# What would you do if you won the lottery? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 1, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329 "2005-10-01T13:34:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/41 "2005-10-03T01:19:58Z")
Pay off all my student loan debt, and the rest of my grad school. Pay of my sisters’ student loan debt. Hire a good financial consultant and invest in such a way that I never have to work again if I don’t want to. Start a scholarship fund for students interested in history. Give a bunch to the Classics program I got my BA from (they need it). Focus my life on pursuits I enjoy (painting, writing, traveling). ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/42 "2005-10-03T01:23:39Z")
> [@Alias](#): > > I would pay all my bills and become debt free!!! > I would buy a mini cooper and a mercedes. > I would build a house. > I would help my mother with her house remodeling woes. > > That’s about it. . . buy a big enough mercedes and you could throw the mini inthe trunk and aren’t those the cursed numbers from Lost? ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/43 "2005-10-03T01:38:23Z")
less than 5 million not enough to quit working, wouldn’t want to lose my fabulous medical; pay off all the credit cards, buy a new house and really “anyrose-ize” it top to bottom, including all new furnature. Doesn’t have to be a mansion - I’m thinking a 3BR slab ranch (I hate stairs) with a huge GreatRoom buy a new, but not terribly austentacious, car. Maybe move up to Lincoln from Ford. (I don’t want the thing stolen before I have a chance to enjoy it) donate a chunk (maybe $50K) to my chorus’ treasury keep enough liquid (about $100K) and sock the rest away for retirement (25-30 years away) 5 to 10 mil - all of the above, plus set my friends up with the downpayments they need to buy their own homes. Give 2 mil to my cousin, and a larger chunk to my chorus. 10-20 mil - all of the above, plus at this point, I’d quit work. Get a house somewhere up the northatlantic coast - Maine maybe. Buy a private jet and hire a good, 30-something, handsome, single, straight pilot. Travel some. Join the professional poker tour. more than 20 mil - all of the above (larger shares to friends and family), plus start my own record label, set up a state of the art studio which my nephew would run (guy’s a sound engineering genius - gets it from my brother, but my brother wouldn’t want the gig, i’m pretty sure) Record my chorus’s Grammy Winning CD. Record my own CD of Broadway covers. combo Midler/Streisand kind of thing) (Follwo up CD would contain duets with both, and maybe an Andrews Sisters style trio) I’m basically greedy and materialistic. I don’t want to share my winnings with other ticket holders BUT I will share MY winnings with people of my choice, so be _real_ nice to me 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/44 "2005-10-03T01:46:43Z")
Give and invest, give and invest, pay off debts. Sheesh. Have we no other greedy shifty people reading this thread? Quit job without a thought for the future. Stick the winnings in a standard 0.1% interest savings account. Why bother with high interest? I’m spending it a few weeks after I get each check anyway! Sell my house. Move to a small cabin in the woods with excellent internet service. Live my dream life as a hermit! Oh sure, kids and wife would come too. What more fun for a kid than living on a giant spread? I’d tell them we were acting out little house on the prairie. Low living expenses, high income… ahhhh. Order everything mail order that we wanted, pick it up on horseback at the nearest town. Relax by my bonfire. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/45 "2005-10-03T01:48:02Z")
hmm - in reading my post - I think I wouldnt quit work for less than $30Mil mainly because I forgot to mention the charities I would endow (the amounts would depend on my winnings) in no particular order: Cancer Research Animal Rescue Heart Association AIDS Foundation ---
**Author:** ![GrahamWellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/54ee81/32.png) [@GrahamWellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrahamWellington)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/46 "2005-10-03T01:52:38Z")
I would have a beautiful home built in the country. It would have a large swimming pool, several fireplaces, recreation room, and a sound-proof torture chamber. I’d then go out and use a stungun on my enemies and load them in the van and drop them down a shoot to the chamber. From there I’d chain them naked to a cold wall and play Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got To Do With It” over and over at full volume until they finally go insane and die. Of course, I’d be sure to video tape them in their agony so I could relive it many times after they’re gone. I’d also have a giant rose garden, in the back yard. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/47 "2005-10-03T01:59:00Z")
