What Would You Do With $500 million Dollars?

reply to post by kdog1982


I would be extremely reckless with the money... Expensive trips, gambling, all the toys you could imagine, all the ladies you could imagine... and then.......................I would likely die.....


But it would be EPIC!!!!!!

I would buy an island like Branson's Necker island and make it self sufficient with power (wind and solar), water desalination system and food (some aquaponics and attempts at an orchard). I would also startup a animation and game design studio and hire some of the unemployed artistic people out there who are struggling to get by which would hopefully do well and grow and allow me to hire more people. I would also offer paid internships so new grads and college students could get the foot in the door. Then the obvious things, pay off any debts owed by myself or my family. Give money to my parents so they could retire and build them a new house. I'd also get one of these Smart-Hydro Intelligent Bath Tub self cleaning tub that stays at whatever temperature you want it to be at with a voice system letting you know when it's ready and 7 massaging jets. I would either donate money to a few charities after I made sure the money goes to those in need instead of lining the pockets of those in charge or setup my own charity to give to those in need. Really 1 million is more than I need to take care of myself and family for life if I had that much 500 million just seems like a ridiculous amount of money for someone to have.

Originally posted by davespanners
The really odd thing to me is that even with that much money you wouldn't even make a dent in the Forbes 400 richest people in America list. the entry level for that being over $1billion at the moment.
We have had some pretty good ideas for helping people in this thread so far, so I have to ask myself why the heck aren't any of those 400 people doing any of that stuff?

I wonder how many people would stick to their ideals if you actually put the money in their hands

edit on 27/11/12 by davespanners because: (no reason given)

I ask that question everyday,what do those billionaires do with the money they have?
Can't take it with you to the grave and I'm sure all the children and relatives are spoiled by then,accept for that tree hugging aunt.

Originally posted by davespanners
The really odd thing to me is that even with that much money you wouldn't even make a dent in the Forbes 400 richest people in America list. the entry level for that being over $1billion at the moment.
We have had some pretty good ideas for helping people in this thread so far, so I have to ask myself why the heck aren't any of those 400 people doing any of that stuff?

Well, but they are. Look at the Gates Foundation as an example. I'm not really "happy" with the foundation (I've dealt with it.), the largest in the world, but you can't deny that Gates has given and continues to give the large percentage of his fortune away. I think if you look into it you'll see that a lot of other rich folks do the same thing. They just don't crow about it and say, "Look how cool I am!" They just do it. Paul Allen has a large foundation, too. My spouse's work has appied for a grant. Bet you didn't know he even had a foundation, did you?

Originally posted by mamabeth
reply to post by kdog1982

 

When I win

I will suddenly find relatives that I didn't know
I had.I would pay off all of our debts,our kids' debts,my husband
would finally retire.
I would buy a big motorhome and travel across the country.I would
have a really nice cabin in the woods.Put some money into a bank
account for our old age.Give the rest to the Lord!

Yes,I have always wanted a cabin in the woods.
But,I would get a really big cabin to invite everyone to,just for the holidays and with a three day limit on the stay.

BTW: what is the lord going to do with the money,he is all powerful,right?

reply to post by kdog1982


i would build a house into a side of a mountain that had plenty of farmable land and forests around it, i would buy livestock and farming equipment, i would have a forge on site, i would buy many precious metals, and an arsenal. i would buy some dirt bikes and old trucks and an entertainment system that would but an imax theather to shame. and have a underground direct line internet conection. i then would travel to japan and check out the under water pyrimids and buy some top of the line japenese steel and i if i was accepted i would train under the top blacksmiths in japan so i can put my forge to good use.

reply to post by kdog1982


Some churches provide hot meals for people.The baptist church
I was a member of has a food pantry and helps others to pay their
utility bills.These are just a couple of examples.

Originally posted by mamabeth
reply to post by kdog1982

 

Some churches provide hot meals for people.The baptist church
I was a member of has a food pantry and helps others to pay their
utility bills.These are just a couple of examples.

Sorry mama,there is a difference in my opinion to giving to the lord and giving to people to help others.
Perfectly ok in my book.

Originally posted by DocHolidaze
reply to post by kdog1982

 

i would build a house into a side of a mountain that had plenty of farmable land and forests around it, i would buy livestock and farming equipment, i would have a forge on site, i would buy many precious metals, and an arsenal. i would buy some dirt bikes and old trucks and an entertainment system that would but an imax theather to shame. and have a underground direct line internet conection. i then would travel to japan and check out the under water pyrimids and buy some top of the line japenese steel and i if i was accepted i would train under the top blacksmiths in japan so i can put my forge to good use.

A few trips I would make is to all the pyramids around the world,spend a couple of nights outside of area 51 skywatching and go on a few bigfoot expeditions.

I would hire someone to watch my grandbaby so that I could take a nap......in the middle of the day. I know, scandalous isn't it?

Originally posted by littled16
I would hire someone to watch my grandbaby so that I could take a nap......in the middle of the day. I know, scandalous isn't it?

Nothing wrong with nap time.
I get grumpy if I have no nap time.
I have an 11 year old son who talks non-stop,and I love him.
But after a million,hey daddy's,he needs to go find something to do.

$500 Million hey... Hmm, If I got past the initial shock and didn't have a heart attack, I would disappear from the face of the planet.

