How to use Powerball winnings

[karen4546]

10% to Church
10% to local nonprofit (where I work) over the next 10 years

Incorporate And/or trust.

pay off all debt of family members and some very close friends. gift $10000 to each of my coworkers.

bucket List:
live in Scotland for a year

cruise around Europe

ABD for whole family at least once

my most frivolous purchase will be a Christmas cruise with family on the Fantasy in the Roy and Walt suites, 12000, and one of the family concierge rooms on each side- essentially the the entire front of the ship.

I definitely don’t want a mansion. I would like to Live in Hawaii but I don’t think I can get everyone in my immediate family to agree with that and I must be near my children and grandchildren.


Oh and I promised someone on here 1% when I win but I will have to go back and look who that is.

edit to add it was @Praying Colonel

.2% to five random people on here

 

[jo-jo]

Oh and I promised someone on here 1% when I win but I will have to go back and look who that is.

It was me. Don't bother looking, you'll be too busy. Please trust me, it was me. Really, I wouldn't lie to you. It was me.

What's your name again, best friend I ever had?

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I would get a good financial advisor, lawyer, and accountant.

I would definitely do some traveling, get a bigger house, bigger car etc... I would stay here in the area (as far as actual residence) because it is home. I would also be a generous gift giver

 

[Carol_]

10% to Church
10% to local nonprofit (where I work) over the next 10 years

Incorporate And/or trust.

pay off all debt of family members and some very close friends. gift $10000 to each of my coworkers.

bucket List:
live in Scotland for a year

cruise around Europe

ABD for whole family at least once

my most frivolous purchase will be a Christmas cruise with family on the Fantasy in the Roy and Walt suites, 12000, and one of the family concierge rooms on each side- essentially the the entire front of the ship.

I definitely don’t want a mansion. I would like to Live in Hawaii but I don’t think I can get everyone in my immediate family to agree with that and I must be near my children and grandchildren.


Oh and I promised someone on here 1% when I win but I will have to go back and look who that is.

That was me.

 

[princesscinderella]

I’d buy a vacation home in golden oaks and demand a club 33 membership, so I don’t have to wait in ride lines ever again. Travel the world, help members of our family with a chunk of money too. I’d give a million or two to each of our employees so they can retire too.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

I actually keep a document on my computer where I record things I would do/purchase if we won it big in the lottery. My son and I started it back in 2018? when one of the last huge lottery drawings took place. It includes everything from foods we want to try, places we want to travel, details we would put into a house, little things like quality kitchen gadgets and $2.99 Ipad apps to big things like Disney's World of Dreams Tour ($12,000/day). There are plans for charities/food banks and helping family, silly things like $350,000 for a French Vispring mattress and bed frame (no, we would never buy this!), practical items like music lessons and toiletries, and stuff for hobbies. Any time we see or read about something that we think, "That would be cool!" we add it to the list. It has been kind of neat looking through it from time to time and watching our tastes and desires change, especially my son's, that have morphed from fossils and Lego sets to 3-D printers and gaming systems.

For those looking for some extra reading on the subject, you can check out the following articles:

First, A Cautionary Tale on Reddit (along with some practical advice)

What do insanely wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (a Reddit discussion including a breakdown describing the differences between each level of wealth)

50 Things People Buy For Their Home When They Strike It Rich

More Disney specific articles include:

Our Top 10 Disney Bucket List Experiences
Disney Bucket List
Dream Disney World Vacation for Lottery Winners
How Your Disney Vacation Would CHANGE If You Won the Mega Millions
10 Insanely Expensive Things in Disney World! (includes items like Swarovski covered gift cards)
If You’ve Done ALL 25 of These Things in Disney World, We’ll Be Seriously Impressed!

Good luck to those who enter!

 

[ronandannette]

The usual "small" stuff:
Pay off student loans for various relatives and do some traveling.
Design and build the perfect house (and help a few family members do the same).

For bigger picture stuff, I've got a couple of ideas:

A friend and I have long had what we call "the lottery school folder" where we've tucked articles and ideas for building and running our own school, designed by actual teachers.

I'd also like to start a charitable foundation. I have some ideas for causes I'd like it to support, but I'd fill an advisory board with young people (especially some who grew up poor) and see what they come up with as well.

