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1. Pay off what little debt my Church has.
2. Start a Christian School
3. Expand our inner city ministries my church currently has
4. Rent my current house out
5. Buy me another house (nothing too large)
6. Start my own hedge fund to grow my net worth
7. Travel
8. Pay off family debts
All affable plans but just as an FYI, #6 Hedge Fund- PLENTY of hedge funds have lost millions. It is not a guaranteed success.....
Doesn't sound too frugal to me. I have not lost any money on the lottery and don't intend to start. So many other investments that you could purchase that have a much better chance at increasing in value. The odds of winning are so bad that it is a fools game.
$1 a week is not an investment but rather an exercise in entertainment! $1 a week is $52 a year, $520 over a decade, $1040 over two decades. Certainly even with compounding interest (then subtracting for inflation) that is not exactly a windfall amount you are paying the opportunity cost on!
I do have a strange playing habit with lotteries. Before Powerball/MegaMillions I would only play for jackpots that were over my age (so in theory I would play less as I got older and it would be less important to win at say age 75 ). Now I only play the PB/MM jackpots when they crack over 100MM, though lately it really only catches my eye over 200MM. I hate scratch tickets (they are messy) and the prizes usually won't change your life anyway (5K win is a good weekend in Vegas not life changing).
Biggest prize yet was less than $100 but heck even 5 numbers pays 250K-1MM depending on the game so as they say in the commercials: "You never know"
1) I would set up a trust so that it was, truely, anonymous.
2) Take a year to think about my goals for life now that money isn't an issue (I wouldn't change anything in my lifestyle for one year)
I think winning a large lottery prize would be a shock because, suddenly, all of your goals go out the window. There's no saving for a vacation or car you really appreciate becasue you worked so hard to get them. There are no limits on what you can do, where you can go, where you can live... Goals like saving for retirement or putting kids through college are no longer there. My life is driven by goals. I'd need to find some new ones before I changed anything.
I would, however, be a PITA to my boss for that year.... I'd do it my way whether he liked it or not.
I would guess that I would find some way to give back to society. I'm a teacher and my home district (the one I live in not the one I teach in) contains a focus school (large gap between top and bottom students). I'd love to take some of that money and my time to work on improving that situation. I'd make some, sizable donations to worthy charities like St. Jude's and Children's hospital. I'd make sizable donations to the universities I attended....especially the one that gave me a scholarship and the community college that set me on the path to get said scholarship.
$1 a week is not an investment but rather an exercise in entertainment! $1 a week is $52 a year, $520 over a decade, $1040 over two decades. Certainly even with compounding interest (then subtracting for inflation) that is not exactly a windfall amount you are paying the opportunity cost on!
I do have a strange playing habit with lotteries. Before Powerball/MegaMillions I would only play for jackpots that were over my age (so in theory I would play less as I got older and it would be less important to win at say age 75 ). Now I only play the PB/MM jackpots when they crack over 100MM, though lately it really only catches my eye over 200MM. I hate scratch tickets (they are messy) and the prizes usually won't change your life anyway (5K win is a good weekend in Vegas not life changing).
Biggest prize yet was less than $100 but heck even 5 numbers pays 250K-1MM depending on the game so as they say in the commercials: "You never know"
I agree. This is entertainment. It lets me play the game "What if?". It helps that my brother one $175K in the lotto several years ago....or does that mean he used up the luck for our family? This is pure entertainment. I don't actually expect to win. I just spend 20 minutes figuring out what I'd get if I did win and dreaming of what I'd do with it. It's actually cheap entertainment. I can play the lotto for several weeks for the price of a movie ticket, a drink and pop corn.
I like to hang on to my tickets and check them as a lot. Usually I have a small winner. $10 is my biggest prize so far, lol. I think I've "won" $20 this year (of course I spent three times that, lol).
BTW, I once had a statistics professor give an entire lecture on how the odds of winning the lotto really don't go up if you buy a ticket, lol. However, tickets are cheap. I'd spend that dollar on something else if I didn't buy a lotto ticket. It's just fun and the proceeds go to the schools.
