Say it was you who just won the $224 M, what would you do?

[yesdachi]

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A Powerball ticket worth $224.2 million was sold at a convenience store in St. Louis, Missouri Lottery officials said Thursday.
The ticket for Wednesday night's drawing was sold at a QuikTrip. No winner has yet come forward.
The $224.2 million jackpot would be paid out in 30 installments over 29 years. If the winner elects to take a lump-sum payment, it would be worth $102.8 million before taxes.
I’ve been toying with the idea of creating some kind of investment company where I could employ my family and friends and give them all a paycheck, insurance and health care forever. Of course I wouldn’t actually want any of them to work for me. I love um but they are totally incompetent.:laugh4:

Even after taxes and paying off all my bills and “two chicks at once” (office space) I would still have plenty to invest with. To the point that even if I were to receive an ultra conservative return I should have plenty to hook up everyone I care for.


Any extra money available might go towards trying to get a decent Star Trek movie made. ~D

[Devastatin Dave]

I would give half of it to the Hillary campaign for dicta..er.. I mean president and the other half to the UN to continue their positive influence around the world since they do such a great job managing money and handling world crises.:laugh4:

[BigTex]

I would buy a hunk of land somewere in France, rename it Texas sucede from France and invade! Sure its unoriginal but hey, wouldnt it be nice to finally stomp out the french question?

Errrm really, i'd buy a nice car and donate the rest to some charity. Large sums of money seem to f**k your life up, and property taxes are ugly bastards so no house. I'd much prefer a slightly more peaceful world.

[Vladimir]

I'd get it all in $1 bills and roll around naked in it. Then I'd most likely sufficate from all the money pressing down on me.

[Don Corleone]

Let's figure in Uncle Sam's cut first and foremost, because one thing I DON'T want to do with $224 million is take it to prison for tax evasion...

So, now we're down to ~$112 million. Next, my state government gets their cut, 10% or 22.4 million. So, of that $224 million, I'll probably see $89.6 million of it. No paltry sum, but still, no where near the $224 million I started with.

Likewise, I have to give the Lord his due, so I would take 10% ($22.4million) and give it to my church.

I would take $4.48M (2%) and put it into the Vanguard Index fund (invests equal shares in all 500 holdings of the S&P 500). I would take an additional 6.72M (3%) and pick 3 or 4 other national index funds and go from there.

Now I'm at 25% left. I would give 5% to my sister, 5% to my parents, give 5% to all remaining relatives 5% to charity (though, I've already given 60% to the government's charity :inquisitive: ). I would give 4% to Nathan Emily and his family (warning, tearjerker alert... Nathan Emily's story (http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=nathanielemily)), and the remaining 1%, well, that's for me. I think I could live large on a $2.24million slush fund. :2thumbsup: I might even take a sabbatical and get my master's full-time instead of this course a semester crap.

[drone]

Can't say that I would quit my job, because not working at all would be boring as hell. Maybe get an agreement to consult or do part-time work. I would have to have something to do, maybe get into charity work.

Upgrade my residence and vehicle somewhat, but nothing too extravagent.

Use extra spare time to play more video games. What can I say, I'm a geek. :help:

Can't say I would better myself, but I can't see myself going downhill either.

[Upxl]

I would buy the company were I work and burn it to the ground.:bounce:

[Devastatin Dave]

I would buy the company were I work and burn it to the ground.:bounce:
The greatest post I have ever read on these boards since I joined!!! Good job!!!:laugh4:

[yesdachi]

I would buy the company were I work and burn it to the ground.:bounce:
Classic. 100%

[Reenk Roink]

In chronological order:

Help some poor people I see buy buying a dozen meals or so and distributing them.

Indulge my great family a bit.

Buy some Swedish Fish (this will be with the current $2.47 in my pocket).

Get a couple of matching sets of shower curtains and bath towels for a sense of unity in my bathroom.

Offer TosaInu and KukriKhan as well as the EB members compensation for their great work.

Get new socks.

Either...

a. Buy an island and become the benevolent dictator
b. Finance a small war to get control of a chunk of land which I will afterwards proclaim myself benevolent dictator

...to begin my dreams of changing the world for the better...

And if I have enough money, I might indulge in myself and buy a dream Alienware rig...

[Beirut]

:kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2:
:kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2:
:kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2:
:kiss2::kiss2::kiss2:~:smoking: :kiss2::kiss2::kiss2:
:kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2:
:kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2:
:kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2:

...and a pizza.

[Marcellus]

I'd get a great big turnip in the country!

For those who watch Blackadder

[Somebody Else]

224 million? I'd put it to use somehow - it's not quite the sum I'm looking for... a few more zeros needed for any proper plans.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

20Mil (At least) to charity. That's to start off with. Then I'd buy a house, a car and do whatever the hell I wanted. Buy the best computer money could buy.

