What would you do if you won the BIG lottery

[Poppy Fields]

Wow, Ellen! Congrats on your major weight loss! If I win the lottery, I'll pm you. I think with a will and a heart like yours, you should at least have the first 4 things on your list!

[SugarMama]

I just thought I'd add this:

A friend of mine, well was a friend now an acquaintence, won a big Lotto about 20 years ago...$20 million!

It's true money doesn't buy happiness. She soon divorced and remarried. Bought new luxury cars every couple of years, bought a couple of huge vacation homes, did some international travelling. Didn't manage it well, though. Big parties, passed out drunk at many of them. Must not have saved or invested much because

She's now had to sell all but her main home, had to go to work in a store as a cashier, and was even busted for being drunk in public and assaulting a police officer!

Money doesn't buy happiness. If you have problems before the money, you'll still have them afterwards, perhaps even more so because you no longer have the excuse "If only I had such-and-such, I'd be happy..."

When you get such-and-such, it can pull the rug right out from under you and leave you bare. Sad.

Of course, that wouldn't happen to ME.

[Lil Bit]

Considering I was raised by the most frugal woman that was ever created, and I inherited some of her frugal ways, I can't imagine that I would be one who would carelessly throw money away, even if I had tons of it. But who knows? I hope that if I ever had a lot of money, it wouldn't change me. Well, not too much anyway!

[Ellen]

Wow, Ellen! Congrats on your major weight loss! If I win the lottery, I'll pm you. I think with a will and a heart like yours, you should at least have the first 4 things on your list!

Aw, you're sweet!

[Gutmutter]

I almost never play, but it's fun to think about all the same. I'd keep my house that I love, but have some improvements made. I'd pay off my kids' college loans. I'd probably keep working for a few more years, but I'd retire early. I like the idea of setting up trusts until my kids are 30, SugarMama, but I doubt I'd be able to resist splurging on them and gifting them financially if they needed it.
Then, I'd do like SugarMama and make anonymous donations to people in my community who are in need, especially old students.
Most importantly, I'd go back to school and take any college course at any college that interested me. I've always dreamed of being a life-long student.

Reading over these, I remembered playing this game once and realizing I didn't need to win to make my dreams come true, so I quoted my post and realized:
*I do love my house and will make improvements slowly over time.
*I am helping my kids with their loans and over time they will be paid off.
*I love my job and am in no hurry to retire from it.
*I do splurge on my kids and help them financially when they need it.
*I'm required by my contract to take classes every so often.
*I do help people in my community through Big Brothers/Sisters, volunteering at the Y, etc.

I won!

[just1paul]

Reading over these, I remembered playing this game once and realizing I didn't need to win to make my dreams come true, so I quoted my post and realized:
*I do love my house and will make improvements slowly over time.
*I am helping my kids with their loans and over time they will be paid off.
*I love my job and am in no hurry to retire from it.
*I do splurge on my kids and help them financially when they need it.
*I'm required by my contract to take classes every so often.
*I do help people in my community through Big Brothers/Sisters, volunteering at the Y, etc.

I won!

Perfect!

[PWS]

Perfect!

Excellent point!

Not that it isn't still fun to play with the fantasy.... but it doesn't hurt to remember that a lot of us have lives that are pretty ok right now. Sadly not true for those of us who are out of work/health insurance, but probably for most, yeah, not a bad life as is.

[Lil Bit]

I have been unemployed for going on three years now.

BUT... I have a wonderful husband, 3 great kids, 2 precious granddaughters, pets who bring joy to my life, health insurance, a home that's paid for, (thank God), food on the table, and I don't have any kind of health issues. Being laid off from my job also gave me the push I needed to go back to school, which has been such a plus in my life. It is fun to dream, but there really is very little in my life that I would change. I do wish I could afford a new car.

Speaking of big lottery wins though, there was just a story in the Des Moines Register yesterday about someone in Iowa who won $16.5 million about a month ago and the person hasn't come forward to claim their winnings yet. They aren't sure if the person is just waiting for some reason, or if they lost the ticket or something and don't know that they won. Lottery officials know where the ticket was sold, and even the time it was sold, so there is surveillance footage from the store. I guess if I won $16.5 million and then lost the ticket, I would hope that I never knew I had a winner. They say that if the ticket is lost or destroyed, it can't be claimed.

[GuardianAngel]

That would never happen to me. I buy my ticket, it goes right into my wallet. I check my ticket the next day, maybe two days later at the most.

I wouldn't want to know if it was my ticket that was lost.

[inthegarden]

It is fun to think about what you would do with that much money and after thinking about it, I too realized that I am blessed.
I may not have everything I want, but I have everything that I need.