We've been playing a lotto pool at work since last April, when we decided to run one. It's 4 dollars a week to join, and we have 10-12 regulars. We split the money between the Powerball and MegaMillions (both mutil-state lottos!), and usually have 40-50 bucks to spend on tickets. We pool the previous week's winnings into the next week's purchase.

On a low week, we split it evenly between the two, and get like 7-8 per lotto. What that means is that we are entered in a drawing on Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Friday night, and Saturday night. We have four chances to win each lotto each week.

This, and the past few weeks, everything has gone into the Powerball. We have 13 chances to win, both on Wednesday and Saturday.

Of course, we all signed a formal deal, in case we do win, and the money is split between us.

But to answer the OP:

500 mil split 11 ways is 45 mil. That's not a huge sum of money. I would be starting my own farm, and work at generating my own power. Family would be taken care of, but I don't think I'd give any to an established charity. I'd start my own non-profit, and help others through direct involvement.

There's a website idea I had, where you log in, state your need, and the rest of the members decide on the most needy cases. A sum is distributed electronically, via debit card or paypal, once a week on Sunday. Nothing big, say 1000 at a time to ten people a week, but the point was to help as many as possible.

Of course, good luck to everyone playing! Hope you win!

It'd be cool to see the thread in GCC which stated a member had won. Very cool indeed.

What would I do? Hmmm, something like this...

reply to post by kdog1982


Before or after I woke up from the nine day drunk, probably in another country, with eight new tattoos, no idea where I was or how I got there, and trying to find a guard who spoke English so I could find out why I was in jail to begin with???

~Heff

This is why I'll never be rich.

If I had 500 million... hell, if i had 1 million, I'd fly to a poor country in a private cargo plane loaded with food and supplies and give it to all those in need. I'd make different stops in different countries giving it to all those that needed it. I'd stock towns and cities in poverty with enough food for everyone.... at even 1 million dollars worth of food per town, i'd cover at least 500 of them! thats a lot of towns.

I wouldn't keep hardly anything for myself. Enough to pay bills and keep up my currently lifestyle... I don't need anything more.... I know I could have a lot less.

The first thing I would do is talk to some of my well off friends to find a good financial adviser so I would do the following things right.

1 - Tithe to my church. I belong to a church where I trust the pastor and the elders to find really good things to do with that much money.

2 - Set up some type of trust fund for my family. The trust fund is so that a couple of them would not be able to be stupid with it. The rest would handle it OK but I would want to keep it the same for everyone so no one felt singled out.

3 - Set up a foundation to find and help educate children with special talents. I would focus on the ones who would otherwise never get that kind of break. The world needs all the scientists, physicists, mathematicians and otherwise just plain smart people it can get.

4 - By this time I would probably be down to 50 or 100 million so I would now begin to think of myself. I have some definite ideas for a home design that would fit my needs and desires and still be simple enough that I wouldn't get lost in it. Even with hiring an architect to actually do the design work to my specs it would still not go over a million tops.

5 - My passion has always been machinery and mechanical, electrical and hydraulic design (I ran my own industrial engineering and repair service in the Chicago metro market for 25 years and enjoyed every minute of it) so I would get a large enough piece of property for the house that I could also have a complete machine shop, electrical/electronic lab, weld shop, CAD/CAM design center and anything else that would be needed to complete the shop setup. I would then, in addition to using it myself, make it available to any inventor who could convince me (not an easy job) that he/she had a viable idea.

After that I would make sure that I had enough safe investments to keep me in chips for the rest of my life.

Then finally I would probably splurge a little on some luxury items.

charity - I like wounded warriors, Samaritan's purse, BGEA, the one that builds water wells in Africa, Bible Smuggling, Maricopa Community College Scholarships

family- extended family help with bills and maybe pay off their mortgages, closer family larger cash sums

immediate family and best friend and his immediate family- show em the money ("money doesn't buy happiness, whoever said that never saw anyone on a jetski")

investment - precious metals (I don't foresee gold or silver falling anytime soon) my best friend I believe would be a very good investment manager/stock broker he's never really had the money to prove it but his eye is good and his mathematical skills are impeccable so maybe some in the stock market

travel- Oh I'd really enjoy being able to travel Israel is my top destination but I don't feel like dying by rocket so that may have to wait, Rome, Scotland, Ireland, The Siberian Express, Egypt, Jordan (Petra), India, and several months in Amsterdam to do what one does in Amsterdam things I believe violate the TOA at ATS and also the Ann Frank Museum.

Build a large fairly well fortified home for myself, my parents and brother, my aunt and uncle, two of my cousins and their families, my best friend and his wife in what I know realize after typing that would probably seem like some sort of compound. Oh well I guess with the state of things I've got kind of a circle the wagons approach.

So that I wouldn't consider my life wasted I'd like to go back to school and finish my teaching degree and either find a school that gives some students who otherwise wouldn't have it a chance at a good life or otherwise provide such opportunities myself. I don't know If the school I would start would be Christian or not because though I am compelled strongly by the great commission I feel that everyone is entitled to a good education. Maybe do some missionary work so that those two endeavors could remain separated from one another.

Oh and you ATS I cannot forget maybe one of those nice Icelandic server farms nothing too big but something nice.

reply to post by kdog1982


I almost forgot this one...Open up some small factories and start
making American made products again!
Most people don't want a hand-out,they want a job.

reply to post by kdog1982


I would hire a maid, cook, and someone to do my laundry, then I'd buy a house for them to work in