What would you do if you won the lottery?

Think big... like powerball money, over 100 million.

For me, this is what I would do.

-Pay off my house, my Mom's house, and my brother's house.

-Set aside some money for a college fund for my nephew.

-Hire a financial advisor/broker to help me invest some of it.

-Start a scholarship fund specifically for visually impaired people who want to go to art school. (I'm legally blind in both eyes and I have an art degree. It's possible.)

-Donate anonymously to the Art Center here in my town and to the no-kill animal shelter here.

-Take my girlfriend shopping wherever she wants to go (and I mean anywhere... this could include Paris or Tokyo since she is really into fashion.)

-Flip my house. Do all the renovations that I've been wanting to do. Make the second floor of my garage into an actual apartment.

-Spend a year or so traveling the world.

-I am a business owner who is still currently working a day job. The company I work for is awesome. I've been there for ten years and they are so good to their employees. It's like a family. Everyone looks out for everyone else. They are also struggling financially right now because of the pandemic. So to avoid lay-offs we had to give up our bonus this year. I would throw one huge party for all the people I work with and give all my co-workers the amount that our bonus would have been. And I mean everyone, the CEO right down to the janitor.

That's what I would do. Now let's hear what everyone else would do.

I think I would take a year to think and relax first , but charity and living abroad half the year would be big parts of it.

And securing my son’s future for life.

- Invest the majority of it so we can live off the interest indefinitely

- Buy a house for my parents to live in and set money aside for their care and expenses

- Pay tuition so my best friend(s) can get their PhD's

- Give money to my brother to make their lives easier

- Pay off my daughter's mortgage

- Buy (or build) our dream (retirement) home on the coast

- Buy a condo or townhouse in the city we live in

- Plan (and pay for) a "ladies" trip somewhere fun

- Buy a vacation home in Europe

- Invest in commercial real-estate or become a property developer

And last, but most important:

I've always had a dream of starting a foundation that helps struggling single parents that fall through the cracks in terms of benefits... like if they need help paying rent, or paying for their kid's sports, or tuition for themselves to go back to school, or help finding employment.

For me, the measure of the true human being is philanthropy. In fact when I choose to do business with people/companies, this a major decision factor for me.

I've always had a dream of starting a foundation that helps struggling single parents that fall through the cracks in terms of benefits... like if they need help paying rent, or paying for their kid's sports, or tuition for themselves to go back to school, or help finding employment.

For me, the measure of the true human being is philanthropy.

I agree. My former boss said that if he won the lottery, he'd make sure that public-private flood-protection projects got built (he was a civil engineer specializing in them). Flood-protection projects often grind to a halt, sometimes for decades, due to red tape. Meanwhile, the people who live in these neighborhoods get screwed. I thought that was awesome of him. I think I would do something similar in the building industry. It would be an interesting problem to solve when you have time and money on your side!

Another thing I might do is adopt. I'm not 100% sure about that because I've never wanted to be a parent. But there are so many 'extra' kids out there without good homes that I think I should do something for them if I can. More than just throwing money at the problem.

1. Consult a financial advisor to set up a plan to secure my future.

2. Set up my mother with funds so she doesn't have to worry about herself again. She's been through enough and sacrificed to raise three boys. Would be nice to take care of her.

3. Help my brother out. He had a stroke last year, so would like to set him up with the best care possible.

4. Had a niece pass away at five due to a brain tumor. I promised myself if I ever had the funds I'd like to help find a cure.

5. Tired of seeing millionaires and corporations fund politicians who vote to hurt the little guy. I'd either match the funds for good politicians who are actually working to improve things, or might just run myself.

6. Post Covid: Find what happened to numerous old friends I knew and throw a giant bash.

Well, it depends - how much money are we talking?

If we are talking "enough money to live off forever without having to live super frugally" then I'm getting in touch with a financial advisor, I'm quitting my job pronto (it's not that I hate it - I don't! But if I don't have to be there, I won't be!), and I'm going to look into buying a house with some land around (screw having neighbors) or if I don't find one I like, f__ it, I'm buying a plot of land and hiring a team to build myself my own little castle. Post-COVID, I'd take international vacations with my family. Hire people to garden/clean my house, have a personal chef, hell, have a moat around it with some outside guard dogs, have a fantastic garden, a small pool for laps, and a king-size canopy bed to sleep in with the coldest AC right in my bedroom. Huge fireplaces too.

If it's a LOT of money but not quite "enough to live off without being super frugal", I would still get an advisor to help manage it but I'd stay in my job/school but work on a part time basis (I'm in a field that makes a lot $, going into a field that makes even more). So I could live a damn good lifestyle while working 20h a week or so. Retire early. Go on international trips. Basically do a lot of what I said earlier but be working part time.

My family is well-off. Those I care about, they are doing okay so I don't have anything in mind in terms of donating. Funny, if you asked me this pre-COVID, I may have told you a bunch of things that I would have donated to, causes, illnesses I'd want to help treat, anything. Now I don't think humanity is worth it. After what I've seen over the past few years, I don't really care what happens in our trajectory as long as my family and I are okay.

And that's the honest, brutal truth for me. If I won the lottery, I'd spend it on myself/my family and save the rest to spend later.

Well, it depends - how much money are we talking?

OP: .... "Think big... like powerball money, over 100 million."

OP: .... "Think big... like powerball money, over 100 million."

Barely enough to buy a nice yacht and live in Monaco haha

I would spend 50 on cancer research and help people who can't afford cancer treatment. With the rest I would buy a yacht and start travelling the seven seas!

OP: .... "Think big... like powerball money, over 100 million."

Derp, can't believe I missed that.

Derp, can't believe I missed that.

Happens to the best of us, lol.