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

[ica171]

I call this "the lottery game" and I play it so often I've pretty much got what I would do down pat. For a small amount, say less than $5 million, I don't even know that we'd tell many people. We'd pay off our debt and build a reasonably nice house, put aside money for the kids' college and then put enough away so we could live off the interest. We might gift small amounts to our families, but that depends. I'd hire a housekeeper to come in once a week.

For a medium amount, it'd probably be about the same as a small amount except we'd be able to give some or more money to our families. DH would buy a fancy car.

For a large amount, we'd build our absolute splash-out dream house and hire a few people to take care of it, like a gardener and a housekeeper. Nothing live-in, but just so that I don't have to pull weeds or wash baseboards. We'd give money to our families and start trust funds for all our nieces and nephews. I would buy and rehab old houses that had been subdivided into apartments, then sell them to people who would appreciate them. I would give lots of money to local charities and autism research. (I would do this with every amount, but it would be significantly more at this stage.) We'd probably travel a bit, but I'm a homebody and don't like being away for too long.

I don't think our lifestyles would change too significantly if we won even $500 million. I don't want to live some crazy jet set lifestyle with other people always around; I just want to live my life very very comfortably.

[siamesecat2965]

Small amount < $50,000 pay off my old car and buy a new car in the range of a Ford Fusion. Any left over would go to bills and taxes. Any more and I would definitely hire a financial planner immediately.

The thing about large lottery wins though is that you don't actually get to take home the full amount that you win. In California, for instance, win 1 million -- if you opt for the lump sum payment instead of over time, you actually take home about half of that, so $500,000 and that's before the taxes, so taxes would usually take another (estimated) 30% of that leaving only $350,000. I could buy a rather modest 2 bedroom house for that amount in my area. I think the winners go bankrupt so quickly because they don't factor in things like that. They heard 1 million and hold on to that number in their head.

I agree. I always joke I would be happy with A million, after all taxes etc. are taken out. so my net would be that. I could live comfortably on that, i think, if I spent it and planned wisely.

[Harriet Jones]

I'd definitely pay down/off the mortgage first.  I like where we live, so I might add on to the house we're in now, or possibly build new.

I hope I'd be able to put a lot into some kind of savings, so that we could live comfortably for the rest of our lives and take care of expenses like the kids' college tuitions.

[Sophia]

Reading this thread, I keep thinking of the eHell member that did win a small lottery, and had a child that was going to need some long-term assistance.  Yet the eHell's sibling thought the money should go toward her adult son. 

I also am amused by the idea of 5 million being a small amount. 

[heartmug]

Pay off my home.

Buy a small home or a condo near a relative in another state.

Give all of our kids down payments for homes.

Generous donations to charities.

See if my DH will part with his old car 

[Reika]

I also am amused by the idea of 5 million being a small amount.

Have to agree on that. $2 mil would let me quit working at my current age of 36 and live fairly comfortably for the rest of my life.

I have figured out that if I won at least $300k after taxes, it'd let me go back to college full time without having to work, plus give me a cushion in case I didn't find a job right away after school.

Anything more than $2 mil would let me give some help to friends. If I got more than $5 mil, I'd get my CDL so I could get a spiffy toy-hauler RV and go traveling in style.

[CakeBeret]

Small amount: pay off debts, take a modest vacation

Medium amount: same as above plus sell our house and move to Colorado. Go to grad school. Hire a housekeeper.

Large amount: All of the above, plus buy 20+ acres. Custom build a nice house with my dream kitchen. Build houses elsewhere on the property for DH's best friend and my best friend. Create a multi-family cooperative self-sustaining farm. Put away enough money to fund our retirement, lots of nice vacations, and DS's college education. If there was any left over after that, put money into a trust for my niece, and buy my dad a pickup truck.

[Lynnv]

The lottery game-always a favorite.   

Small amount: set a small percentage aside for some pure fun, then do sensible things like pay off debt, increase savings, consider replacing my old car.

Medium amount: add more to the pure fun account, definitely replace my car and maybe DH's as well, replace motorcycles and (if funds are enough) either remodel our house or move into something better suited to our lifestyle. 