Man, I'd quit doing shit in school, that's for sure...:laugh4:

[Csargo]

I'de most likely get shot and robbed.:no:

[Strike For The South]

Buy a huge a hunk a land a women some stock and to hell with yall. ILL SEE THE APOCAPLSE LISTENING TO HAGGARD FISHING FOR CATFISH!

[Divinus Arma]

A game everyone can love.

I would buy 100 rental properties, each valued at 125,000 in Texas. Total cost:

12,500,000

That would yield me a net monthly return of $700 per month x 100 = $70,000

That would be for me.

The rest would be invested in very stable and easy investments. The return on that would be for my family.

All of it would be managed under a closed corporation that my family would hold stock in. That stock could never be sold, only passed on in equal shares to family members. Thus ensuring my line would have money and influence forever.

edit: and as for what I would actually do? Go to school forever while traveling the world. Scuba diving in Thailand.

[Ice]

Once I was able to breath normally again, I'd invest most if it wisely. I'd give a bunch to charity, a lot to my family/friends, and blow like 20 million just on fun stuff. :2thumbsup:

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Once I was able to breath normally again, I'd invest most if it wisely. I'd give a bunch to charity, a lot to my family/friends, and blow like 20 million just on fun stuff. :2thumbsup:

Yeah, first thought is a bunch of stuff for fun. THEN charity, then spending wisely.:2thumbsup:

[yesdachi]

A game everyone can love.

I would buy 100 rental properties, each valued at 125,000 in Texas. Total cost:

12,500,000

That would yield me a net monthly return of $700 per month x 100 = $70,000

That would be for me.

The rest would be invested in very stable and easy investments. The return on that would be for my family.

All of it would be managed under a closed corporation that my family would hold stock in. That stock could never be sold, only passed on in equal shares to family members. Thus ensuring my line would have money and influence forever.

edit: and as for what I would actually do? Go to school forever while traveling the world. Scuba diving in Thailand.
Why would you want the headache of 100 rentals? Why not just one, two or maybe three commercial buildings totaling 12.5 M? The return would be at least the same without all the middle of the night phone calls about plumbing not working. Not that it would be you answering the phone.

[Kraxis]

Hire a lot of talented developers and beat the crap out of CA with a superior TW game experience.:sweatdrop:

[Louis VI the Fat]

Why stop there, Kraxis?

I would buy Byelorussia, divide it up into M:TW style provinces, hire 2 million guys and medieval uniforms to command around and threat you guys to a really superior TW game experience.

[Kraxis]

Why stop there, Kraxis?

I would buy Byelorussia, divide it up into M:TW style provinces, hire 2 million guys and medieval uniforms to command around and threat you guys to a really superior TW game experience.
Yeah... I guess that would be possible. They are already trained for it (remember the hooligan fight?).:laugh4:

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Buy a huge a hunk a land a women some stock and to hell with yall. ILL SEE THE APOCAPLSE LISTENING TO HAGGARD FISHING FOR CATFISH!
I think I'll donate it to SFTS.

[Viking]

I`d get rid of poverty and wars; bought dozens of nuclear warheads, built a spaceship and moved to Mars.
From there I`d launched the nukes and send them towards Earth where I`d watched the beatiful explosions, from a peaceful location on Mars.
To dangerous to blow them up on the same planet that I live on. :sweatdrop:

Once out of nukes, I`d moved back to Earth where everything now would be as it was like before I moved to Mars. :balloon2:

[Crazed Rabbit]

A Kawasaki Ninja, 650 cc (then 1000cc later), one of those sweet sporty BMW dirt bike things, a nice cruiser, and one nice car.

A nice house in the countryside, near some mountains. Get a nice cottage near a very nice skiing area, or maybe even build my own.

Buy a crapload of sweet guns, maybe try and claim a desolate island as my own, so as to own machineguns hassle free.

Put the rest in savings.

Crazed Rabbit

[Major Robert Dump]

Many states give a 20% tax credit (CREDIT-NOT DEDUCTION) on indirect small business investments (the laws meant to create jobs). Person-to-business loans count as indirect, if the loan is being payed back in full plus interest, but buying part of the company with the intent of recieving dividends does not count. So, essentially, you have to put your money at risk of not being paid back, and cant own any of the company, to get the credit.

So for every 10 million you invest, you get a 2 million striaght up tax credit, which will be 2 million back in your pocket come tax time. The idea is to pick businesses who are in no danger of failing and that can pay the money back quickly. The other idea is to use shell investments, so really the company is simply taking your loan, banking it to gain interest, never spending a dime and paying you back with none of it ever being at risk. Thanks to tax lawyers, accountants and their lobbies, and of course thanks to dirty politicians, this is legal, and yet another way rich people work the tax system like a cheap whore.

