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.

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.

[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.

[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 ). I would give 4% to Nathan Emily and his family (warning, tearjerker alert... Nathan Emily's story), and the remaining 1%, well, that's for me. I think I could live large on a $2.24million slush fund. 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.

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.

[Devastatin Dave]

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

The greatest post I have ever read on these boards since I joined!!! Good job!!!

[yesdachi]

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

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]

...and a pizza.

[Marcellus]

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

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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...

[Csargo]

I'de most likely get shot and robbed.

[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.

[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.

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

[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.

[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?).

[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.

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

[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.



Two chicks at the same time.



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.