Large amount: I can quit looking for a job, plus all of the above.  Except we would almost certainly move.  Put aside some funds to help the assorted nieces and nephews get established (school-either trade or college funds, first car, etc), pay off mom's house so she can quit worrying.   Lots and lots of travel.   Get some fun vintage motorcycles to go with our day to day riders.   More travel.  Be those people who leave a $100 tip on a $15 bill just because we got great service.  (But be out the door before the wait person sees it because this is about us imagining how this might make their day, not about actually getting fawned over or something like that). 

[Lorelei_Evil]

Oh, well, if it's a game....

I'm changing my identity and moving to the Caymans.   

[Sophia]

I remember reading about a normal woman that had an interesting retirement.  She didn't have a home.  She had a storage unit near where her kids lived.  No furniture, just all her personal possessions.  At the time of the article, she was living in an apartment in Rome on a 6-month lease.  She relaxed and traveled in the immediate area for that time period.  Then, she would go home and rent an extended stay hotel room for a month and visit her Grandkids.  Then she'd go someplace else for another 6 or so months.  So, if she would be spending the winter in a skiing area, she would pack the appropriate supplies from her storage area.  I would like to do that one day, and would if I won the lottery after DD was grown. 

[MrTango]

Over about $250k, the amount wouldn't affect my strategy, it would just determine how far down my priority list I could go:

1) Pay off all debt (CC's, student loans)
2) Down payment on a house (I'd probably want to put at least 50% down)
3) Replace my wife's 11-year-old car
4) Replace my car
5) Invest what's left.
6) If there's enough money invested in step 5 to support me and my wife for the rest of our lives, then I'd quit my job and either go to seminary or find some other volunteer work.

[zyrs]

We would talk to a financial adviser about the feasibility of trusts and stuff depending on the amount we won.

Over a certain amount we would buy a specific house that we both fell in love with and fix it up.  It sits there unloved and makes us sad every time we pass it.

[magicdomino]

One must keep in mind taxes, annual payments, and the like.  Lots of people go bankrupt after winning the lottery because they think One Million Dollars! when in fact it is more like $35,000 per year for 20 years.  However, we are discussing imaginary money here, so we will imagine that taxes and whatnot have already been paid.    

Less than $50,000:  Home repairs

Between $50,000 and $500,000:  More home repairs.  This place is expensive.     But I should be able to have an annual vacation as well finally completing the To Do list.

Over $500,000:  I have simple tastes, so aside from that annual vacation, my life wouldn't change much.  I like my house when it works, the cats would be unhappy if I was gone too long, and I'm too close to qualifying for my retirement to quit now. 

I would like to stash something away as a kind of college scholarship fund for my great-nieces and nephews.  However, certain financially irresponsible relatives would be standing on my doorstep begging if they got a hint that money was being given away, so I'd have to set up the scholarship in such a way as to obscure the source.  Also, I'm not paying for someone to party for four years. 

Leaving someone a $100 tip does sound like fun, though, doesn't it?   

[Outdoor Girl]

Move to Canada.     At least for now, lottery winnings aren't taxed.  We are, of course, taxed on any income from the investment of those winnings but if we win $1,000,000, we actually get $1,000,000.

I wouldn't flat out give my nephews any money.  I'd definitely help pay for their schooling and give them a reasonable car but I'd like them to learn a little bit about what the world is about before having lots of money.  They are my heirs so I'd probably change my will so that they wouldn't get any money until they're at least 30, other than what is needed for schooling.

And I forgot one group of people:  My Dad is 78, still living in the big house my brother and I grew up in.  It is in a rural area but he has one set of neighbours who live quite close.  They are fantastic and really help my Dad out.  My brother and I feel so much better knowing they live next door.  They have a piece of property that they want to build on and move to once their kids are out of high school - youngest will be in Grade 9 next year, I think.  So I would pay for them to build their house.

[Harriet Jones]

One must keep in mind taxes, annual payments, and the like.  Lots of people go bankrupt after winning the lottery because they think One Million Dollars! when in fact it is more like $35,000 per year for 20 years.  However, we are discussing imaginary money here, so we will imagine that taxes and whatnot have already been paid.    
 

The lotteries where we are also have the option of a lump sum payment instead of the annual payments.