First, if it's game-changing money, you need someone to help you navigate. It's not a coincidence that lottery winners are something like three times as likely to file bankruptcy as the general population.
I'm taking at least half, if not more, and making that work for me. Something to generate income over time. That "compound", while a FANTASTIC idea (and one I might steal) doesn't come without O&M (operations and maintenance) costs. Last thing you want is to invite everyone to your little island, and 18 months later have to send them home because you can't keep the lights on, the beer flowing and the internet working.
I may keep working for a while. I LIKE my job, and I'm at a stage where I'm not really doing grunt work, so it's rewarding.
I'm upgrading my cars; I do have a new(er) Volvo for the wife, which we keep and pay off, and I have a 2013 BMW, which I LOVE, but I also have a rusted out F350 plow truck, and a 1990 Jeep YJ. The 2013 gets a new paint job, because I'm keeping it, but I'm shopping for a e30. I'm trading out the plow truck for a new(er) one. I'm restoring the YJ, because it has sentimental value.
I don't know if I'm moving or not. I've got kids I have to worry about. My 14-year-old is on the spectrum (high-functioning, but still) so it's not like money will radically change his world. I can't live on an island for some time because of that. I know I would pay my other kids - meaning, I wouldn't just hand them cash, but I would incentivize them. "Finish your degree, and I'll increase your trust x amount" kind of thing. Sadly, I wouldn't be able to share this with my Dad; I would have bought him a boat and would have made sure someone was around to make his (and my mom's) life easier.
I wouldn't spend my money on toys; I would, though, spend my money on those things that aren't easy or cheap for a middle class family to do. I'd make my garage four seasons. I'd install a lift (I don't HAVE to work on my cars, but I enjoy it). I'd automate the house. I'd redo the basement from the '90s drop ceiling and recessed lighting to something more modern. That kind of thing.
I would send a check to my ex-wife. Just a cleaning of the slate, so to speak. I don't feel I owe her anything, but it would be a sort of quiet vindication. I have a circle of friends from college; I would give them each a piece of the pie, and I would donate to my university and get something named for one of my friends specifically (it's sort of an inside thing; I designed one of the parking lots at Uconn when I was in Engineering School; maybe I'd make it the "Michael G. W------ Parking Lot" or something).
I would avoid funding politicians; isn't that what got us here in the first place? I would, though, consider going back to school and getting my PhD. in psychology, and start searching for the answers we talk about in P/R so much. Start the question/answer process for what's ailing our country. And if I can't do that myself, I'd fund others whose work goes down those lines.
I'd buy one of those $50,000 Gene Simmons' Vaults that he delivers to the house. I'd pay Cheap Trick (who is notorious for that kind of thing) to play my back yard.
Topic: If you won the lottery tomorrow (Read 6488 times)
