What would you do if you won the lottery?

[Sunbaneglasses]

Would you still work?Would you flaunt it?Would you wisely invest?Would you give to charity?Or would you be an eccentric old fart driving an old beat up pickup and drinking Pabst-just to drive people nuts?I myself would deal out what I saw fit to whom I saw fit-and cut off contact with anyone who calls and begs for money-none of that lots of new friends stuff!The second thing that would happen is my family and I would move away-and only disclose the location to a select few close family members.Lastly my kids would have the most awesome time riding the high seas and fishing with their dad Captain Paul aboard the Ashley Michele named after their mother and my first mate.Fish On!

[Loredoctor]

I would invest in property, but buy an estate someplace in Tasmania, New Zealand or the UK.

[ChoChiyo]

I would buy lots and lots of candy.

LOTS of candy.

hehehehheeheh

[danlo]

I've spoken about my plan, before, to start a big Fantasy/SciFi bookstore. I'd also develop a writers/artist commune complete with a publishing house for both books and magazines.

[duchess of malfi]

I would donate it to the local children's hospital. And it would be the one of the best days of my life.

[Sunbaneglasses]

I would pay my mom back with interest-and it would blow her mind.Waaahaaahaaa-can you imagine the unlimited power of throwing your mom a couple if million with a kiss on the cheek and a "thanks for everything you have ever done for me"?It would be thrilling!I am 30 and she is 50,still young enough to enjoy it.My grandparents are quite well off,but live like they are poor-(pawpaw is 82,and mawmaw is 78)I would give them a large sum and insist that I will be quite angry with them if they continue living like they are poor.

[lurch]

....Yes,, The FIRST thing to do is disconnect from society,,disappear. The second is get a very good finacial advisor/ Accountant/ Lawyer. Never sign over any rights to FA/ ACCT/Lawyer..period.
...I'd set up trust funds for those I care about..sorry,,you'd only get to have the interest,,and maybe only some of that,,until you've reach a certain age or got a degree or two,,or both..
...For myself,,i'd bargain for the highest rate of return on a Trust fund,,invest some percentage of total in a wide spred portfolio. Probably have at least two places to go to when the rite season..winter and summer,,for the endless summer. Interesting that the only place I haven't been that I'd want to go to..is the same place Loremaster would set up in..the British Commonwealth holdings in the south Pacific. They speak something close to English there and have a view of the southern Nite sky I've yet to witness....okay..maybe Banff as well.
...Other than that..I'd eat alot better than I have been. I'd probably allow my heart to make a fool of me ,,and hopefully be wise enuf to never ask the big question...MEL

[Revan]

Depends on how much I won. if I won a roll over of 66million... I'd buy a few holiday homes. Wouldn't bother with wasting a lot of money on a car. I'd save 45 million. Invest 10. And spend the 11million.

[Nav]

I'd just carry on with what I'm doing now, just in complete financial security. I'd give my brother and sister lump sums to finish university and pay off their student loans and set aside some for my nieces and nephews to do the same.

I'd pay off my own student debts of course, and maybe convert one of the smaller empty factories near the university into some kind of living space, or at least somewhere I could leave the car during the day (after I win the lottery I will never again set foot on a bus, that's for sure). I'd then buy some land on the edge of town and build a smallish house on it for me and the dogs, plus a huge garage for all of the 80s Italian sports cars I would acquire: Lancia Montecarlo, Beta and Delta Integrale (or the S4 if I'm really rich); Fiat Strada Abarth; Alfetta GTV, that kind of thing. I'd probably get one of those Magnum Ferrari's too, you know, just because I could.

[[Syl]]

1) pay off all my debts
2) Buy a reasonable house (300k or so, which in this area is pretty modest)
3) trade in the '92 Ford Escort for a small truck, like a Toyota Tacoma, maybe. Fix up the 2000 Passat Wagon.
3) Buy a house in NV for my mom and brother, set up a fund to pay the taxes, utility bills, and modest living allowance.
4) Set up trust funds for my son and my nephew
5) Start a KW Scholarship Fund.
6) Put my wife all the way through post-grad school and become a professional student myself, and with any luck, a published writer (though I could probably just publish my own stuff, eh... AHA... Sylvanus Publishing Co.)

[Zarathustra]

It depends on how much I won. But for purposes of this thought experiment, let's pretend it's virtually unlimited (i.e., not infinite, but larger enough to do ANYTHING currently possible on or off planet Earth).

First, a big party. Hire all my favorite bands to come play for me and friends (they all have their price!). Rush, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Tool, Bela Fleck, Allan Holdsworth, etc. Maybe even clone John Lennon and George Harrison, have them force grown live Davies Hyland, and have a Beatles reunion (okay, maybe that's not possible, but I'd fund the research to make it possible).

Then, bionic body. I don't care if it's not invented yet, I want "Steve Austin" legs, eyes, arms, heart, etc. Or to be more specific, give me an Angus extreme make over.

Then, I want a ticket on the space shuttle. Actually, two: one for me and one for the woman of my choice (okay, I guess my wife). Zero g. Woman in space. Bionic body. Are we seeing the possibilities, here?

Then, I'd build a castle. I mean a real castle, not one just for looks. It will be fully armed and a moat with 'gators, the whole works. But inside it would be like Bill Gates' house: fully computerized, with the best audio-visual entertainment on the planet. Music that follows me around from room to room. Wall-size plasma displays cycling through the entire history of art as we know it, as well as pictures from every forest still growing.

I'd have my own state-of-the-art brewery and brew the best beers on the planet (I'm a home brewer, by the way).

I'd remake the Star Wars prequels as they SHOULD have been done. I'd pay Peter Jackson to make all 10 Covenant movies.