Love the bolded. Back in the pre-internet dark ages, I used to have a folder with newspaper clippings of stories about people/things/causes that really touched my heart, and I dreamed about solving problems with money - and although it can't buy happiness, it sure as heck can ease some difficulties.

Nowadays, I'd hire some like-minded young people to scour social media for me and compile lists of people we could help. I'd hire 3 of my very close friends to help administer the benevolence through a low-key foundation. One is extremely tender-hearted and compassionate, one is younger and has very modern social-justice sensibilities and one is thicker-skinned and adept at rolling her sleeves up to get things done (like me!). We'd make a great team and I cannot think of a more joyful way to spend money, or my life's energy.

What I wouldn't do is make plans that focus on acquiring things or perpetually entertaining myself. It would be fun for a few months, sure, but beyond that, a life of leisure would be very unfulfilling to me. I'd also have a pretty hard time deciding just how much to give to family members. Not that the money would matter to me; it's all just so many buttons at that point. But I wouldn't want to give them so much that it would stifle their own creativity and work ethics or the need/desire to strive towards their personal goals and contribute productively to the world.

Anyway...all that to say, I'll definitely figure it out as I go, so bring on my kazillions!!!

 

[Carol_]

10% to Church
10% to local nonprofit (where I work) over the next 10 years

Incorporate And/or trust.

pay off all debt of family members and some very close friends. gift $10000 to each of my coworkers.

bucket List:
live in Scotland for a year

cruise around Europe

ABD for whole family at least once

my most frivolous purchase will be a Christmas cruise with family on the Fantasy in the Roy and Walt suites, 12000, and one of the family concierge rooms on each side- essentially the the entire front of the ship.

I definitely don’t want a mansion. I would like to Live in Hawaii but I don’t think I can get everyone in my immediate family to agree with that and I must be near my children and grandchildren.


Oh and I promised someone on here 1% when I win but I will have to go back and look who that is.

edit to add it was @Praying Colonel

.2% to five random people on here

I’m random!

 

[dvcgirl67]

First of all....I would tell no one. Other than my DH....not a single soul. This is such a huge jackpot that it's truly a security risk to put your name out there. New Jersey now allows you to remain anonymous, which is great. We'd likely just take the lot and buy Treasuries with it, leaving a few million accessible to us for the short term.

Then, I wouldn't change or do anything for at least a few months and then we'd begin to tell customers, employers and family that we're retiring. We're close enough to a traditional retirement age that this would work. Next, I'd hire someone to live at my house to care for my dogs so that we could travel. And for the first year.....that's all we'd do I think....is travel, coming home occasionally to visit family and our dogs. Then I think we'd settle down enough to figure out what we'd like to do. We'd likely help out some family members and friends.....being clear that any gift is a one time deal, because I've read horror stories about that. I'd set aside funds for my niece and nephew...for when they are adults. And then I'd set aside enough for us to buy a nice home somewhere where we'd like to spend a lot of time, likely California. Nothing too extravagant. And then...really start to give huge chunks of it to charities and individuals with great need. Our splurge would be travel for sure.

Yeah...I've thought about this .

 

[Colleen27]

Honestly, even my "lotto dreams" aren't at all adequate to that kind of jackpot. Mostly I'd want to finish remodeling our house, maybe 100K if we went all-out and hired out everything we'd ordinarily do ourselves, and travel. Pay for my daughter's grad school and my son's house, and buy a house for my bonus daughter. Buy both DSs a new car now, DD21 one when she knows where she's going to be for the next few years, and DD14 something not new but safe when she starts driving. Pay off my BIL's house so he'll stop hitting MIL up for money when he gets tight. Set an annuity up for MIL so she can stop clipping coupons and travel/enjoy her retirement more. Pay for college/pay off student loans for my nieces and nephews, and set up a college account for my granddaughter.

I could probably burn 2-3 million pretty easily on practical matters, but then I'd have to start getting creative. Maybe buy a totally off-grid place in Alaska and get my pilot's license and a float plane to enjoy our time there. Open a bookstore in my town's downtown district, with beautiful views of the water and space for book club meetings, DnD nights, and other community gatherings. Buy a loft in the city so I don't have to drive home when I'm downtown for concerts. Start up a debt collection agency just to buy up and forgive medical debt. Establish a fund to make breakfast and lunch free to every student in our district, every day. It is just such an unfathomable amount of money that what to do with it defies imagination. But since we don't play, I suppose I don't need to worry too much about it.