So you've just won the Powerball- what would you buy? (1 Viewer)

[SteveGon]

Emmanuelle Beart would be getting the biggest damn bouquet of flowers you've ever seen...

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

A new home theater, a big house, a few cars, invest some money into the stock market, put a big chunk of money into the bank, get some DVDs, clothing, etc.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Well, let's see...
After consulting with my accountant and getting an attorney on retainer, I would probably try the investment approach, too, and live off the interest.
I would take care of my family and friends...probably a large lump-sum for starters, trust funds for the kids (a guaranteed college education, for example...there would be no slacking off from school prematurely!) New car and house for my Dad. New car for me.
I would pay off my house.
I would travel a bit. If I didn't have a companion by then, I would pay for one.
Then I would probably, believe it or not, go back to school...perhaps the writer's program at the Actor's Studio.
- Steve

 

[NickSo]

Hmm... $70 million US, thats approx... $105 million CAD!!!!!!
I'd probably keep $10 million for myself to spend on stuff, $10 million to a charity, $10 million to my city or school, then the rest i'd get my dad to put into a mutual fund or something... Getting interest on $100 is nothing, getting interest on $75 million is HUUUUGE...

 

[Carl Johnson]

I would go out like Hammer and hire a bunch of HTF members to serve as my entourage with a monthly payroll of no less than $500,000. After buying the most expensive plot of land I could find, hiring a builder to design the ultimate home, leasing a fleet of luxury cars, buying the naming rights to Ball State University (I like the sound of Carl Johnson University) and paying my taxes I would be dead broke in less than two years.

 

[Jon_B]

Carl, I look forward to being a part of your entourage.
If I were to ever win such a large sum of money I would probably invest and try to make it last for the rest of my life. Of course I would have a ton of upgrades on my home theater. Nothing too extreme.
It's fun to dream.
Jon

 

[Hugh M]

I'd buy Bill Gates' pad here in palm desert area, and take over the sweet home theater I keep hearing about....(talk about extreme)
and something else, concerning that tomb raider movie.

 

[AaronNWilson]

I would buy a nice house on a lake.
Have my own dock with a mastercraft prostar 190 skiboat with the 8.1 liter v8.
I would also need a boat for wakeboarding which would be the Pro Air Nautique, also with the 8.1 liter V8 .
Then I would need to have various highly tuned jetskis and runabouts floating there.
How about a nice 60ft yaught that I could use to visit friends in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
A cigarette boat with around 1000 hp would also be rather tasty.
Ferrari 360 Modena in Ferrari red of course.
BMW M3 in silver.
BMW X5 with the 4.6 liter V8 (360 hp I think).
A Honda Valkryie also looks like fun even though I don't have a motorcycle license.
I would also have to use part of the money to try and get Tivo into Canada somehow.
I would also give my mother enough money so that she could retire instantly.
I don't think I would give any other relatives any money simply for the reason that they already have got excesses of money which they don't seem to have found any justifiable reason to give to me.
Oh I nearly forgot a DEDICATED HOME THEATER, with a 120" diagonal screen. Although I am not sure if I would prefer to have some professional do the hometheater or if I would get more satisfaction if I did it myself.
A complete staff would also be very nice, with maybe a talented in house musician that could play various instruments and take requests. I imagine it would make the most sense if this person was primarily a piano player.
I would also need some person whose job it is to simply keep me as healthy as I can possibly be.
As for charities, I have always thought the Make A Wish foundation seemed like a group of good people doing a good job so I would probably fund some wishes for some sick kids.
Aaron

 

[brentl]

House ...
10 000SQ foot with
sauna
100 foot pool
100 acres of land
8 car garage
100 seat home theatre
CARS
Porsche 911 Turbo
Acura 3.2tl type s
Acura 3.2cl type s (2003 with the 6 speed)
Acura MDX
Chevy Suburban
2004 NSX
ETC
lots of money for family and friends
$5 mil to charity(something buit in my name)
House in the tropics

 

[Dennis Reno]

