There are a number of people who have helped me in my life at significant cost to themselves–some financial, some otherwise. They’d find themselves debt free.
There are about ten children who are relatives or of friends so close they may as well be relatives. They’d get scholarships and probably a trust fund for some decent house-down-payment cash on graduation from college.
There are a couple of folks who struggle with debt outside their control (medical, psychological, or externally caused legal issues) and which they’ll never be able to pay off. They’d get help, but possibly anonymously.
I’d also probably keep a couple mill in $50K checks made out to “Cash”, to hand out to those people you run across all the time who perform some spontaneous selfless act for me or others who never seem to get rewarded for doing so.
All of that together wouldn’t amount to more than a fraction of the hypothetical $250 mil, and would improve the lives of maybe two dozen people immeasurably–and I’d literally never notice the spent money as far as my own lifestyle goes.
Luckily (?) I live in a place where multimillionaires are a dime a dozen, so I don’t think there’d be much trouble with strangers asking me for money and the like. Still, I’d try to keep it quiet.
For “found money” as postulated, I think I’d feel guilty NOT passing along a fair amount of my good fortune. And I can’t imagine a circumstance where I’d make that kind of money (hundreds of millions) because of actual work on my part: there just aren’t that many jobs that pay at that level, and I’m constitutionally unfit for all of them.
I’d also give out $5K checks to the first twenty or so panhandlers I saw, just because Rand Rover thinks it should be illegal.
I think one of the problems with giving money to friends and family is, where do you draw the line? Sure, large sums to parents and siblings; do married siblings get twice as much as unmarried? How about nieces and nephews? Aunts and uncles? Grandparents? Close friends, sure. Now, who’s your close friend? What about good friends? Casual acquaintances? Co-workers?
And how much do they get? In my family, I have a single, retired mom, a sister with a husband and two kids who are quite well-off already, a sister with a husband who are struggling a little as he tries to pick up a contract, and a sister with a husband who is self-employed and living comfortably (but working fairly hard). Do they all get the same? Some need more than others - do they get according to their need?
Infact I wouldn’t give any money to most of my family members only a select few. Mom, Dad & sister, that’s my short list.
Not that I’m cheap but from what I’ve heard from people that went from rags to riches their advice is to have a “don’t give money to anyone” policy. My friends aunt won 2.8 million he told me stories about one dead beat relative that kept on harrasing her for more. She went with the help out the family policy and it turned around to bite her in the ass and caused nothing but headaches.
I have it easy-I’ve only spoken to two of my friends in the last three or five years. I wouldn’t give money to them, because they don’t seem to want to give any of their money to me, while they are so much more advantaged than me, currently.
With my new money, I could *buy *better friends. Hold on; I just remembered a friend of mine that recently had a stroke. He would get a million. That’s it.
I would give a bundle to my family. Then, I would randomly give money to strangers for whom I felt sorry. Just hand them a pile, and let them do what they wanted.
Now, if my friends got money, I definitely wouldn’t ask. They would literally laugh at me.
Best wishes,
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One of the very few upsides to not having a lot of friends is that I wouldn’t have a lot of extended hands. I’d help my best friend. She’d probably refuse. I’d win, eventually. If some of my more casual friends were having some sort of crisis, I’d try to do something anonymously or more practical. Like instead of cash, sending over groceries.
I would not ask a friend for money if they won big, but if they offered and insisted, I’d probably not refuse.
First off, if a friend offered me money and I knew that they had it, I would probably not turn it down.
I have done some thinking, and the list of friends I would help with my riches is fairly small… and I would do my best to help anonymously. Paying of student loans, buying the houe they rent and informing them of a lowered rent, etc. etc.
That whole house buying thing would actually enable me to help a few other friends too, as the new rental company would need an office, an office manager, and a secretary to handle mail. I would hire a few choice friends who would administer such things.
And the few friends I am close enough to that they would know this had happened would never want for anything. The good thing about my friends is, they wouldn’t ask anyways.
My initial reaction was no, because it’s a bad idea to mix your friends and your finances. But I very quickly thought of a few good friends who I’d like to do something for:
My best friend since childhood has a very bright and well-behaved little girl. Generous college fund for her. I might pay off the family’s mortgage too.
A good friend worked in the field for a major international relief organization for a couple of years, and is now back in the US getting her Master’s degree in International Development. Her tuition will be covered, as well as any standing educational loans.
I have a couple of friends who are very talented visual or performing artists who have chosen to work in their respective fields, but have thus far only been able to get low paying jobs like giving music lessons to kids or sewing in a costume shop. I’d find a way to help them try to take things to the next level, such as paying for the musician to cut a professional-sounding demo.
My mother’s in her 50s and lost a good chunk of her retirement fund in the recent economic downturn, so I’d take care of that for her. She’s about to move to a new city for a new job so I’d also buy her a nice house there.
#2 first: No. I don’t need it, wouldn’t expect it, and if it were offered freely, I’d wonder what the catch is, because (in current circumstances, knock-on-wood) there’s no reason anyone should offer.
#1: I’d try to keep it a secret. Given the different scenarios, there’s no reason anyone should know that my company was bought out, or that I inherited money, or that I even won the lottery via a found ticket. Frankly, I have no idea who ever wins the lottery. I suppose there are people that scour the news every day to look for lottery winners they can leech off of, but I hope I don’t know any of those. It’s always easy to have a law office claim the prize and keep you anonymous.
I would tend to be anonymously charitable, though. Maybe scholarships. Maybe a one-time bequest to a family member (hey, I won $30,000 in the daily lottery, but don’t really need all of it. Can I replace your transmission for you?).
I doubt I’d give anyone a million - that’s just asking for trouble. I’d certainly fund peoples business start up costs, scholarships and the like. I’ve got a couple of friends who’d make/are great foster parents, I’d like to buy them some big houses so they could be more comfortable doing it.
I don’t expect a friend who becomes flush to give me money and would never ask for it, but I would say yes thanks - I’d show them what I’d do with it.
I’m surprised nobody else has said this as an aside: I’d probably set up a fund so the dope could be ad-free and pay the mods a modest stipend for their troubles. I do worry that a large chunk of them will jump ship because its draining, and while they’re far from perfect, the majority do a very nice - and completely thankless - job.
Of course I would, to my close friends. Yes, it risks creating an imbalance in our friendship. possibly even losing the friendship, but it’d be worth the risk if it meant that they didn’t struggle with debts or could take time out to look after their kids or whatever. They’re my friends - the point is being nice to them (and vice-versa) not keeping them as friends no matter what.
Besides, it’s not like it’s earnt money - you’re just sharing the luck.
With my very closest friends, yes, I would be a little put out if they won enormous sums of money (like the $250million you mention) and didn’t help me out at all, because that’s not what I’d do in their position, but I’d get over it.
These are the kind of friendships where you’ll buy a round at the pub or items from the supermarket and not necessarily expect the exact money given back straight away because you know that the other person will do the same for you next time. And yes, I am often the one doing the spending, JIC anyone wondered!