Food.
My ultimate dream would be to set up a nationwide ombudsman service for health care on a sliding scale. These people would attend doctors’ appointments, help explain insurance plans, work individually with people to learn about potential or proposed treatments.
In short, they would play the same role I did for my husband and do for other family members, but they would do it better because it would be their job. The health care industry, even taking out the crazy money system, is very difficult to navigate for a lot of our most vulnerable citizens. People don’t need to be stupid or irresponsible to be overwhelmed by the amount of information and the number of decisions they are expected to make.
Stop being smarter than me, woman! It’s annoying.
A three- or four-bedroom house in Zone 1 would be really lovely. Then I’d like to set up a women’s literacy charity.
My very own house on my very own land, filled with all working appliances and enough rooms so that nobody has to sleep in the living room.
Are you in? I think we could use flying monkeys.
How much money are we talking here? A few million? Billions?
I’d pay off my student loans, set up a nest egg that’s just enough to support me throughout my life (assuming I still work ~40 hours/ per week), and give the rest to charity and other causes I find worthwhile.
I’d buy the largest apartment building(s) I could.
Oh, a good one. We also need something to help divert the indigent from the County ER for non-emergency treatment.
I never really thought about it until this thread. I guess I’ve been poor for so long it’s hard to imagine what you would do with extra money. Also, my needs are simple. If I had say $10 mil, I’d probably set it up so I could live off the interest perpetually. I need a new TV right now. A house would be nice, but I wouldn’t get an excessively big one (more rooms means more cleaning.) I’ve always wanted to own a sports car, but since I already have a car now, it would be frivolous.
A whopping big annuity to ALSA.
I’d start by getting myslf a house in indiana, and setting up my savings and investmenst to be able to live offf the interest.
I’d write my mother a big cheque for her debt and savings. I have three sisters who would be getting money for their needs. I don’t knwo what else i’d do for my family.
My best friend in FL who, like me, hasn’t much, woiuld also be getting money for a house and nest egg. I’d probaby get a house in FL, because i would have family there, built to the strongest hurricane codes, with steel shutters and a generator, and i’d do what i can to make each house of mine “green.”
I’d probably also get a nice plot at the cemetery where my aunt is, so i could be there with space for more.
Pay for the rest of my time at university, and repay what the government loaned me last semester. Put enough aside to do the same for my sister in a few years.
Travel. A lot. There are a bunch of programs I’ve heard about that send students overseas to do voluntary work, and I want to participate in them all.
Get a house or flat.
Donate to various charities and fund medical research.
I’d hire a personal assistant. I’d pay some young, energetic OCD-type an excellent salary and benefits to organize my life and generally keep my shit together. In fact, if I had real fuck-you money, I’d probably have a small staff of such people so one would always be around.
I call this non-frivolous because my ADHD has reached a point where I’d hire one now if I found the right person (although nowhere close to full time).
My car will roll over 200K miles before the end of this month - well, maybe in August at the latest (It needs about 500 miles.)
I think I would replace that.
And pay off my house. (Nearly there, maybe this year even.)
A parking space. No, this is not frivolous. It’s a huge pain in my ass just now.
I’d reinvest in the recycling program here. It needs money badly from mismanagement. Make it efficent and things woudl be better-it would create jobs too.
Something like the healthcare agency suggested above, but for politics. A place where people can go to get unvarnished, unbiased facts on any subject they choose. No idea how to make sure it stays that way, though.
I’d donate all the money the library in town needs for renovation. It’s a good library, and it would be great if they had the room for all the books they’d like to circulate.
As for personal stuff besides a house of my own, I’d have all my teeth pulled and replaced with high quality implants. I inherited one of the brittle teeth diseases which meant no enamel on some baby teeth (I had them surgically removed) and weak enamel on the adult ones, and I was given tetracycline as a small child, so not only are they prone to cavities and breaking, they’re also off-white too.
Buy a piece of land near my house to put under a conservation easement and open up for recreational use. Or lots of land, depending on the amount of moolah. $10 mil actually wouldn’t go very far around here…
My goodness, my list is painfully mundane, and not in any particular order of priority:
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New mattress for bed!
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Eye exams/new glasses for both of us.
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Health insurance - because with that much money we’ll immediately lose our current state-sponsored coverage
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Pay off what little debt we have (largely from buying new car tires this spring)
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Take care of all overdue maintenance on current vehicles
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Buy new residence outright, preferably away from city but near enough to freeway so travel to elsewhere is not too difficult.
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Pay off Buffalo sister’s student loan debt (she went to medical school so yeah, it’s a lot of money)
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Help out Ann Arbor sister, who’s current financial situation is even worse than mine
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Set up remaining funds to ensure income for the rest of my life and my husband’s life.
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Largest cash gift that won’t be taxed to those of us who have helped us out over the past three years of financial troubles.
After that we get into frivolous stuff like new computers and an airplane. And yes, I’ll contribute to worthy charities and such like, but family and friends come first.