S/O of Giving your Old One: If you won the lottery....

[CharlieBraun]

Everyone has such great ideas!  I found myself going "yeah!  And that too!  Yeah!  Forgot that!"

I'm going to put in my wishes in no particular order, and thinking of what would really make us happy:

1.  Full time help for my parents - at least three people: one health care professional for medications and physical therapy (think Daphne from 'Frasier',)
one dedicated housekeeper (cleaning and meals,) and a handyman-type who can drive my parents around and take care of the grounds;
2. Buy the beach house where we vacation;
3. Full time help for my in-laws, same scenario as for my own parents;
4.  Renovate and endow the school where my husband taught - top to bottom upgrade of HVAC, windows, hallways, classroom configurations, teacher lounges (non existent now), library overhaul, textbooks, plus immediate bonuses for all of the teachers.  Declare a tuition holiday for four years for all students but reduce the number of students to no more than 15 per class.  Renovate the former convent that was literally embedded in the school and is now vacant as teacher housing for new teachers (single/married) to help them get their start.
5.  Buy and renovate an industrial building located near the current county animal shelter, into a new animal shelter, allowing the county to close down that older one and sell the now-valuable land after we donate the new animal shelter to the county.

What I won't need to do is worry about un-known relatives staking a claim; I have so thoroughly done my family tree that no one could say that they are X or Y relation without me being able to verify it!

[Emmy]

I'd give it away to any greedy relative and former 'friend' who shows up at my doors asking for it.   

A small amount (under $50,000), we'd buy a new car for me, my 12 year old 2-door isn't going to cut it when baby #2 comes.  We'd put the rest of it away.

A moderate amount ($500,000), we'd still buy the car and put most in savings.  The rest we would help out any deserving people we know and have a little fun too like take a vacation.  We'd also start a few household projects like building a deck and finishing the basement.  We'd also visit far away family more or pay for them to come see us.

A large amount ($2,000,000).  I'd get the car, still nothing overly fancy.  We'd put a good portion in college saving funds and retirement funds for us.  Of course we'd have fun like take vacations.  DH may want to consider changing jobs even if it means a pay cut.  If we invest the majority of the principal, the interest can make up the difference without a change in lifestyle.

An obscene amount ($10 mil +).  OK this is where I would go a bit crazy.  First I'd hire a financial planner and lawyer.  A lot of the money would be invested.  I like the idea of getting paid over time as opposed to a lump sum.  DH enjoys working, but this would give us the freedom to pick his job even for less pay.  We'd consider buying a new house, not a mega mansion, but a large house with some ground and 2 spare bedrooms so family and friends can be comfortable when they visit.  Put away college tuition for our own children (who are very far from college age) and also help out DH's nephews who are college age or very close to it.

No matter how much I would win, ridiculously expensive cars, over the top mansions, or purses and shoes in the thousands of dollars just don't appeal to me and not to many others from the posts I've read.  So many lottery winners seem to go crazy with these things.  I would want to enjoy the money and celebrate the win by spending a little of it, but also make sure it lasts for the future.

[Nox]

Anything less than a couple of million is just going to go into savings, kid college accounts, investments, paying bills, etc. I'd probably also try to help my brothers pay off student loans or cars, or maybe contribute to my niece and nephew's college accounts. I wouldn't stop working or pursuing further education (for the better job I'm planning to get when I'm done) unless I could really support us on the interest and dividends from investing the after tax winnings.

Over a couple of million and I'd start getting into splurge territory. Family trips to awesome locations, cars and houses for myself, family and some friends, working part time or volunteering in fields that I really like, hefty contributions to charities. I doubt it'll ever happen, but it's fun to dream. 

[Minmom3]

Fun money dreaming....   

<$10,000 - Put it toward the mortgage.
$50,000 - Give DH a chunk to play with.  Pay off bills.  Put toward mortgage (in reverse order!).
>$1,000,000 - pay off mortgage, and fix all the stupid things about this house.  Buy me a new car, get DH's all fixed up (he doesn't WANT new).  Set up funds for the girls, both for school, and for living.  Set aside a big chunk to take care of my mother. Get another kitten!
>$10,000,000 - buy a better house on bigger land.  Make sure I get one big room for a library that my husband isn't allowed to move or import ONE THING into.  Must have enough sun for roses and veggies and fruit trees.  And still be in or close to the trees I have now.  Set up serious accounts for the girls that would trickle interest to them, no lump sums.  Make some money management courses mandatory.

[Ceallach]

I guess that age and current economic position impact upon people's perspectives significantly.   If I were near retirement, a small "boost" of $1M or so would probably be enough to make me fasttrack my plans, it would make a big difference.   

I'm only in my late 20s.   My career is taking off (I'm in management) and I absolutely LOVE my job.  We're financially stable and enjoy a comfy lifestyle that we enjoy, and which takes a good 6 figures per year to maintain (although that includes our mortgage payments too!).   While a spare $1M would certainly set us up for life (no more mortgage, a bit of money to save & invest), it wouldn't make a difference long-term for us unless we also kept working- otherwise we wouldn't have the lifestyle we enjoy at all, so our quality of life would go down, not up.    Later in life, or if the mortgage was already paid off, the situation might be different.