I agree. This is entertainment. It lets me play the game "What if?". It helps that my brother one $175K in the lotto several years ago....or does that mean he used up the luck for our family? This is pure entertainment. I don't actually expect to win. I just spend 20 minutes figuring out what I'd get if I did win and dreaming of what I'd do with it. It's actually cheap entertainment. I can play the lotto for several weeks for the price of a movie ticket, a drink and pop corn.
I like to hang on to my tickets and check them as a lot. Usually I have a small winner. $10 is my biggest prize so far, lol. I think I've "won" $20 this year (of course I spent three times that, lol).
BTW, I once had a statistics professor give an entire lecture on how the odds of winning the lotto really don't go up if you buy a ticket, lol. However, tickets are cheap. I'd spend that dollar on something else if I didn't buy a lotto ticket. It's just fun and the proceeds go to the schools.
I am always intrigued with the "after effects" on winners......How did it go with your brother's 175k win?
TV shows love to focus on the disaster stories yet a successful winner moves on without the drama, headlines in the paper, etc so you never get to hear the success stories.
I am always intrigued with the "after effects" on winners......How did it go with your brother's 175k win?
TV shows love to focus on the disaster stories yet a successful winner moves on without the drama, headlines in the paper, etc so you never get to hear the success stories.
My brother is, exactly, the person who should win. When anyone needs help, he's the first one there. The first thing he did was trade his 16 year old truck in for a "new" one. This one was only 11 years old . He paid off some bills, put a much needed addition on his house and put his kids through college. He also restored a Charger (I forget what year) with my nephew.
My brother said that if he'd gotten the power ball, he would have given each of us a million dollars. Sigh.... So close and yet so far.
IMO, this is the kind of prize to win. Big enough that it helps out but not so big it ruins your life. It wasn't enough for my brother to quit his job but he could now afford $10K/year in tuition for his kids (both lived at home while getting their bachelor's degrees).
If I won a prize like his, I would pay off my house, replace my 11 year old van, and put the rest in my kids college funds.
My brother is, exactly, the person who should win. When anyone needs help, he's the first one there. The first thing he did was trade his 16 year old truck in for a "new" one. This one was only 11 years old . He paid off some bills, put a much needed addition on his house and put his kids through college. He also restored a Charger (I forget what year) with my nephew.
My brother said that if he'd gotten the power ball, he would have given each of us a million dollars. Sigh.... So close and yet so far.
IMO, this is the kind of prize to win. Big enough that it helps out but not so big it ruins your life. It wasn't enough for my brother to quit his job but he could now afford $10K/year in tuition for his kids (both lived at home while getting their bachelor's degrees).
If I won a prize like his, I would pay off my house, replace my 11 year old van, and put the rest in my kids college funds.
Doesn't sound too frugal to me. I have not lost any money on the lottery and don't intend to start. So many other investments that you could purchase that have a much better chance at increasing in value. The odds of winning are so bad that it is a fools game.
Maybe so, but I love the idea of at least having a shot at it so I usually just buy one ticket. The most I'll spend is $10 if the jackpot is really huge but I realize the odds are against me. I'm willing to take my chances though if it means I could potentially never work again!
1. At least 10 million into a well managed portfolio with around a 4% return rate so we'd have constant income annually.
2. Figure out how to set up a trust of sorts to cover my daughters college and hopefully give her a long term income and security
3. Pay off and get rid of my husbands old underwater house in Michigan. Have party to celebrate that house being out of our lives.
4. Purchase small manageable house in safe community for my InLaws to live in retirement
5. Fix up my parents house with a professional organizer and contractor. Buy them a winter property in FL.
6. Purchase or build home with my husband that incorporates solar power.
7. Possible purchase of cottage or home in England/France/Maine
8. Travel
9. Construct soccer field, restrooms and nice playground in my current town, they were in the middle of creating this but the project died out. Also construct walking trails in the town's wooded areas.
10. Upgrade or build new library in my current town as gift, with rooms they could use for their craft night and reading groups.
I'd eat out pretty much all the time. I'd probably grill a steak once in awhile or cook up a pot of chili, otherwise I'd let somebody else do the work.
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I'd do it my way whether he liked it or not.
This is pure entertainment. I don't actually expect to win. I just spend 20 minutes figuring out what I'd get if I did win and dreaming of what I'd do with it. It's actually cheap entertainment. I can play the lotto for several weeks for the price of a movie ticket, a drink and pop corn.