Over the years I’ve had to borrow some money from my folks. I’ve kept track of it and the absolutely first thing I’d do would be to pay it back, even though they said it was a gift. Medical expenses mostly. Then I’d hire a lawyer and a tax consultant. Off the top would be 10% for my church, more to follow later when I’ve made a plan. AT least that much again for other charities in my home town. To be paid through the lawyer, I don’t give to get. I’d either build or remodel a house. I want a professional grade kitchen with lots of counterspace, not just gadgets. And a big library room, built to look like the old fashioned ones in the movies, with glass fronted doors for the shelves. A real fireplace in the room, with some big comfy chairs. I’d buy all the books I’ve ever wanted. My mom has always wanted to go on a luxury train trip. We could go together. Dad could come too but I don’t know if he’s interested. I’d endow a nursing scholarship in her name, as she’s already willed her body to a med school. For my dad I’d contact a certain racing team that he’s a fan of, and find out how much it would cost to let him take the driver’s car around the track a few times. He mentioned that fantasy once. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/48 "2005-10-03T04:36:44Z")
I think it’s interesting how so many people’s wish-fulfillment involves creating some kind of haven for themselves, based on their loves - like the stable, and the studio. My haven would be a business that I would run that would buy run-down old houses, fix them up right, and sell them cheap to needy but deserving people. And create a scholarship for needy but deserving students to get a decent education. And build our dream compound that is isolated from the rest of the world so we only have to interact with society when _we_ feel like it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/49 "2005-10-03T05:12:36Z")
-Buy a nice (but efficient) car. -Buy a house. -Save it to pay for the rest of college. -blow all the rest on whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Ink\_a\_dink\_a\_dink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ink\_a\_dink\_a\_dink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ink_a_dink_a_dink)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/50 "2005-10-03T06:05:50Z")
Move. Pay all bills. See all doctors. Pay off mom’s computer. Pay off sister’s schooling. Buy a reasonable car. Move. Invest. Get a job and hope the investing would keep growing enough for me to be able to not have to work so hard and I can finally do what _I_ want in this freaking world. Move. Did I mention move? Sorry. Depressive state in Inky’s house today. Inky. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/51 "2005-10-03T11:37:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Hey, eleanor, you know your husband gets half, yeah? WHAT??? Damn. Damn. Damn. :crosses fingers: maybe that’s some nice Canuck thing and doesn’t apply here in the rapaciously capitalistic USA. Then again, depending on how much it is (and at this point, winning $100 looks really good), he can have his half–perhaps he will use it wisely to pay down the massive debt he incurred in starting his own lil dotcom business that almost bankrupted us (would have except for parents) and forced me back into a profession that I had gladly and most heartfelt thankfully left (nursing, you deviants!). but I doubt it. I…_I_ would use it wisely and not blow it all. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/52 "2005-10-03T11:59:28Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > WHAT??? > Damn. Damn. Damn. > :crosses fingers: maybe that’s some nice Canuck thing and doesn’t apply here in the rapaciously capitalistic USA. > Then again, depending on how much it is (and at this point, winning $100 looks really good), he can have his half–perhaps he will use it wisely to pay down the massive debt he incurred in starting his own lil dotcom business that almost bankrupted us (would have except for parents) and forced me back into a profession that I had gladly and most heartfelt thankfully left (nursing, you deviants!). > > but I doubt it. > > I…_I_ would use it wisely and not blow it all. the trick is to tell him to “leave, now” before you reveal you possess the winning ticket. and I think “community property” still exists in California. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/53 "2005-10-03T15:20:50Z")
That reminds me of that [guy who won the lottery and tried to hide it from his wife and children](http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Lotteries/LotteryNews/2005/02/22/938785-sun.html). He was a real piece of work. Well, she kind of was, too. A messed-up pair, for sure. **eleanor** , I don’t know about sharing property in a divorce where you are, but I’m pretty sure you can count on your husband taking part of your winnings. You might even get to pay him alimony. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/54 "2005-10-03T17:31:22Z")
