If you won the $1 Billion Lottery--

[Andrew Joiner]

First off congratulations:). Seriously, if you won a big $ amount what would you do with it?

[Doug Dawson]

First off congratulations:). Seriously, if you won a big $ amount what would you do with it?
Put it in an index fund. Vanguard love you long time.

[Jim Koepke]

Maybe move to a more rural location in a warmer climate.

Would probably set my kids up with an income so they could do anything they want as long as it wasn't doing nothing.

Might also share it with a few friends. It would be difficult for me to spend it all, why not spread it around a bit?

jtk

[Tom M King]

The first thing I would do is to buy all the working folks around here new stuff to work with.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Maybe move to a more rural location in a warmer climate.

Would probably set my kids up with an income so they could do anything they want as long as it wasn't doing nothing.

Might also share it with a few friends. It would be difficult for me to spend it all, why not spread it around a bit?

jtk


Before buying a lottery ticket, you should set up a trust. You and your spouse as primary beneficiary , and your kids (or who ever you chose) as secondaries. You can set it up to anyone with same last name. or married to someone with same last name (grand children, great grand children etc.) This way there are no taxes due when benefits are distributed, as they are held in a trust. But this has to be done BEFORE claiming the prize. Plan on hiring an administrator for your funds, as it's well beyond the scope of the average smuck to manage these. Here's the kicker, even though you have millions available to you, you may be able to get government assistance with nursing home care as the trust owns the money, not you

[Tim Janssen]

Give most of it away, kids, grandkids, great grandkids. charities.
Cheers,

Tim

[Prashun Patel]

I already have a Sawstop and Domino, so I'm good ;)

I would set up some scholarships for people who can really benefit from it.

That being said, it doesn't take a lot of effort or money to do this even on a small level, yet, I have never taken that step. I heard a fire fighter on a Ted Talk say something about how firefighters dream of entering a burning building and save someone's life. On his first job, he was relegated to staying by the truck. He saw a shivering woman from the building on the side without shoes or something, and gave her some cover. She wrote back weeks later about what a hero he was. I'm surely messing up the details, but his point was doing not letting perfect be the enemy of good.

Blah blah blah. Wrong answer to your question. But while my initial reaction was to be generous, the fact that it would take a billion to do that makes me feel icky...

[Brian Elfert]

I thought about this the last time the lottery was super high although I almost never buy a ticket. What I always read is you should take a few million and go out and have fun for the first year. Buy a house, cars, whatever. After a year passes you will have a better idea of how you want to spend the money and you won't just have blown through a lot of your money.

The very first thing for me after finding a lawyer would be to hire a personal chef. Next I would give my family and close friends enough money so they can each retire if they wish. I would then give at least $100 million to the various Boy Scout councils in the state. I would take some time to decide how I really wanted to live and then build a nice house with a big shop/garage. I would probably spend a good chunk of my summers volunteering at a Boy Scout camp.

[Michael Weber]

I’d likely do as Prashun after first making sure there was some kind of structure in place so I would be confident the money would be limited to the actual needy and not the children of the wealthy and or connected. But I’ve never bought any kind of lottery ticket. To paraphrase something I just read today. If you had a really great job and you cleared 100.00 an hour after deductions, saved it all but got no investment income it would take you over 4,800 years to save a billion dollars.

[Jim Becker]

Like Prashun, I'd likely do a lot of charitable activities.

[Bob Turkovich]

I only play if the jackpot is 100M or more. For this go-around, I bought twice from the Kroger (Novi, MI) that sold the winning ticket (but not for Friday's drawing.):(

That Kroger is across the street from a major medical campus. I hope the winner was someone who really needed it.

If I ever win the big one, it will get shared with friends and family + a few charities.

Oh, and Keith could afford to pay someone to develop that mobile app for the Creek:D

Bob T.

[Kev Williams]

One Beeeleeon Dollars...

