Rusted Sky

The Georgia Lottery MegaMillions game payout is up to about $355 million as of today. Figure the IRS is going to get about half that, it still leaves $167 million or so, lump sum.

What would you DO with that much money?

There's a saying that "Who the gods would destroy, they first make mad." Well, judging from the actions of certain stars and starlets, they also throw a lot of money at folks and watch them self destruct. If it isn't drink, it's drugs - if it isn't drugs, relationships go out the window in record time.

Of course, folks who gain fame and fortune in Hollywood aren't the only ones with problems like that. In fact, there's plenty of apocryphal stories about how lottery winners usually end up broke again pretty fast. Start out in a trailer, win a heap of money, and end up in the trailer again in short order... it's almost enough to make you not want to buy a ticket - you might win and completely screw over your life!

And then you've got to figure that the chances of actually winning are on a par with getting hit by lightning AND a meteorite on the same day - pretty darn scarce. So why even try at all?

Well, for the entertainment value, of course! Didn't you ever dream about what you could do with a few million, or a hundred million or so?

Knowing full well my chances of winning the lottery are indeed about even with getting hit by lightning and a meteorite, here's my initial list of what I'd do if I won.

1. Establish trust funds for family members who could use it.

2. Got some friends who could use a hand up, they'd get some assistance. (Overt or covert, hard to tell which might be most appropriate...)

3. The church we used to go to, Hollydale Methodist, could use a hand.

4. Prepay the little guy's tuition for the next 5 years (that'd get him up to 8th grade)

5. Talk to the school to see about tuition assistance for those that could use it. (And they could use a bit of assistance in locating an affordable HS site - maybe some extra money would help there.)

6. Pay off the house.

7. Revamp the plumbing, wiring and air conditioning systems. (Yeah, it'd be great to get an ego mansion, but I REALLY hate moving, so why?) Oh, a new driveway would be nice, too.

8. Talk to Soldier's Angels, UMCOR, the USO and the Red Cross. Afghan and Iraq charaties would get some dough.

9. Look at some microcap investing - a little money goes a LONG way towards helping people bootstrap themselves to a better life. (Afghani and Iraqi microcaps especially, also India and Bangaladesh...)

10. Set up an office/LLC to handle the investments. (And, incidentally, provide employment/benefits for some folks I know who could use it, and provide a place to go during the day...)

11. Buy She Who Deserves It the car she wants - fully loaded.

12. Get a lawn service to take care of the yard.

13. Get maid service weekly.

14. Buy two new pallet jacks for the shop - then QUIT without two weeks notice! BWAHAHAHA!

15. Put about $20 mil in savings - at 4.5% that'd be $900k/year. If all else fails, we might be able to get by on that until social security and my AF Reserve pension kick in...

Of course, She Who Must Be Consulted would have her own priorities/ideas - but this would do for a start. And Mother and Father wouldn't have to worry about anything financial for the rest of their lives. As far as work and school goes, I'd actually want to disrupt our current schedule/life as little as possible, because I think it important that the little guy get a good education, learn to WORK for his living and NOT think his life is going to be real easy because he can tap the family fortune. (Paris Hilton won't be held up as a role model, except in a negative way!)

Yeah, it's fun to think about - and wouldn't it be nuts if I really won?

J.