well, I guess it’s a good thing that I don’t play… ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/55 "2005-10-04T04:16:18Z")
The fame thing is easy. Be amiable, and boring and repeat all the same things lottery winners have said for the last twenty years. Make an effort to be the least interesting lottery winner ever. Everyone says they are famous, but how many multimillion dollar lottery winners would you recognize on the street? Hiding is counterproductive. Wait the fifteen minutes, and then just fade out into obscurity. Never say no to folks who ask for money, just give them your new address. Don’t ever check the mail there. (Pay a friend to be your junk mail address. Tell them to pitch it as it comes in, since you won’t be giving that address to anyone you actually want mail from.) Get a cell phone, plug it into a charger, put it on silent, and leave it in the closet. Give that phone number out as your public phone number. Well, I have no debts, so that’s already taken care of. Maybe a house, in a year or so, built to my own specifications. No hurry, though, since I can afford to rent a nice place, or several. I got a car. I suppose I could get a bunch of cameras and such. Nifty printers, lenses as long as my arm, maybe. There is a short list of folks that currently have money problems that would no longer have those money problems. There is a slightly longer list of folks who can cordially kiss my ass as much as they want, but they ain’t getting squat. There is a short list of small charitable organizations that will get big time help. And one lady who works where I do who will get paid to resign, and stay as a volunteer in the exact same place she is now at a substantial pay raise, and not have to listen to the idiots. ## Tris “When they’re handin’ out the heartaches, you know you got to have you some!” ~ Juice Newton ~ ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/56 "2005-10-04T04:25:15Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > The fame thing is easy. Be amiable, and boring and repeat all the same things lottery winners have said for the last twenty years. Make an effort to be the least interesting lottery winner ever. Everyone says they are famous, but how many multimillion dollar lottery winners would you recognize on the street? Hiding is counterproductive. Wait the fifteen minutes, and then just fade out into obscurity. Never say no to folks who ask for money, just give them your new address. Don’t ever check the mail there. (Pay a friend to be your junk mail address. Tell them to pitch it as it comes in, since you won’t be giving that address to anyone you actually want mail from.) Get a cell phone, plug it into a charger, put it on silent, and leave it in the closet. Give that phone number out as your public phone number. This is perfect for strangers, but I couldn’t do this to my family and pre-lottery circle of friends. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/57 "2005-10-04T05:02:46Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > This is perfect for strangers, but I couldn’t do this to my family and pre-lottery circle of friends. My friends and family get my address and phone, just like they do now. It’s folks who only want to be my friend now that I got money that get the special address. Most of my friends would still be my friends. My family would be pretty well welcome to reasonable amounts of money, and if they wanted unreasonable amounts, I know exactly how to say no. “No.” See? Tris ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/58 "2005-10-04T06:00:09Z")
I spend far too much time contemplating this possibility. I’d buy a condo or a house in Montreal, and my boyfriend could quit his job and shuttle back and forth as often as we liked to visit me in PA. Give some to my family and charity, and give the rest to my dad to invest. Over Christmas take myself and maybe 5 or 6 friends to an all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean. Other than that… I’d probably stick to grad school. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/59 "2005-10-04T11:41:33Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > And one lady who works where I do who will get paid to resign, and stay as a volunteer in the exact same place she is now at a substantial pay raise, and not have to listen to the idiots. huh? You’re paying her to resign, and your paying her more than she gets now to volunteer to do exactly what she’s been doing, only now without benefits? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329/60 "2005-10-04T14:54:05Z")
Set up a trust to manage the money. Pay off my debt. Advertise the living hell out of my Taekwondo school. Take a vacation and travel to places I’ve never been before. And last, but not least: start sleeping well at night because my financial worries are over. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-the-lottery/324329.md?page=4)