That's enough that you can spend $100,000 per day every day for 25 years before burning thru it.

So, at that rate:

every 10 days I could buy a million $ house for our 6 kids.

That's two months... ;)

6 weeks later I can pay cash for this 15,000 sq footer (hey, my needs are small, and that's a bargain really)
450176

Another 6 weeks later I'll be itching to get us a bigger boat--
450177

And just so I can say 'yeah, I got a private jet', I'll save
up for another month and get something like this-
450178

So, using a 25 year spending schedule, I could by six 1-million $ houses, a 4.3 millon $ mansion, a 4.3 million $ yacht, and a 3 million $ private jet...
And I'd still have $982,400,000 to spend in 24 years and 6 months...

And, lets say I cut my spending in half, and I invest $500,000,000 million initially in a cheesy savings account, and add $5,000,000 per year to it -- even at only 2.5% interest, that money will end up being $ $1,097,760,868.83

so essentially, I can spend 1/2 Billion $ a year for 25 years, at which time, I'd still have and still have the original billion plus $97,000,000 in 'mad money'.

--that's pretty much what I'D do with a Billion... :D

[Bruce King]

First off congratulations:). Seriously, if you won a big $ amount what would you do with it?
I don’t play the lottery and think it’s really bad. It’s stupid to give someone a lot of money unless it’s a non lottery event to help someone out of poverty, pay off bills, start a business or for education and assuming they are not on alcohol or drugs. Half of lottery money goes to the government, they don’t use it wisely and they can produce their own as they need it. That’s why they allow something this harmful to the public. But if you do get lottery money it’s good to give a lot to the charities but remember that the CEO is keeping a whopping pile of it. Not good. Then how much really gets to the people that need it? Guess what, way less than you are told. Then there is the majority of lottery winners that end up with huge problems, death, drugs and broken families. Any lottery over 2 million should be divided up where each winner gets 1 to 2 million. Lots of winners that way. Lottery staff says they don’t sell as many tickets until it reaches 100 million. People can’t do math. I was staying at a hotel once and they had a lottery winners reunion in the bar. I had been there awhile so the bartender told me to wait an hour before sliding in there. I got to rub elbows with some very rich people and hear some stories. Funniest one was the guy standing by the bar with about a pint of loose change in his pocket that he kept jingling around and paying for drinks with change. They said he won 27 million. He’s probably dead now.

[John Goodin]

Start a foundation for ending generational poverty with an emphasis on first generation college scholarships.

[Jim Koepke]

Here's the kicker, even though you have millions available to you, you may be able to get government assistance with nursing home care as the trust owns the money, not you

That is a real kick in the backside when you think about it. Someone having more money than the can spend setting up an estate so they can have someone else pay for their care.


Start a foundation for ending generational poverty with an emphasis on first generation college scholarships.

That John sounds like a worthy cause.

jtk

[Brian Deakin]

I would set up before and after school clubs The purpose of these clubs would be to provide meals for children of parents who have financial difficulties
The clubs would provide additional support to children falling behind in thier education to equip them for life There would also be a large element of fun in the form of sports, hobbies and other forms of activities chosen by the children
Further the wider community would be encouraged to volunteer to provide practical support to enable the scheme to become imbedded in society

[Jim Becker]

One Beeeleeon Dollars...

That's enough that you can spend $100,000 per day every day for 25 years before burning thru it.



Given having the available principle earning money through investment, I'll suggest that it would last a lot longer!

[Prashun Patel]

This is a great idea, John.

[Frederick Skelly]

Invest half of it to found the Skelly Dynasty. Use the other half to help inner city kids in some meaningful way. Maybe scholarships like Mr. Goodin suggested.

[Mike Henderson]

I'm sure I'd spend some on toys. But the vast majority would go towards helping kids from disadvantaged backgrounds get a college education, especially in fields where they can earn a good living - think accounting, finance, engineering, medicine, etc.

Not things like art history.