1. Hopefully be revived enroute to the hospital
Serious list (to do first)
2. Set up a trust for my son. If we die, he gets the money he needs to live a comfortable life (with his guardians) until 18. At that point, if he goes to college, he continues to receive funding. If no college, then it is tied up until he is 30. At 30 he receives 25%, at 35 he receives 25% and at 40 he receives the remaining 50%.
3. Purchase Mom the dream house she wants (and deserves!) plus the cash to furnish it, landscape it and pay the taxes on it for the next 20 years. Also, give her enough so she can immeidiately retire if she choses to do so.
4. Something very nice for my inlaws! (No I'm not being sarcastic! I actually have a great relationship with them!)
5. Purchase/payoff homes for my sister and husband, brother-in-law and his wife, as well as sister-in-law. Also include an additional $50k for fun.
6. Setup college funds for my nieces and nephew. Same rules apply to them as my son (see #2)
7. Find several families and single parent households who are struggling to make ends meet. Must be hardworking, no slackers! Purchase/payoff homes for them. Include $20k to help get them on their feet.
8. Have church come up with list of needs/wants. Choose several items from list.
9. Donate $$$$$ to cancer research, MS research, etc.
10. Setup several scholarship funds
11. Invest $1-2MM in the company I'm working with
Fun list
1. Purchase property on water. Design and build 5 bedroom home (including dedicated HT room and adjoining game room with full bar)
2. Take wife on four week South Pacific tour. Dive some of the finest locations in the world.
3. Charter Gulfsteam. Invite golfing buddies on all expense paid trip to the finest courses in America. All rooms, meals and green fees included. Golf balls are the responsibility of each golfer
4. Select several HTF members. Find out what their "dream system" is. Have dream system delivered to their doorstep!

 

[Anthony Moore]

hmmm..tough one

Of course I would take half of it and invest it. That leaves me with about 35 million.

I would buy an island in the Carribean. I would put about 5 houses on it, a central party-clubhouse, an airstrip, and a power generator (dont know what kind, but im sure 35 mil would be enough to cover everything).

I would let my friends live in the houses and we'd have a blast. We'd raise chickens and grow vegies to live. WOW, what a life.

Oh yah, and a huge yacht.

could i get all of that for 35 million? prolly not..guess ill have to invest only 1/4 of it.

 

[Ryan Wright]

Maybe you'd better stay in school until you get your math skills down. How many years do you think you'd be able to keep withdrawing $2M?

If you do it right, for the rest of your life, and you'll still die with anywhere from $70M to $100M+ sitting around.

I'm always amazed at how fast people can blow that kind of money. I can see it gone in just a few years with most people... Investing every last penny and living off the interest seems to me the only way to go. Who can't live off $2Mil+ every year? I mean, really! All your vehicles could be bought with cash. Payments on a $10Mil home with a 15 year mortgage would be quite reasonable.

The way to look at it is not, "I've got $70Mil. That's $10M for a house, $10M for friends, $10M for charities, $10M for misc toys, and that leaves me with $30M to live off of." That seems like a lot of cash, but if you think about it, how many more years do you have left to live? If you're 30 now, you'll be able to spend a million a year until you're 60, and then you'll be flat broke. A million a year won't go nearly as far as you think it might. You'll spend half of it just maintaining & heating that house. Then you're 60 and everything has to be sold, and you can't live the high life anymore.

If you invest every penny, you've got a couple million and change to play with, every year for the rest of your life. You can still donate millions to friends and charity, and over your lifetime, you'll be able to donate a lot more than if you had simply given the money away in a lump sum from the start. And when you die, you've still got the original $70M to pass on to whomever you want.

 

[RicP]

Ryan, I agree totally. It was just funny if you read the rest of Van's post. He was gonna buy this and this and this and THEN withdraw $2M a year for life.
Great plan, unquestionably, if you can pull it off

 

[Steve Owen]

I guess I must be a nice person since whenever I've thought about this possibility, I'm usually thinking about what I could do for my friends and family. My parents, my wife's parents, and my sister would be able to retire. My friends would get enough for a nice new car and probably a new house. Charity would probably get 20-25%.

