Powerball up to 1 billion - what tools would you buy?

[Luis]

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

No winners last night so jackpot is estimated at 1.3 billion.
Just for conversation and fantasizing, what would you buy?

I'd first pay off the rest of my dreaded school loans. Help my parents with anything they needed. Then purchase a good solid house.
Then onto the vintage cars. After that complete my coin collection and get a few vintage bespoke suits.

What about the rest of you?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'd raise the pay of my theatre kids to a minimum of $20 an hour, and would guarantee each of them, in writing, security for the rest of their lives. I would guarantee our board of directors a minimum of one million dollars a year for the rest of my life, on the condition that the theatre is turned into a worker-run cooperative under a constitution agreed upon by those workers.

I'd take care of all of the kids' debts and make sure they have a fresh start in their lives. If they want to continue education, it's taken care of.

I'd pay off my mother's debts and ensure that the last years of her life are comfortable.

I'd pay off my best friend's medical bills.

I'd see that our local animal shelters never want for anything ever again.

I'd see that our local soup kitchen never wants for anything ever again.

I'd see that our local teen shelter never wants for anything ever again.

I would donate significant amounts to the other causes I support. You'd start hearing about them in the news.

I'd pay off my house and get a new roof put on it.

I'd get the dash lights fixed on my Subaru.

I'd get a tune-up done on the Plodge, which I'll do next spring even if I don't win.

I'd hire an expert to once and for all get rid of the anthill on my grandparents' grave, because nothing I've tried myself has worked.

I'd go out for a hamburger and I'd leave a really big tip.

 

[Fading Fast]

After taking care of my small extended family's financial security (sorry if that is selfish, but yes, I would do that first), I'd use the rest for charity to help people immediately and think tanks that I believe do good work to advance ideas and policies that, I believe, will help our country.

Neither I nor my girlfriend have any interest in having tons of expensive things (if you do, nothing wrong with that, IMHO, just not our thing). We would buy a small vacation home in Maine for her parents and us, probably modestly increase our book collection (don't want to be a "big time" collector) and I think that's it.

 

[Luis]

Sounds like we all have a commonality to help/share with family which is great! Without them we would be nowhere that's for sure. I speak of my side and my wife's.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I'd get my tractor fixed. It's been under a tarp for a year now. Mrs. Hawk says I could get a new barn too. Both of those would be awesome. Then I'd go fishing. For a long time.

 

[Frunobulax]

I'd take my mother's sage advice from years ago when contemplating a windfall.

Put it in my mouth and pray for lockjaw.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and public libararies in this area will get funded. It really burns my craw that the high-end art museums and other such elite institutions get all the financial support from the wine and cheesers in this town, and our libraries have to go begging. That will change. And librarians will be paid a real wage instead of the Mickey Mouse money they get now.

 

[Edward]

If I came into that kind of money, I'd no doubt find a few charities to work with (rather than start my own). Something to do with cats, and education, especially access to higher education. I'd consider leaving work to act; I'd also pay off the mortgage and maybe invest in a few properties, which I'd let to friends at a peppercorn rent, subject to a confidentiality agreement.

Then I'd make a trip to Galashiels forcthe mother of all orders, and on my return to London I'd stop by Henry Poole to order some nice suits in a late 40s cut. I'd likely invest in a couple of small businesses I know and want to see succeed. Coupke of Gretsches....

Cars and motorcycles, maybe, but only if I bought an out of town bolthole. No need for private transport in central London.

 

[Luis]

I forgot to add that there would be an generous anonymous donation to cancer research.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Two things. First off Half would go to various charities that I like, both local & national. Also, I would take the money over 20 years. I would pay off my sister & brother in law's house. I would give them enough money so that they can both quit their jobs. I would set up $50.000 college funds for all my nieces, nephews, & cousins. I would buy some property(s) that is about 6 1/2 to 7 acres in size & build a Queen Anne house on it that looks like it came straight out of the 1870's-1880's on the inside & out for the most part but be completely morden underneath. Most people wouldn't be able to tell it apart from a true victorian house, but there would be some dead giveaways such as each bedroom having a walk in closet as well as a sleeping porch. On the property I would have a barn to store all the rides that I want, both old new. I would also buy this website & bring back a few people that have been banned.

 

[tonyb]

I'd try to keep it secret. I fear that if I came into such a sum I would have more "friends" than I ever wanted.

I doubt I would go on a shopping spree. Indeed, I think I would avoid buying much by way of real property at all. Part of the reason for "owning" real estate is for the long-term financial security it can help one attain. But if such security is no longer an issue, I'd just as soon have no property on which litigious sorts might trip and fall.

