it'll get my family and five friends/family with baggage just about anywhere!

So now down to $21M.

Set up $15M in annuities for various charities and non-profit groups. Some of the Michigan animal rescues, veterans charities, disabled peoples charities, and St. Jude's would all be on he list. Do the same thing, set up investments and have the annuities draw from there. That way it's an annual source of income for them, not a one time thing.

That leaves $7M.

I'd buy a modest house in central Florida. Watch the Tigers spring training, go see the Wings play away games, close to the theme parks, close to the Space Coast, a day's drive from the keys or the panhandle. Call that $200k for the home. Set aside another $800k in investments to pay for annual costs.

So now we're down to $6M.

I'd probably open up a few restaurants. Aside from the interest gains on investments, having some businesses to run would be advantageous. I already have a few years of small business ownership/management under my belt, so I'm familiar with the territory. The UP is very much lacking in Tim Horton's ($500k-750k start up), Jimmy John's ($300k-550k start up), and Mancino's ($200k-$300k start up). Say two Tim's in the UP in Manistique and Marquette ($1.5M), a Jimmy Johns in Manistique ($500k), and three Mancino's in the UP in Marquette, Escanaba, and St. Ignace ($1M).

That leaves me with about $4M to play around with. I'd probably just sit on that.

originally posted by: cmdrkeenkid
a reply to: Ghost147

Holy crap! When did our dollar plummet so much? that wasn't like that a few months ago (i think)

a reply to: ladyinwaiting

That sounds awesome! I'm obsessed with tiny houses, saw one going down the road the other day. You should do a thread on tiny houses. I holler at the TV when those guys design a dumb one lol! Like not being able to stand up in a part of the house. WTH!?

a reply to: kosmicjack

KJ, have you seen these? Now they aren't for the poor, but take a look how adorable this is, with it's own little "windmill"
lol.

Too Cool! I think, made in Sweden? I would love to have one of these somewhere wonderful!

inhabitat.com...

eta: be sure and scroll down to see the interior.

And here's one the Brit's made that floats:

inhabitat.com...

a reply to: Ghost147

You're thinking about it backwards.

One USD is equal to ~1.25 CAD.

a reply to: Ghost147

Can you guess with my user name , i would have the biggest party imaginable

but i would buy my own hotel first to host it in

Everyone is talking about the cost of houses ... For those of you who are planning on not working anymore, why do you need to live in a large metro area? Go look at the costs of buying a place in any one the many, many tiny towns all around the nation but especially in what is usually termed flyover country.

You can buy a decent sized place for a lot less, and it's not like you wouldn't have the money to still have most of the perks of city life at your fingertips through online shopping.

buy a nice new house, a new car, pay for my kids college and give plenty to charity to keep myself out of IRS debt, the key is give it away.

PS I'll keep working my day job just to have something to do

Give away every single cent of it to various charities and research projects....