Having a college education, especially for someone from a disadvantaged background, will allow them to live a different life.

Mike

[Ole Anderson]

It would be a huge responsibility. Earning 5% on the 500 million cash (after taxes) payout means $25 million yearly income without touching the principal. Who needs that much? You would need to become a philanthropist even if you needed $20 mill to live on. While it would be great to be able to give away large amounts, who do you give it to? So many worthwhile causes and a lot of ones just wanting to suck you dry. People would be knocking down your doors. Hire someone to manage it? Set up a foundation? Probably. Just thinking about it though is entertaining. But every time I buy $10 worth of tickets, I am lucky to get three numbers out of all 5 tickets. None of them on the same ticket.

[Jim Matthews]

I would start a website devoted to the care and feeding of Woodworking spouses, a long suffering class.

Them, form a movie studio that films scripts that didn't come from Comic books.

Maybe a lap pool filled with Voltaren?

[Aaron Rosenthal]

In Canada, we don't pay tax on windfall earnings like lotteries. HA!
Divide some money to immediate needs for my kids; pay off their mortgages/buy them houses.
Set up an educational trust for the grandkids.
Start some kind of funding program, money matching to improve life situations for "dead end" kids on Native reserves (I have a beloved Native foster son).
Set up a foundation for general charity donations.
Rebuild my house and garage - love the location, but it needs work.
Let ICON motors have a go at my 2004 Mazda B3000.

[Doug Garson]

Lot's of good charitable ideas but has anyone thought what would happen if a purely evil person won it? I don't buy lottery tickets, gambling just not my thing.

[Larry Edgerton]

First thing I am going to do after the ticket I buy tomorrow comes in is come and find Andrew and buy him a cup of coffee. Sitting on a brand new Martin whatever!

I always thought if I had Bill Gates money I would wander around in an old motor home and take care of people that really deserve and need help right here at home. There are lots of people that need help and donating to most charities is just adding a pool to the CEO's vacation house on the lake. Read the local papers and just take care of people anonymously would be a fine way to live out my life. And maybe a Martin or two for myself...............

Maybe build that town I always wanted to build. An old town, like towns used to be before all the characterless crap we have now. Had the property twice, but got divorces instead. Andrew, You in?

[Clifford McGuire]

I don't play the lottery. I always thought it was a tax on people who slept through math class.

You hear stories about lottery winners that have a miserable life. People coming out of the woodwork looking for a handout. I might figure out how much I need to live a comfortable (but not extravagant) and give the rest away.

[Keith Outten]

I only play if the jackpot is 100M or more. For this go-around, I bought twice from the Kroger (Novi, MI) that sold the winning ticket (but not for Friday's drawing.):(

That Kroger is across the street from a major medical campus. I hope the winner was someone who really needed it.

If I ever win the big one, it will get shared with friends and family + a few charities.

Oh, and Keith could afford to pay someone to develop that mobile app for the Creek:D

Bob T.

Thanks Bob, if I won even a small lottery SawMill Creek would be the Disneyland of woodworking Forums with plenty of major FreeStuff Drawings every week.
I would also make substantial donations to children's hospitals.

For me a one hundred acre farm.

[Andrew Joiner]

First thing I am going to do after the ticket I buy tomorrow comes in is come and find Andrew and buy him a cup of coffee. Sitting on a brand new Martin whatever!

I always thought if I had Bill Gates money I would wander around in an old motor home and take care of people that really deserve and need help right here at home. There are lots of people that need help and donating to most charities is just adding a pool to the CEO's vacation house on the lake. Read the local papers and just take care of people anonymously would be a fine way to live out my life. And maybe a Martin or two for myself...............

Maybe build that town I always wanted to build. An old town, like towns used to be before all the characterless crap we have now. Had the property twice, but got divorces instead. Andrew, You in?

Thanks Larry sounds like fun.