And for me... I would probably build a log home in the woods (but still close to civilization) with enough land around it that I wouldn't have to worry about developments or strip malls springing up in my back yard. A big home theater. A serious computer room. A few cars (1 sports car, 1 pickup, 1 grocery-getter/SUV, 1 touring sedan). Plus an RV. I'd probably spend my summers driving around my RV to motorsports events.

But in the meantime, I'll keep plugging along and paying the bills (CRASH! Back to reality).

-Steve

 

[Dave Morton]

I have to agree with Ryan. The value of compound interest and investing even at a rate of 4-6% would be more than enough to live on. I would build a really nice and spacious house with a state of the art music studio. I'd have a kick-ass home theater but not with seats, just really comfortable couches. I'd probably open up a business to give me something to do, perhaps a Home theater store.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

"I'll tell you what I'd do, two chicks at the same time"

 

[Frederick]

Let's see ... if I take it all at once, we're talking $24 million and some change (minus the "take it all at once" penalty and the taxes, which I believe is 31% in Illinois), which is still pretty damn good. It would be pretty much the same answer, regardless ...
I'd get a house built from the ground up: 5 bedrooms, dedicated theater room with the works, seperate game room, etc. I'd get 3 vehicles: a car to drive in everyday (probably a Mercedes), an SUV, and a "toy", which could be almost anything, including some I'd have to import from overseas . I'd buy my mom a house wherever she wanted to live because she deserves that and more. Same for my sister and brother, and of course I'd give them a million or two to hang on to. I'd give my friends some money to get them out of debt so that they could start over (hopefully not returning to debt). Afterwards, I'd have to disappear, because you'd be amazed at the people who all of a sudden love you because you got a little money now :rolleyes. There'd be no way I would spend it all. Even after everything, I'll still have a huge hunk of money, which I would invest and live off the intrest. I'd go back to school and get a few degrees, and then possibly go back to work consulting and retire at 55. It's different when you work because you WANT to, and not because you HAVE to ...
And of course, charity comes into play. I'll need a nice deduction to offset all the taxes I'll be paying! Yikes!
Freddy C.

 

[Matt Stryker]

1)Sell all my possessions
2)Buy 40' sailboat
3)Circumnavigate the world (maybe twice)
4)Retire to Coastal NC
The circumnavigation stuff would work out well, because you'd be out of touch with all the beggars who came out of the woodwork. I'd put everything that wasn't used on the boat in a managed account to earn intrest, and give 25% per year of that to church/missions/charity.
I would like to get a nice vintage AC Cobra as well as completely restore my 1979 International Scout II. Other than that, I wouldn't have a whole lot to do with the money.
And the one thing I've always wanted to do is give enough money to my alma mater (Georgia Tech) to create a building in my honor. Not a classroom building, but the Stryker Nap Center. Lots of rooms where you can crash during a hard day of classes, take a shower, etc. Everything you need on campus.

 

[Kevin P]

Drew Barrymore!
Just kidding! I would probably do the investing thing. $70 mil at 5% APY equals $3.5 million annually, and with that much dough, one can get APYs much higher than 5%. Then I'd live very comfortably off the interest/dividends/whatever.
Of that $3.5 million, let's say $2 million is left over after Uncle Sam swipes his unfair share. Between 25 and 50 percent of it would go to charities and/or my church, and some would go toward family members (gotta help them out).
As for what I'd buy, dream homes in several places including NH and Florida (and maybe even Hawaii), and a bigger/better car/cars than the Saturn I'm driving now. Of course, every home would have a state of the art home theater and computer network. And I'd buy a yacht. Not because I'm into yachting, but with that money my wife and I could just spend weeks at a time on the yacht when we need to get away from it all. And of course I'd have a yacht theater too!
To keep myself occupied when I'm not on the yacht, I'd write software (of my choice) and market it.
And last but certainly not least, I'd tell the place where I work now, and my idiot bosses, what to go do with themselves!!

 

[Ron-P]

I'd buy Winona Ryder.
Peace Out~