So, I "invest" 100 million, get a 20 million tax credit which far exceeds any taxes I'd actually be payin; and at about the same time I get a fat check compliments of the American taxpayers, all the businesses I "invested" in are paying me back my 100 million in full so I can turn around and do it again the next year.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Buy the house I'm currently living in, buy an apartment somewhere in North Jersey, maybe a shore home too...

Then, buy a 1969 Caddiliac Fleetwood, then get tons of customizations done on it.

Buy some firearms.

Buy a few REALLY nice gifts for a certain someone.

Buy a few relativly nice things for some other people.

Put 4 million away in the bank for later.

Donate the rest.

[DemonArchangel]

First thing's first.
Buy myself a spot on the space shuttle to Mars (for when we finally ruin the planet)

Secondly, take the rest of my money and become a Central Asian Warlord.

[Reverend Joe]

I'll tell you what I'd do, man.

https://img239.imageshack.us/img239/1088/lawrence7vi.jpg

Two chicks at the same time.

:laugh4:

But that's short term. Long term, I would pay my my way through college, get a master's in Journalism, and manage the rest very, very carefully- 86 million or so can go a very, very long way when managed properly. Probably, I would invest in several very stable stocks with high dividends, and put the rest into my retirement portfolio. Then I would spend the rest of my life wandering the country in a fireapple red convertible circa 1971, writing for various newspapers and magazines, basically anyone who would be willing to print what came off my typewriter- probably, not so many.

[Divinus Arma]

Why would you want the headache of 100 rentals? Why not just one, two or maybe three commercial buildings totaling 12.5 M? The return would be at least the same without all the middle of the night phone calls about plumbing not working. Not that it would be you answering the phone.

A hired property management firm (and taxes) have already been included.

I would also invest in small business franchises and some limited commerical properties as well. Commercial rent is nice because tenants sign up for years at a time. I was trying not to get too complex here. I am certainly a firm believer in diviersified real estate investments. Too bad the supreme court stole our right to private property with the wonderful New London case.

[lars573]

I'm just glad that here the crown doesn't tax lottery winnings. So if I won $224M on the lottery it would actually be $224M I take home. :2thumbsup:

And I would invest in rental properties as well. Some here in Halifax. But I'd be more in other cities like Calgary, Vancover, Toronto, and Montreal. And stick like 50-100 million in a savings account and live on the interest. Even a 1% interest rate is half a million to a million (annually of course) on the kind of principle were talking about.

[AntiochusIII]

Now, now, an artist with an unlimited wealth, time, and space would only just dawdle.

By the way, scuba-diving in Thailand isn't very safe right now. The country's a mess with all the political troubles going on. Not a Latin America mess, or Iraq mess, but still a mess. Though I doubt they'll harm rich, white, "Farang" tourists.

But there are basically four ideas in my head:

1.) Find a way to become the benevolent dictator. Either a Central Asian warlord (DemonArchangel), a Caribbean dictator (Tropico), or an African warlord (Reenk Roink). Of course, and build an empire out of that--it's a given. Or may be start thirty-two wars for a liberal cause out of pride (anyone got this reference?).

2.) Invest in real estates, wisely, with a professional firm, and only partially, in case some fool of a President, or just some stroke of luck, break down the economy to pieces. Or a nuclear war ruining my property value. The plans are already thankfully laid in this thread, and has more success chance than fighting a genocidal war in Africa, anyway. It's damn hot over there.

3.) Live a life. Not very wise, but hey. One has one life. Better be fun.

4.) I'll never get a lottery anyway, so why bother?

[English assassin]

I'd worry about raising two spoiled brats instead of normal children is what I would do first.

Then I'd find the biggest bit of land I could buy in the south of England with, say, about half the money. I'd put it into a charitable trust, with another quarter of the money in gilts to pay for running costs, (hopefully thereby giving enough away to avoid spoiled brat syndrome), and get the Woodland Trust's advice on how to manage and plant it to produce good old English woodland. Then I'd let people walk in it.

On a much smaller bit of land I would plant a hedge maze, because I like hedge mazes.

Then with the left overs I'd buy a small sailing boat and a berth in a marina on the south coast, and set up my own law firm which would only take cases I thought ought to be taken (and those for free, if you couldn't pay).

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Pay actors to re-create specific battles. Just think about it. Gaugamela!:laugh4:

[SomeNick]

hehe


For myself... my family and loved ones...and local community...*erm* etc etc...

First I'd buy properties. Many properties. Do them up rent them out at +50% on original rent, or whatever I think would be feasible for a vain fool to pay, and market them to toffs with too much money which I would make mine and filter down to people who can use it better. In fact anywhere I could exploit exploiters and convert that money into more usable and well directed ventures that assist the many and not a few ... I bloody would : D

Build some 'green' energy efficient housing estates that are very beautiful and fantastic to live in with affordable rent structures for general public. Have local policies that serve all and not the few. If I could, I'd kick city council out of them completely.

