If I won millions, I would stay in the Army. I’d do the exact same things, just with much better gear!
Well Minotaurus, ol’ buddy, I got some beachfront property in Arizona I’ll let go cheap! 
no thanks, i live well her in Europe
besides, i like the seasons 
That’s assuming the dude is telling the truth. Seems a tad more likely that someone would just be making it up for attention in this kind of setting.
Personally, if I won a lot of money, I probably would keep quiet about it and wouldn’t want to be on the news or anything like that. I wouldn’t want to draw the attention of potential thieves and scammers.
If I won millions of dollars, I wouldn’t have to eat Kraft dinners. But I would eat Kraft dinners–I’d just eat more of 'em.
We have four seasons in (Tucson,) Arizona: hot, a little hotter, REALLY HOT, and not-quite-as-hot-and-pretty-rainy.
With, like, really expensive ketchup - DIJON KETCHUP!
Add me to the skeptical-of-the-OP list.
However, I just won 500 bucks off of a scratch-off ticket. Woot!
And pre-wrapped bacon, dammit.
Way to go, Hal! Have a nice celebratory dinner … perhaps a little lamb?
I don’ gettit … how would you having money make the Army have better gear?
You’d be rich
I’ve heard that the Army discharges million dollar winners. Don’t remember why at the moment. Is this just a rumor?
I don’t see why it’s NECESSARY to be skeptical of the OP. Of course, if you have any sense at all, you take EVERYTHING you read on an anonymous, or semi-anonymous message board with a grain of salt. After all, anyone is capable of leaving their computer unguarded for a moment and having so-called “friends” post weird stuff about your sexual preferences. 
But as a general rule, I give most people the benefit of the doubt unless they say something that’s clearly inconsistent with their claims, or with sanity.
And there are a few posters who regularly post to the Dope whose posts have indicated that they are, if not in a position to buy and sell Bill Gates, very comfortably well off, members of the upper class economically and very probably rich by middle class standards in the US.
The thing that makes me curious is, how different does it feel to be rich in the US as well as Europe. Most middle class and lower class folks in the US live from paycheck to paycheck. If you lose your job and can’t find another one soon enough, you could lose your home. You could even become homeless. You also tend to lose your health insurance, and could only get medical help for problems severe enough to get you admitted to an emergency room.
And since many states are now “at will” states where you can be fired at any time for any reason or for no reason, your job is never all that secure.
This doesn’t happen to most middle class folks, but it does happen to some. And the knowledge that it COULD happen is with all of us, always. As I understand it, the social net in many European countries is much better for lower class and middle class folks. It’s harder to get fired, harder to get evicted from your home, harder to be homeless and health insuranance is nationalized. So I would guess that getting rich suddenly in Europe, while it means a much better lifestyle, doesn’t mean you’re suddenly relieved of the nightmare prospect of suddenly finding yourself homeless and sick and able to do nothing about it, as it would in the US.
So, am I blowing smoke here, Minotaurus – are things just as tough for regular folks in your corner of Europe?
Sounds nice, the boredom must be hell though. I have only been out of college for 2 weeks and I am bored as hell and looking forward to summer classes starting in mid June. I don’t know how retired people put up with it.
In the U.S., while winning three million in nothing to sneeze at, it isn’t quit your job sort of security. As was pointed out, there is the tax burden. Then there is having to pay your own health care. If you have kids, education in the U.S. is expensive. At my age and standard of living with two kids who still need college, I’d need twice that to even think about sitting around a surfing porn all day.
Are you serious? I’d retire on half that much in a heartbeat! True, I don’t have kids, but even so. I think I could find an investment counselor who would help me pull down $50K a year with a million dollars. If I weren’t working, that would be plenty for me.
Oh, and Wesley? I can’t *imagine * being bored!
Damn. I haven’t won $ 3 million and I sit around surfing porn all day. Yanno, I never learned to do things in order !!
I agree. 3 mil isn’t enough. I’m 43. I have two kids rapidly approaching college age. I have no retirement fund at all, to speak of. ( Social Security is a just a card, not a plan, IMHO ). As pointed out, that 3 Mil is 2 mil, and even less. That gives me 50-6- K to work with? That would actually be a tremendous burden in my tax bracket, because it would insure that I had to pay full cash price for both kids to go to college. It wouldn’t leave me with much, but I wouldn’t be eligible for squat from a school. ( I’m not whining, parents with much much less SHOULD get financial aid. I’m just sayin’ ).
That means that after 6 or 7 years of undergrad school between the two kids and supporting the family as we do now, we’d be living as we are now. Once the kids are out of college, and the 50K keeps coming in after taxes every year? Sure. Try to set up a retirement fund.
Me, I’m looking for a nice 10-25 Mil ticket. Anyone have any leads on one?
Cartooniverse
Yeah, I’m serious. First, remember the income on the investment is taxable. Second, remember to retire you need to turn enough income to protect yourself from inflation - the principle needs to continue to grow while you withdraw funds. I have two kids - we need to put $1,200 a month away to send them to public college! Property tax of $7k a year, groceries, gas, heat the house, pay the phone bill, $100 a month in cable and broadband, $100 a month in cell phones. We like to take a yearly vacation (or two), we like to eat out, we like to golf. Then there are the “unexpected expenses” - last year a new washer and dryer, two unexpected trips for family emergencies. I’m 40 years old, I have no desire to retire now and run out of money at 70!
Our current expenses exceed $50,000 a year - before we save for the kids education, I’m not interested in lowering my standard of living so I can sit on my butt.
Good points. I figure if I won three million now after taxes I’d have to work for another ten years. 37 years old with four kids and four college tours in the future.
I’ve got retirement covered, but I’d run out of money by the time I retire if I didn’t buffer those winnings for a few years. THEN, I could settle down and coast.