So cool to see most creekers are into giving and helping. I guess most of us are older and mature enough to know the thrill of buying luxury items for ourselves fades fast.
I've been lucky and blessed to have a healthy family and a home overlooking the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. Having a sudden win of a ton of money wouldn't make me any happier.

Here's what I'd do.

I'd bail out businesses that got hit by the pandemic. We would give more bailout cash to those who give or attend brainstorm events on thriving in a safe way with this virus. Real active stimulus money.

There's a story https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/22/health/face-mask-n95-coronavirus-transmission/index.html saying if everyone wore N95's indoors for 4 weeks we could end the pandemic faster than vaccines! I'd give away fit tested N95 respirators to everyone along with Ted talk like demonstrations of how aerosols move thru the air.
I'd start a factory to make N95s in my town.

[Frederick Skelly]

I always thought if I had Bill Gates money I would wander around in an old motor home and take care of people that really deserve and need help right here at home. There are lots of people that need help and donating to most charities is just adding a pool to the CEO's vacation house on the lake. Read the local papers and just take care of people anonymously would be a fine way to live out my life.

Brilliant! What a great idea!

[roger wiegand]

Over the years I've worked with a vey small charitable organization that was founded to build and support a village school in Tanzania. The "bang for the buck" return on investment has been astonishing. We, as individuals have, over the last two decades been able to have a striking impact on the village and the kids there. Early on none of the kids could attend secondary school because they didn't have microscopes to allow them to complete required science course work. I hunted around here, found a number of old but serviceable scopes with mirrors so they didn't rely on electricity (touch and go at best in this village) that people were willing to donate, paid a couple hundred bucks to ship them, and now kids are able to complete their requirements and go on to secondary school with a couple contemplating college.

Given a ton of money I'd be looking to replicate that model across the continent, providing education and support to help people build their own school buildings, seeding those schools with locally trained teachers (it often costs only $1-2K to send someone to be trained as a teacher, an insurmountable barrier to them, easy for us), and providing books and other teaching material to jumpstart the system. I'd target areas in extreme poverty (annual income less than $1/day).

I'd plan to give it all away over a decade, no long term foundation or endowments. A billion won't solve the problems, but it will make a difference. Our family (indeed, most of the developed world) pretty much has what it needs already; I'd focus on folks where a very small increment in education and resources has the possibility of transforming their lives.

[Todd Trebuna]

Tough call. I don't play so it's virtually impossible for me to win. But were I to magically win, I would sell my house and move to a smaller house on enough acreage for a shop and 220 available :). I would give my kids enough money to end their debt, but not enough money to stop working. Then I would probably pay for a scholarship for them at a state University and buy them reliable transportation.
I would then give money to several charities, mostly involved with trades and addiction.
I am a simple man, married to a simple woman so I don't really see the need to alter my lifestyle significantly. I am roughly 5 years to retirement, so that would probably speed up the timeline.
I think some grants and charitable works would be great. Theoretically, I'd like to be able to keep just enough to live out my life on and get rid of the rest. Maybe look for kickstarters to fund and scholarships to invest in.

[Rod Sheridan]

I'm sure I'd spend some on toys. But the vast majority would go towards helping kids from disadvantaged backgrounds get a college education, especially in fields where they can earn a good living - think accounting, finance, engineering, medicine, etc.

Not things like art history.

Having a college education, especially for someone from a disadvantaged background, will allow them to live a different life.

Mike

Good idea, I'll remember that if I win big someday Mike...........Regards, Rod.

[Floyd Cox]

Pay someone to organize my shop and install a good dust collection system … and add heat

[Jim Becker]

I really like the good intentions that so many would have to support charitable works if they happened to hit the "big one". On the other hand, a lot of folks don't really fathom the amount of money that's in these big wins and what it takes to manage it. So in addition to providing money for worthy causes, family and personal enrichment, the very first thing you are going to do is find the best attorney as well as tax and investment advisors you can to insure you can do what you want to do long term. And that's for anything more than a few million.

