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Try to stay anonymous as long as I could..
Give like 200 grand to Mom and Brother to split and I would just go away someplace(s) for a year or two...
Basically just disappear..
When I come home I would..
Pay off Immediate family members mortgages..
Buy a nice Cabin on a lake somewhere breathtaking.. Hopefully NW North Carolina somewhere about..
Of course all of the frills with that, 25 foot pontoon boat, ATVs and an array of canoes and kayaks..
I'd love to have a house on Long Island again..
I think I would buy a condo in Manhattan though and visit..
Open huge trust funds for my Niece and Nephew..
To pass my time I would open a small breakfast place..
Offer amazing food at awesome prices...
The friendships made there could be worth 10x the money spent or lost..
It's true, a million dollar win wouldn't be life-changing. Especially if it came over installments. But I agree I'd try funnel some of that to family members.
10 million or more, different story. That's quitting work kind of money. Absolutely go radio silence, unless prohibited by state law. I would not do lump sum. This is where most winners make their mistake, particularly the ones that end up broke. It takes time to learn how to manage a windfall.
What I would do is get a financial team to set up a couple of trust funds, one for me and my immediate family, the other for extended family. I'd write it up so we would all get annual disbursments from the trusts, which would invest the money in t-bills, bond index funds and equity index funds.
Oh, and I would do all of this after I get back from my five-month around the world cruise!
For me, ~$2M is quitting-work money.
Anything more than that I'll split it among my immediate family.
And anymore than THAT, I'm setting up scholarship funds for poor kids and start up my own dog rescue shelter.
IF I ever won, I would stay anonymous too. I would get a lawyer, financial advisor and accountant right away and do what they say.
I would quit my job because I hate it, buy a new car for myself and husband, buy or build a new house and give some money to my children and set up some type of trust fund for my grandchildren. Then I would travel.
The problem is, with many state lotteries, there is a clause where you HAVE to do the press conference and you have to have your real name on that big check so it would be pretty hard to stay anonymous.
If I won, I would don a wig with bangs and have someone do my makeup so I wouldn't be recognizable. My name is pretty common so I'm not worried about that.
Was that the guy with the pony tail? And didn't his house eventually go into foreclosure because he didn't keep up with the common charges for the gated community he was in? Something tells me that he ended up being broke or close to it? I've seen most of the episodes.
I remember one woman who won a million. She was a very conservative woman, put money away, paid off her house, still working, etc. She said that many of her family members don't speak to her anymore because she wouldn't give them money. She said they really don't get that $1M isn't really that much money. She's right ---- once you pay your state and federal taxes on it, pay off/buy a house, put money away for retirement, and take a few dream vacations, there won't be all that much left. She said certain family members just didn't understand that and stopped talking to her. That's so sad!
She's better off. They won't be calling her when she wins her next million.
Definitely you need a lawyer as you would be hounded by relatives, charities, investment advisers asking for donations, loans which never get paid back, and anyone wanting you to invest in their business.
For me, ~$2M is quitting-work money.
Anything more than that I'll split it among my immediate family.
And anymore than THAT, I'm setting up scholarship funds for poor kids and start up my own dog rescue shelter.
Just remember, the giver has to pay taxes on the money that you will be handing out if it's over the IRS gift limit. You could find yourself broke in no time.
The problem is, with many state lotteries, there is a clause where you HAVE to do the press conference and you have to have your real name on that big check so it would be pretty hard to stay anonymous.
If I won, I would don a wig with bangs and have someone do my makeup so I wouldn't be recognizable. My name is pretty common so I'm not worried about that.
You can stay anonymous, but you have to give up all control over the money you won in order to do so. You will have no say in how it is invested and you better trust the person in control 100 percent. I believe you'd have to create a blind trust to do this. Read up on it and then decide.
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