 

[sheeplady]

I would fix up our house.
I'd put a sizable amount into each child's account.
I'd buy my children the dream swingset I've been saving up for 5 years to buy.
I'd put Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in every zip I could in my region.
I'd fund the local libraries.
I'd fund the library in the childrens hospital, that gives books to children who are ill.
I'd partner with several local organizations to make sure no one going through cancer treatment has to worry about having a clean house, put a meal on the table, someone to watch their kids, or about if they have enough gas in their tank.
I'd fund a scholarship in honor of my friend who died two years ago.
I'd buy my husband's aunt and uncle a new washer and dryer and fix up their house.
I'd give money to Angel photographers who photograph stillborn and premature babies.
I'd want to do something so that babies that are surrendered because of terminal illnesses do not die alone, but instead are held once in awhile.
I'd like to travel with my family.

 

[Capesofwrath]

To quote the great George Best who some of you will have never heard of. “ I spent my money on booze and birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."

 

[ChiTownScion]

My biggest priority to start would be enhancing educational and financial opportunities for the young people that I've come to know and love. Pay off their student loans, get them started in businesses of their own that incorporate their passions into viable commercial enterprises... that sort of thing.

On a broader scale, I'd obviously set up scholarships for worthy students at the secondary school, undergrad, and grad school levels. But I'd also establish a top quality trade school whereby young people could attain the skills necessary to enter building trade apprenticeships through established building craft unions. Carpenters, electricians, plumbers, masons, and HVAC people. I'd also like to see that these young craftsmen and craftswomen were schooled in personal financial planning and personal budget management while the learn their vocations.

My biggest splurge would be building a new temple for my lodge- paid for in cash and with state of the art dining facilities as a showplace for our fraternal activities. Men that are taught our fraternal virtues of brotherly love, relief, and truth will become better husbands, fathers, and citizens, and I'd like to see to it that a decent facility for inculcating those virtues exists for the foreseeable future in my community.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's interesting to think about just how much money 1.3 billion dollars really is. If you actually had 1.3 billion dollars sitting in a vault -- not tied up in stocks or real estate or rare comic books, but actual cash money -- you could give every one of the 300 million residents of the United States, adults and children alike, a check for approximately $4,330,000. All fantasy aside, it's an incomprehensible Scrooge McDuck amount of money.

 

[HudsonHawk]

It's interesting to think about just how much money 1.3 billion dollars really is. If you actually had 1.3 billion dollars sitting in a vault -- not tied up in stocks or real estate or rare comic books, but actual cash money -- you could give every one of the 300 million residents of the United States, adults and children alike, a check for approximately $4,330,000. All fantasy aside, it's an incomprehensible Scrooge McDuck amount of money.

Actually, if you had $1.3 billion, you could only give 300 million people $4.33. To give everyone $4,330,000, you'd have to have $1.3 quadrillion in the bank. But $1.3 billion is still an obscene amount of money.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

you could give every one of the 300 million residents of the United States, adults and children alike, a check for approximately $4,330,000.

What about the other 22,814,642 people, do they go without ?

http://www.census.gov/popclock/

 

[LizzieMaine]

They're the 1-percenters, and wouldn't need the money.

Not that I advocate actually doing this, because all that would happen would be that prices would be raised astronomically until the value of the extra money was completely negated and the status quo resumed. A Scrooge McDuck technique if there ever was one.

 

[AmateisGal]

I'm with you, tonyb, in that I'd keep it secret as long as possible. I once edited a manuscript of a woman who won a couple million dollars when she played the lottery with co-workers. Her experiences were quite eye-opening.

I'd take care of my parents and my grandma - so that none of them had any financial burdens or worries for the rest of their lives. I'd set up an account for my daughter, but she'd only be able to access the money after she got a job and continued to work (no living off a trust fund!). I'd set up history scholarships for both the colleges I attended, donate money to veterans' causes and healthcare, and donate to a bunch of other charities, set up endowments at various museums, etc.

For me? I'd like a nice house on a bit of land. Not a huge mansion - good grief. I wouldn't know what to do with myself with all that space! I'd buy a brand new car, but nothing extravagant. Maybe I'd buy a cottage in Salisbury or another English town that I could retreat to during the hot Nebraska summers.

My hubby would be the one I'd have to watch - he'd go nuts and buy all the classic cars he could.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Actually, if you had $1.3 billion, you could only give 300 million people $4.33. To give everyone $4,330,000, you'd have to have $1.3 quadrillion in the bank. But $1.3 billion is still an obscene amount of money.

I told you math isn't my strong suit.

On another aspect of this, though, I think most states require lottery winners above a certain level to publicly disclose themselves as a condition of accepting the money. There's a few states that allow anonymity, so before cashing in it might be prudent to establish residency in one of those states.