If you won the Texas Lotto... (Austin, St. Jo: real estate, mortgage, lawyer)

[OneJackson]

...and it was say $10 million after you paid all your taxes and your attorney, lawyer fees, etc..

What would be the VERY FIRST thing you would buy AFTER you had access to your millions?

[mickey65]

I'd pay off the house and then quit my job, and enjoy the life of a rich, unemployed person.

[Astrolaura]

Originally Posted by mickey65

I'd pay off the house and then quit my job, and enjoy the life of a rich, unemployed person.

I second this post.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by mickey65

I'd pay off the house and then quit my job, and enjoy the life of a rich, unemployed person.

Thus starting your journey toward being eventually worse off than you were before you had the money, as numerous studies bear out.

Money is like water, it flows toward certain people and away from others. If we divided up all the money in the world evenly, it would eventually leave the people who didn't have it before, and end up with the people who initially had it.

I have zero chance of winning the lottery because I've never bought a lotto ticket and never plan to. It's nothing more than a hidden tax on the poor and uneducated. (and gambling addicts)

Steve

[achtungpv]

Before claiming it, I'd definitely have a blind trust created to claim it so my name was never publicized. A lady in my hometown won and she was besieged with strangers calling for months and months not to mention long lost relatives trying to get their share. She also got calls from the local Chevy dealership with offers for them to bring new cars to her house for her to look at.

First thing I would do is to decide to start "working from home". No one would ever know I won but they'd think I was doing REALLY well working for myself!

[centralaustinite]

I'm pretty much with Steve. I don't play the lottery or believe that it is an appropriate state function. But my lotto winning dreams usually quickly turn to how I could give it away -- form my own charitable foundation, have people write grants to me! or make significant contributions to existing charities. I'd love to see an independent, secular, college prep private high school in Austin, that would use up that 10 million pretty fast! I might support micro-lending to business people here and abroad.

I suppose with 10 million I might finally be ready to undertake the monthly expense of an iphone!

[Runemaster]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

It's nothing more than a hidden tax on the poor and uneducated. (and gambling addicts)

Steve

They used to have bumper stickers that said "State Lottery: The official tax on people who are bad at math."


If I were to win one (which, like Steve said would never happen, since I don't buy tickets). I'd take care of the house thing, then move my career away from the writing I currently do and into the writing I'd like to be doing, but can't since you usually have to "pay your dues" for a few years with no income.

[TexasHorseLady]

I've thought about this often. First, of course, yes, have a family trust set up and claim it with that. Pay off the mortgage and invest the rest in a variety of vehicles - stocks, bonds, real estate, and more. Buy a new truck, perhaps, or just completely restore the one I have.

If it was a truly HUGE win, I've thought I'd like to start an elementary through high school based somewhat on the St. John's College educational premise and set up some scholarships for it, as well.

Oh, and a new barn.

[Trainwreck20]

It's nothing more than a hidden tax on the poor and uneducated. (and gambling addicts)

Pretty much true for quite a few people buying lottery tickets, but I consider it entertainment - kind of like going to a movie, but cheaper and I have more fun imagining what I would do if I won. I probably spend $2 or $3 a year on it, my wife maybe a dollar if she happens to think of it.

Thus starting your journey toward being eventually worse off than you were before you had the money, as numerous studies bear out.

Not everyone heads that way, although you have to be cautious about it, I suppose. I don't think we have any grandiose plans in our heads for winning the lottery, but it would be nice to be able to work at a lower paying/part-time job that we really liked. We would set up trust funds/college funds for the kids, probably put away most of it for retirement, then set up the rest in 'sensible' investments and supplement our income with some of the proceeds. If you managed to invest 5 mil @3 percent, that would still come out to around 100k/year after taxes if you pulled out the gains. The other 5 mil would roll in investments and should do pretty well if you really avoid the risks.

A lot of the problem with the studies cited (I suspect, anyway) is they do not correlate education level or previous economic level. Since most of the people buying lottery tickets are from lower socio-economic groups, they are less likely to be able to plan out the future use of the money.

[gdu]

I agree with Steve, and for that reason never play the lotto. But if I somehow ended up with the winning ticket, I would buy my parents a new house, take a nice trip with my fiance, save/invest most of it and use the rest to help kids, who can't afford to, go to college.