Hi Everyone,

I'm just curious, if you won, let's say, 2 million dollars in the lottery, what would you do with the money?

I would buy 40 acres of land, build a house and start a No Kill animal shelter. This is my dream and I'm working on doing this even if I don't win the lottery, although it would happen a lot faster if I did.

Synnen

Put a down payment on a house, buy a reliable vehicle, and go back to school for social work.

Altenweg

Sounds good to me. Buy that ticket now, you never know.

HistorianChick

Pay off bills, go back to school for a PhD in Historical Preservation or Military History, take that Egypt vacation I've always wanted, invest, and set my Mom and brother up for life.

Even without the lottery ticket, its what I'm shooting for!

kp2171

well if its a 2 million prize, and you do lump payment, youd get about 1 million, give or take about 100K. then, by the time fed and state taxes are pulled, you are left with about 500K.

so the first thing id do is buy condoms, champagne, hire a sitter for overnight, and take my wife out for a great dinner and hit the blues bar. keep the bar in drinks. keep the band in drinks. keep the sultry songs coming until she pulls me out the door to go to the hotel.

second thing id do is talk to my tax guy and my lawyer about estate planning and especially wealth protection in my later years, as health care is going to get so fricking ugly expensive by the time i retire, its going to be crushing.

then, with whatever fun money is left after retirement planning and college funds (college costs increase at twice the rate of inflation), and i really dont think itd be a lot, the fun things id do... probably put down some $$ and buy real estate near warm, big water.

if its straight up 2 mil (a little less than what you get with a 10 mil prize, lump sum) things loosen up a lot. all the above, and half of whats left into more business investments, the other half might go into a charitable foundation. i dont think you get that kind of money without a moral obligation to pass it on, at least in good deeds if not in dollars.

that is, of course, after the condoms and champagne.

Altenweg

That's one of the nice things about living in Canada, no taxes paid on lottery winnings, you keep the whole lot, hope I'm not rubbing it in.

One other thing I would do with the money, probably before I start the shelter, is go to visit my relatives in Germany. I haven't seen them in almost 7 years and I miss them terribly.

Gernald

I dunno how much 2 mil would be after taxes, but if I won something like 200 million or something this is what I'd do.

1. tell no one.
2. Get a lawyer
3. Change telephone #
4. Claim my prize.
5. Purchase land and build home in Alaska
4. Give 1 mill to my mom, dad, sister, and grandparents.
5. Make another press release that no one else is getting a penny.
6. Change name and hope everyone leaves me alone.

I think I'd be worried most about people, trying to get the money from me. Look at all those people that were sued after winning and then lost everything over stupid law suites.
I almost think that even if it would be nice to win that money, I wouldn't want to. There's too much money, too much worry. I wouldn't want that type of stress.

Altenweg

Gernald- Good point. It's amazing how many long lost relatives come out of the wood work when you get your hands on some money.

I don't know how much a private little island in the middle of know where would cost, but it's worth looking into.

ScottGem

Lottery values are expressed as total payout of an annuity. so a 2 mil payout would translate into a lumpsum payout of about half, from that you take our taxes if applicable.

So even without taxes, you would get 1 mill which might just barely be enough to live on. Figure it would generate about $50K in annual income.

if I were to win an amount like that I would pay down my debt and put the rest away for retirement.

However, if I won a good sized prize, lets say a net of $20 mil. I would take a third of it and set up a philanthropic trust. with that amount I could generate about $250K annually which I would use to fund some scholarships and just look for where I could do some good.

Altenweg

Maybe we should up the ante? Why not say 5million after taxes etc. That's 5 million in your pocket to do with what you wish.