$275M - what would you do?

So did that Southern CA sentence mean you would just visit or look for the plot of land in Southern CA?  Never happen, so doesn't matter.  Sorry.  But to dream, I would also travel and build a house and give away to relatives.  Try to do some service project or donate for a cause I researched and felt was justified to receive the benefit.

That's great that you would give your siblings an annual salary, but what about your favorite aunt? If I won, I would move into a hotel with room service for the duration of my remodel (I'm freezing right now and the water will be shut off all day, but I have to hang around so I can tell them where I want all my lighting and all my electrical outlets and I don't even care!). I would also move the reunion to Hawaii, and it would be all expenses paid. That's how nice I am.

Everyone knows that I wouldnt' want to win it.  It wouldn't be worth loosing my family!!  I think the lottery ruins peoples life more than it helps it.  BUT if I were wealthy I would travel a lot more and remodel my whole house!!

Charlotte, the all-expenses paid reunion in Hawaii is a great idea!

If I won that much money, I am sure Ben would spend way more time fishing and we would take lots of great vacations. We would buy a pretty,old restored house on Lake Michigan, replace our second car that's barely running, and I would build a new group home for my brother and create jobs for people with disabilities. Maybe I would even build 20 more group homes, since Illinois lacks the funding and budget for them. We would also give money to our parents so they could splurge on themselves.

I would buy tons of great photography equipment, upgrade my camera, and set up a home studio. OH the possibilities would be so fun!

*And, we'd fly any Seversons out to Chicago anytime they wanted to visit!

And help them get Oprah tickets...

I'd take a year "off" and plan an around the world trip to take with Troy and the kids.  We could even splurge and fly family/friends to meet up with us in a few places.

I agree - it's official - any Severson who ever wins $100 million or more in the lottery must treat us all to a Hawaii reunion :-)

I don't know what I'd do. I agree with Robie that it ruins a lot of people's lives, but I think you have to be smart about it. Travel a little, get a nice house, and then invest the rest and live off of the annual interest. I'd quit my job, too.

I would love to have $100 mill in the bank but I think if you earn is slowly it's different than being given all of it at once.  Also if you win it people are more likely to ask for constant handouts, which would ruin a lot of friendships.  Other things on my list would be to hire Dr. Oz and Bob Green to help get me healthy and in shape, hire a personal stylist, house maid, laundtry person, landscaper, window cleaner, car washer, chief, designer to come decorate my house, then I would want to change it all every year and a pool guy for the huge pool we would have!!!  Life would be so nice!!!

I think I read somewhere that a lot of people who win lottery jackpots end up going bankrupt.  Maybe because they have poor money management skills to begin with and $10 million seems like more than could ever possibly be spent . . . but then they blow through it.  $100 million would probably be different though.  I guess I'd quit my job and spend my time doing things I enjoy more.  Which is pretty much anything. :)   

Well, considering the type that usually go for Lottery tickets. . . .

I think that lottery winners end up in trouble because all that money exaggerates their personal weaknesses, whatever they may be.  It's like all the famous actors and actresses.  How many of them end up addicts and suicidal.  Fame and fortune accelerates their decline into their weaknesses.  But yeah, I'm with the reunion in Hawaii!  I'd buy houses for my kids in the OC too, so the kids and grandbabies would be closer.

I'd buy a puppy. And I guess I would need to buy my own house in order to have it =)

Pay off my home, buy a new bumper for our Nissan and become a San Jose Sharks junkie... follow them around on road trips.  Put the rest in the bank and live off the interest.  Other than that, I basically have everything else I have ever wanted.  That's you love love!

I would hire a cook!  I HATE to cook.  And a driver to drive all my carpools!

I like the idea of buying houses for all of us to live together. The commuting is tough and its hard to stay close, no matter how much you try to arrrange frequent  trips. Its a shame you have to live in the places where you need to work! I also agree that people who get too much, too soon, and too easily can't handle the pressures and wind up going crazy.  Earning enough to get by  works for me; its surely better not  having high expectations or feeling the need to compete. Once you get trapped in that arena, you are never really happy with what you have!

Aunt Charlotte....i would hire you to tell me stories and make me laugh all day long! hahah  Your comment made me laugh out loud! :)

i saw a special on tv called The Curse of the Lottery.   It was interesting, but i think the title of the show was very misleading.  It should have been called Idiots Who Get Into Drugs and Alcohol After Winning The Lottery.  In every case (referring to Laura's comment) where the winners ended up with severe family and financial problems, it was because they got into drugs and alcohol.  And like Clark said - more money just exaggerates people's weaknesses and flaws.  If you are dumb, you will be really reallier dumberer when you win $100M.


But they did show one young unmarried couple that won a big jackpot, bought a few modest cars, waited for a few years, then got married and bought a small ranch and raised horses.  It was nice to finally see a life made better.

They need to invent a teleporter. Think how cool that would be. Visiting family in person even though they don't live nearby. No need to commute in a car. Maybe I'll invest my $100 million into teleporting technology.

The boys and I always talk about how much me wish we could apparate, like they do in Harry Potter, not to mention having a house elf!  How nice that would be and not much more fanciful than dreaming of winning the lottery!!

 What is apparate?  I thought it was a fancy word so I looked it up but dictionary.com doesn't have it.  I must have missed that in HP...

It's not a real word, JK Rowling made it up. But basically it is teleporting, if you apparate yourself you disappear from one location and appear in another.

oh ok gotcha... thanks, I figured it was something to that affect.

i'm confused.  so why did she make up a word, if it just means to teleport?   Isnt teleporting to disappear and reappear somewhere else?

Maybe, teleport seems to usually refer to objects, like you would teleport something from one place to another? So she wanted a different word for people? Or it sounded too sci-fi like and not fantasy? I guess you'd have to ask her to know for sure, though.

She is always making plays on words.  Like Diagon Alley is a play on diagonally.  Sirius Black is a man that can turn into a Dog, and Sirius is the real name of the Dog Constellation in the sky.  Disapparate is a play on disappear (because when they disapparate they disappear), apparate is a play on appear (and when they apparate they appear).  There is a ton of that stuff in her books.  That is why her books are so fun, there is a ton of stuff below the surface to dig to.  She is a very smart lady.

The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math.

More money than you need to be comfortable and provide a good start for your kids (education) is just an added responsibility and can be a burden.

I end up being around a fair number of people with that amount of wealth, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't trade places with most of them.

I hate it when I forget to click on the tracker and I missed this whole conversation...til I stumbled upon it again.  I agree with all of you.  Great thoughts.

i want a salary 2

Can I get my first $10,000 from you this month Geoffy?!  I'm planning our yearly trip.  Africa or Australia sounds nice right about now.