[eugene thomas]

i would run............ kind of like working.

[Todd Trebuna]

I really like the good intentions that so many would have to support charitable works if they happened to hit the "big one". On the other hand, a lot of folks don't really fathom the amount of money that's in these big wins and what it takes to manage it. So in addition to providing money for worthy causes, family and personal enrichment, the very first thing you are going to do is find the best attorney as well as tax and investment advisors you can to insure you can do what you want to do long term. And that's for anything more than a few million.

Indeed. It's a good point Jim. I do my own taxes every year, because I like my finances simplified. Being rich all of a sudden would change that. I don't know if this is possible, but ultimately, I'd like to keep enough to retire comfortably (but not too comfortably) and then do something with the rest. I really wouldn't want to keep all of that.
Of course, I'm not rich, so it's easy to say.

[Robert Engel]

I read an article once about 10 different lottery winners, every one of them but 2 said they wish the never won it.

Lots of drug abuse, alcoholism, divorces.

One guy was a building contractor, already wealthy, drove around with 100K in his truck, ended up with a daughter dying of drugs OD and got attacked and bad beaten by someone stealing the money. Also ended up an alcoholic.

But the most common thread through all of it was they never knew who their friends were and family members constantly asking for money.

[George Yetka]

I just hit the mega million. Im still not sure what im going to do with my $4 though. These are all good ideas but I think I may not have won enough for any of them

[Malcolm McLeod]

I just hit the mega million. Im still not sure what im going to do with my $4 though. These are all good ideas but I think I may not have won enough for any of them

Mr. Yetka,
I am your long-lost cousin, and I would be oh so appreciative of merely 5 or 10 minutes of your time. I have a can't fail business plan for a novel and ever-so patented product that will make us both very wealthy, so please contact me immedia..... oh, wait .... 4? Where's the decimal? ...Never mind.

[Andrew Joiner]

I read an article once about 10 different lottery winners, every one of them but 2 said they wish the never won it.

Lots of drug abuse, alcoholism, divorces.

One guy was a building contractor, already wealthy, drove around with 100K in his truck, ended up with a daughter dying of drugs OD and got attacked and bad beaten by someone stealing the money. Also ended up an alcoholic.

But the most common thread through all of it was they never knew who their friends were and family members constantly asking for money.
Yes, I've heard that. Maybe the majority of people who pay to play the lottery tend to think money can make them happy. Or since gambling can be addictive the lottery may attract people with addictive personalities.

[Wade Lippman]

My wife wants a new microwave oven. I've put her off because the old one still works, if I won the lottery I would get it for her.

[Dennis Peacock]

I've dreamed of this many times in my life. But since I don't play, I can't win.
One thing I've learned over the many years I've been alive is that I don't have to be a Billionaire nor a Millionaire to make a difference in someone's life. Since I'm a one income home and I help take care of two widows (my MIL and my mother)...this is what I do instead:

I've bought groceries for a needy family that had less food that me.
I've helped pay for car repairs so that the 'dad' could have transportation to/from work each day...so he could provide for his family.
I've taken people to the doctor or given them a ride somewhere.
I've given people money for utilities when they were at the point of having them cut off
I've cut, split, stacked more firewood than I needed...just so I could give firewood to a family on fixed income that had no heat for the winter

There are many things we can already do to help others. In many cases, it's the small things that mean so much to other people who or hurting and in need.
Do what you can, where you can, with what you have. You never know when a blessing will come your way....just because you blessed someone else out of your own need.

[Mark Blatter]

A good friend of mine had parents in the late 60s living in AZ. They hit a small lottery, I believe in the $40 - 50 million range. He was an only child and had a great relationship with them.

They stressed so much about the money and what to do they were dead in less than two years. Both had been in great health prior to winning. To this day, after inheriting the money, he still wishes they would never have won.

Got to be careful what you wish for.