Batmobile.

Private jet, yacht, helicopter, etc.

Oh yeah, and I'd invest, pay off loans, give some to family, charity, yada yada boring yada.

[ChoChiyo]

I like the idea of Sylvanus Publishing.

If I win millions and millions of dollars, after I recover from the heart attack and am fully recooperated, I will hire Sylvanus to build and operate a small publishing empire.

I would buy up the land around my school and put up a large school library, put a swimming pool and bowling alley into the school, add a dormitory for those kids who either are homeless or who have a less than satisfactory homelife.

I'd double the salary of all the teachers there.

I'd arrange to completely fund every one of the kids who wanted to go to the secondary education of their choice as long as they attended every day (unless they were desperately sick) and maintained a C average or higher.

I would hire some really mean people to kidnap my brother-in-law and forcibly instruct him on the proper treatment of his lovely wife, my sister, and his children, my nephews. I would forcibly put him through treatment and several months of heavy duty counselling. If it looked like he was turning around I would let him return home. If it didn't look like it was working, I'd drop him naked into the greater Siberian plain and let him fend for himself the S.O.B.

I would pay off all my siblings' debts, establish college funds for my nieces and nephews (with the same criteria as my students). I would buy each of them a modest car--nothing sporty because they need to have something to work for themselves.

I would do all the work that needs to be done on my current house--then I would GIVE it to some poor but deserving family.

I would build a nice home with lots of cool unusual attributes, like hidden passages and secret rooms--just because I could.

I would have a tunnel system below ground to take me to the other buildings on my estate, so that in the winter, I wouldn't have to get cold going between buildings.

I'd see to it that all my friends and loved ones were comfortably settled and debt free.

I'd hire a cook to make me good healthy meals and some really annoying person who is big and strong enough to make me do things I hate doing...like exercise...and sleep...

I'd hire a staff of people to clean my house so I would never have to do it again!!!!

And I'd hire a skilled woodworker to build all the elaborate Barbie houses that I dream of.

And I would write and play all day--except when my annoying enforcer person was making me exercise and sleep. Sigh.


I'd travel and I'd go to classes to learn everything I've ever been curious about.

I'd donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to worthy charities.

I'd have an organic garden, and lots of apple trees and other lovely fruits and vegetables that I could work in when I felt like it--but hired personnel to do it for me when I didn't.

I would have lots of dogs and cats and horses and cows and donkeys.

I'd have one of those horticultural domes like they have in Milwaukee with Magnolia trees in it--so that I could enjoy them without having to live in the south which is TOO HOT for human beings to tolerate unless they have generations of genetic mutation to allow for that sort of thing.

I would have lots of lovely guest houses or apartments for my friends to come and stay with me.

I would adopt lots of children and love them to pieces.

I would pay a secretary to send lots of photos of me having a fabulous life to my ex-boss who hated me along with little notes about how happy I am. I myself would never think about him again.

Heh heh heh

And I would buy CANDY.

Lots and lots of candy.

(DOn't tell my annoying enforcer person about it though. Hee hee hee)

[High Lord Tolkien]

I'd be that eccentric fart driving an old beat up pickup and drinking Pabst performing random acts of charity to those in need.

No, really I would.
I'm halfway there now, I just need the truck and the money.


I'd live much the same way I do now but with better stuff.
You know, prime rib rather than steak.
Power windows and cd player in the car.
Actually I'd be happy with a car that isn't falling apart!!

And I'd host an Elohimfest on a yacht or something.

[Lord Mhoram]

I'd use it to complete my education and buy a home or two for my family and invest the rest.

[Warmark]

Would you still work?
No.

Would you flaunt it?
Yes.

Would you wisely invest?
Probably not.

Would you give to charity?
Yes.

[sgt.null]

1) 10% to my local Catholic church.

2) pay off the debts of my wife, me, mom, her folks, my brother and sister.

3) by property and build a house here in town.

4) by a house for my dil, maybe the one we live in now.

5) put my nephew through college.

6) self publish my poetry and books. including some photo books.

7) adopt some children.

open a radio station. KFKA, radio kafka, American/alt country/folk/etc...

9) more charity.

10) take my wife on a real honeymoon for our 15th
in 5 years. all through Europe.

some are out of order...

[aliantha]

1. Ask them which phone number they were *really* calling, since I never play the lottery.

2. Assuming they still wanted to give me the cash:

• Pay off all the bills.
  Fully fund college funds for my kids.
  Quit my job.
  Buy property in Colorado and make plans to move there once my youngest is out of high school (two more years!).
  Tour all five places on my list of Destinations I Must Visit Before I Die: Alaska, Hawaii, Spain, Ireland, and the Czech Republic.
  Add a couple of places to the list and tour those, too.
  I've toyed, off and on, with the idea of offering editorial advice and/or a quiet place to write to women whose home lives are too crazy, and who couldn't afford to stay at a regular writer's retreat. I might set up something like that.
  Invest enough to ensure that I could live comfortably off the interest for the rest of my life.
  Give the rest away.

[dlbpharmd]

I sure as hell wouldn't tell anyone about it. I would have relatives come out of the wood work that I've never heard of.

[Worm of Despite]

Eat a million hamburgers.

[duchess of malfi]

I sure as hell wouldn't tell anyone about it. I would have relatives come out of the wood work that I've never heard of.

No one from my family would bother me. People from my husband's family would all come crawling out from rocks all over the place with their hands out -- wait -- nevermind, they do that all the time anyway.

Naw, I have no need for any money other than what we already make. It would go to the children's hospital, where it would hopefully do some good in the world.

If I had that much money it would probably just corrupt me and ruin my life.