Build a few universities with alternative health curriculum with the purpose of scientifically investigating and validating the more viable methods.
Learn law at university especially international business law, and medicine. Maybe and hopefully make changes to some practices in future somehow, so they work better and actually get results.

Buy a few cars. Lamborghini comes to mind (yeah, bit vain but they look pleasing to me...then again could just design my own I s'pose : D ). I'd pay even more for a clean system with same performance. And, a simple run about car, definitely with a clean energy fuel system.

Invest in renewable energy. Especially clean engine systems. Bloody hell, with that much money I'd just start a Clean Energy Car company and design my own with others : ) Maybe a noiseless jet company too with clean energy systems.

Not tell any prospective wife that I'm rich, or anyone else. Not fall for traps of social inequality associated with too much money. Or 'vanity' as some might call it.
My wardrobe would be pretty much the same. : P

Pay all the mortgages on my family's houses. Provide capital for my brother to start any business he wanted. And a few others.

Build a chain of health food stores or healthy take away stores like subway :S
Or buy out a successful chain. Prefer my own though.

I'd assist my local community with anonymous donations, for worthy and beneficial projects that I've seen the 'books' of. I.E. they are viable, accounts are realistic, and of some form of real benefit to the community as a whole in a 'pro'-productive way.
Mostly I'd assist by buying businesses and giving as many people I could jobs they can do and are happy with. Pay above award wages + bonuses too : )

Create an ethical business empire. Where everyone wins and no one loses to the best of my ability or that of money. Especially third world countries.

Create my own ethical financial institution that also assists people in managing their money and making them a fair profit on investments, responsible credit services too.

Launch a campaign to stamp out government/professional corruption and when have achieved perfect model of how to govern ethicaly and responsibly, then give the model to other countries.

Surround myself with well paid, elitely trained, ethical, responsible and accountable (i.e. If they are responsible they wont need to ever be accountable will they? Or if they ever are due to oversite that is realistic and not feined they will know how to deal with it in an appropriate manner) [especially the legal people :S ] to assist me in endeavours anywhere/everyhwere and for anything.

Buy or build dream homes in nice countries (i.e. the governments aren't full of scum ). Maybe a few resorts too. Would buy/build a casino that doesn't have it's poker machines manipulated too much and people can win a bit more often. (Believe me, they are, I worked in one a few years ago, oh and 'no', don't go near them myself). At least those addicted to casinos would at least get treated fairly in mine. Especially their wallets... Wouldn't care about the profits from it as long as it pays for itself and rewards everyone who works or goes their seeking some entertainment for a fair price and not their livelihoods.

And somehow do this all anonymously... hmmmm lol?

Oh yeah, and celebrate for about a week with a 'party budget account' so all other funds are protected and I can accustom myself to having such an incredible amount of money and not misusing it, take a week to recover from hangovers and bad diet : S and attend to some personal life matters that only money could fix unfortunately.
Then start on seeking the best people I could find and so on ... then achieve all above.

Damn, the smiles and happiness would be priceless : )


Right... well this was fun. Better get back to making a few million : p

[Papewaio]

Set up a trust fund.

Look at this as an oppourtunity to set up my entire family for life.

My family and I would live off 10% of the investment returns.

100 million at 5% bank account would deliever 5 million a year. Pay taxes on the yield, take 10% of that profit for myself, 10% for charity and the rest back into the investment porfolio. Rinse and repeat.

This way the seed capital would keep up with inflation. My family would be set for life and of my earnings and equivalent would be going into charities. By drip feeding charities I can keep an eye on which are living up to expectations (they are as prone, if not more so, to mismanagement as corporations).

A more aggressive approach of real estate rentals and shares would give at least an overall capital gain per annum of 5% and a rental/dividend yield of 5%. This way the seed capital would be outstripping inflation and netting more and more money from the residual profits to family and charity.

[rory_20_uk]

Officially move to the Isle of Man. Do business from there for tax reasons.
For long term profits the stock market still is better than bank accounts. So a fair bit (probably half) in blue chip FTSE 250 shares. As in Isle of man tax less of problem. Possibly worth having a shell company and dvert money through that.

Place at home for my parents to live in with a large garden with stream and woodland.

Some more would go into more high risk investments, such as properties in Spain. Apparently in some areas the properties are worth more than purchased before they are fully built. Mess around in that.

Set up business in Ireland, and dabble in arms trafficking. It's legal and there is a real potential to make a killing.

~:smoking:

[doc_bean]

Probably live of the interests, maybe start my own small business or fund my own research projects.

Some money (a good half million) will be spent on buying an energy efficient house.