Well, another lottery drawing has come and gone and my fantasies will have to wait. I crumple up the Powerball ticket and toss it into the trash. No matches, not even 1 number. There is a game I play in my mind every time I buy a Powerball or Megamillions ticket. The game is probably familiar to a lot of people. It is a sort of "what would I do with all those millions, would I take the cash payout, or the annuity? Would I spend a lot, save a lot, tell people, not tell people, pick up the money anonymously, or have a press conference, tell the kids, not tell the kids, move, change my phone number...yada, yada, yada.
The most fun part of this game is planning out who gets what. There would be the new car for Mom and the chauffeur driven limo for Dad. I would love to go to the car dealership with them and let them pick out absolutely anything they want with any options they want. I would also make sure their land use fee was paid in full for years to come so they could just sit back and enjoy their home. Dad would not have to work unless he really wanted to keep working there. I would send them on that Alaskan cruise they want to take. As for my inlaws, I would get them some central air conditioning for their house; although the house is not built for it, money can buy anything. They are not big on travel but I would do the car buying thing with them as well, and pay their property tax off into the future. I would top all this off with hearing aids, dental work, and Lasik eye surgery for any of the 4 that is game.
My siblings would fair pretty well too when I win. A house for sis, pay off brother's mortgage, upgrade brother in law's automotive garage, college funds for all the nieces and nephews. Maybe a few more new cars all around. I have also toyed with the idea of building a large family compound with several houses for any family members that want to live close to each other but maybe using this as a vacation spot would work better. We would all drive each other crazy if we lived too close year round!!
Then I turn my focus to my own family. There is a school of thought that says if you give kids too much they will never learn how to work hard, to achieve, they will never strive to be anything. I am of that school of thought. So with millions in the bank, I would tell my kids to go out, get their educations, and get a job. It will be a hard pill for them to swallow. They will be expecting to live like princes, yet they will end up living amongst and like the commoners. If they are to amount to anything in life, it cannot all be handed to them at such an early age. Ok, maybe I would allow for some new cars for them, maybe an apartment for the older child when he is ready, but he can buy his food, pay his bills, etc for a while. We hear about the spoiled brats of the world, like Paris Hilton, who are famous for being rich and have absolutely no redeeming qualities. I don't want my kids to end up like that. They are both wonderful human beings and I would hate for money to ruin them. So that is what I will tell them as I decline to fork over megabucks to facilitate their every whim.
My husband will want a new car or two or three and new garages to hold them. He will want new computers, and probably a few other gadgets. I don't begrudge him those. After all, multi millions of dollars can be spread pretty far. He will want to travel, as will I. Maybe we can do it first class too. That would be really nice. Hawaii, Europe, Cruises, etc.
Back to me. I have always told my family and BFF that if I ever hit the lottery, the only 2 things I would want is a) a personal trainer to come to my house every day and assist me in having some willpower!! and B) a personal chef that can make me low calorie, healthy food so I don't have to even think about it. I want to live like Oprah in that way, only I want to actually lose the weight!! I could handle getting a larger kitchen, maybe a sewing/crafts room in my house, a larger garage, and some exercise equipment to assist my personal trainer in their quest to help me. And that is about it. I probably would not want to move. I like my house and my neighborhood. I could get a new car but I am not big on cars so I would not get as big a thrill from that as they boys in my house do.
Then lastly, I love the option of donating large chunks of money to charity; but I would research the organizations a little bit more to make sure they spend the money the way I want it to be spent. I usually donate to the same few charities: JDRF, ADA, and Joslin Diabetes Center- for Diabetes, CFF for Cystic Fibrosis, Homes for our Troops- builds handicapped accessible homes for injured vets-comprised completely of donated labor and materials, Big Brother Big Sister, American Cancer Society.
When you hear about somebody winning $200 million dollars, it is hard to comprehend how someone could spend all of that in a lifetime. I am not sure I would ever come close.
There are downsides to winning a large jackpot. There would be the people coming out of the woodwork looking to you for loans, and handouts, long lost relatives that want a piece of you, people purposely injuring themselves on your property to sue you, "friends" that are jealous of your sudden wealth and decide not to be friends anymore--well, they were not your real friends to begin with anyway if they act like that.You might have to unlist your phone number or get a new one. You might have to hire body guards. Your children might have to go to private schools. Your life may change in ways that are not positive at all. I think most people that buy lottery tickets don 't even imagine any downsides at all but they exist.
On the other hand, it might be fun to live like a queen for a short time! The idea of it is probably actually more fulfilling than the actual living it though. You may be disappointed to see that money doesn't change who you are and how happy you are. Money won't make you happy, as I always tell my kids. I know plenty of very wealthy people that are unhappy people. I know plenty of people struggling to make ends meet that are overall very happy. It may help to put a (nice) roof over your head, clothes on your back, food in the fridge, and stuff in your rooms, but it cannot fulfill you as a person. That part is up to you and not your wallet.
Still, I will continue to buy a lottery ticket when the spirit moves me and then I can again float into the fantasy world of who gets what and in what color. It is fun and it is cathartic to think about. I picture my winning the lottery resembling more of a "millionaire next door" model...we would have some fun and then get back to our life, rather than a tycoon model. That is just not who I am or who I would want to be.
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