Mega Millions is at $470M

I just bought a ticket, and am trying to decided between a Morgan and an Flyin Miata 124 as the first vehicle purchase  

Wish me luck!

Wife told me to get a ticket. I am thinking something from Italy. 

Thinking more about it I think I would want to go there and take delivery and then explore for a while. 

I would really enjoy giving the majority of that to random middle to lower income hard working folks (lol, like me) and keeping enough to travel and build all the cars I've designed in my head

I'd lease one of the empty warehouse spaces near me. Set up a shop to fix up all of my existing projects. Build my dream RV and live on the road, riding mtn bikes and driving one of my classic cars, occasionally returning back to home base to swap out for a different car.

I would buy an abandoned race track and rebuild it, and invite all my new friends out to go racing. 

Land. Lots of land. A thousand gallon fuel tank, a backhoe and dozer, and say hello to a brand new stage rally venue. 

Forgot to buy a ticket tonight, hopefully I'll have the chance tomorrow for an even bigger number.

Back when Powerball was at a billion, I was driving back from Dallas and kicked around what I'd do.

1. I live in Texas, so interview several law firms and find one to create a blind trust
2. Have the blind trust claim the winnings and then stick it into several different bank accounts
3. Stay at my current job until all my bills are paid off and we've found a new house with lots of acreage
4. Quit my job and "disappear".  I don't have many relatives or friends, so I would just kinda fade away.
5. Invest, invest, invest.  At something like 3% interest, I'd still earn about $4 million a year
6. Get my son into racing cars.
7. Travel with the wife, just taking our time and spend a year  or more going anywhere we want and stay as long as we want.
8. Come back home and start buying every car I've ever wanted.  From Model T's to Teslas and from Bugeye Sprites to Ferrari's. 
9. Spend my spare time building crazy Frankenstein cars with goofy swaps.  (Like a Civic Wagovan with an NSX mid mounted engine/transmission)
10. Quietly give away my extra income to charities. 
11. Buy new, econo American cars, stick $10k in the glove box with title and start handing them to panhandlers that seem down on their luck and could use a leg up
12. Buy all the Christmas tree secret Santa gifts from ever tree I come across.
13. Start a college/trade school scholarship program
14. Spend a year going to every every auto racing event on the VIP program.  F1, Indy, Nascar, LeMans, etc.
15. Have my son and I race cars at the Goodwood Revival.  (Not sure what, but something fun like an A30)
16. Learn how to give away money without attaching expectations or strings

-Rob

P-51 Mustang. Yeah, that's where I'd start.

I’m investing my piece in a pile of coke, college girls, and a massive heart attack.  The wife is headed to the Porsche dealer to start spending the rest.

Am I the only who would be miserable with that much cash and the attention it draws?

(edit: Michigan requires winners to be public)

Grtechguy said:

(edit: Michigan requires winners to be public)

I believe that is a requirement for all states. But there is still ways to get around it like the blind trust mentioned above. I’ve seen lawyer representing clients, real people with real names but the ceremony check covering their face....

I never understood why people care about this. It is not like anyone remembers five minutes after it is announced and with these types of prizes becoming more common it is not the big deal it use to be.

Second cousin runs an estate law firm. I'm sure that is enough money to invest and have a play fund. 

dean1484 said:

I never understood why people care about this. It is not like anyone remembers five minutes after it is announced and with these types of prizes becoming more common it is not the big deal it use to be.

The average public doesn't, but there are predators out there who do and won't stop until they have attempted to suck out every last cent they can get.

Yeah, big piece of property a few miles away from  NIMBYs.  Keep a large buffer around the outside.  Pave one half for autocross, leave one half natural for rallycross, paddock space in the middle.

Pay off all the debt/bills. 

Quit my job, and find one i enjoy. Maybe buy an orielleys and work there part time for insurance. And a warehome. Wuth someone to mow and clean.

Grtechguy said:

Am I the only who would be miserable with that much cash and the attention it draws?

(edit: Michigan requires winners to be public)

Except you don't have to have the attention. Make an LLC or a trust claim the prize. Hell, if you do it right no one--not even your wife--needs to know. 

For me, they got the tagline right (at least in Illinois): What would you do with all that time? It isn't the money, it is the time. And for $2, I can daydream about it. 

Couldn't sleep last night. Started making spreadsheets just to see what I'd do with how much--this is all the cash option, before tax (tax was considered in my calculations though). 

$5 million, the wife would no longer work. She'd probably start her own business. I might change careers, and I'd probably also add onto the house. 

$10 million, we're getting close to retiring. 

$15 million, retired, add onto house, and I'd have a single vacation home. 

$20 million, add on another vacation home. 

Doesn't change much (bigger/nicer boats maybe) until we get to $75 million. Around there, I have people to worry about all of my stuff.

In reply to mtn :

Are you, like, 30?  Because in our mid-50's for us it's more like (clear winnings, after taxes):

$1 million, we're both retiring, like right now.

$2 million, we're both retiring and we'll build a new house somewhere nice to retire in.

$5 million, see $2M and figure we'll rent a winter place somewhere different (but warm) every year.

$15 million, see $5M and that's when I start looking for property to build my autox/rallyx facility, and we open a little yarn shop somewhere nice.

After $15M, it's pretty much all the same, just the location changes for the more interesting.  Not the world's largest California fan, but I'd love to live where I can call Sears Point my home track.

mtn said: Hell, if you do it right no one--not even your wife--needs to know. 

"Honey, I won the lottery! Pack your bags."

"Ooh, should I pack for the mountains or the beach?" 

"I don't care. Just pack your E36 M3 and get the berk out."

Duke said:

In reply to mtn :

Are you, like, 30?  Because in our mid-50's for us it's more like (clear winnings, after taxes):

$1 million, we're both retiring, like right now.

$2 million, we're both retiring and we'll build a new house somewhere nice to retire in.

$5 million, see $2M and figure we'll rent a winter place somewhere different (but warm) every year.

$15 million, see $5M and that's when I start looking for property to build my autox/rallyx facility, and we open a little yarn shop somewhere nice.

After $15M, it's pretty much all the same, just the location changes for the more interesting.  Not the world's largest California fan, but I'd love to live where I can call Sears Point my home track.

28. Wife is 29. Baby is due in November. $20k of student loan debt. 28 years left on mortgage (well, not that much as we've been overpaying a tiny amount each month), 5 years left on the car loan...

EDIT: Also, my calculations just had the cash value--they weren't clear winnings. So $1M is really only $670k

In reply to mtn :

So, yeah, the timing is appropriate.

[EDIT}  Yeah, that doesn't really change my plans much at the upper levels, but we'll bump the first 2 steps up to $2M and $3M.

RealMiniNoMore said:

mtn said: Hell, if you do it right no one--not even your wife--needs to know. 

 

"Honey, I won the lottery! Pack your bags."

"Ooh, should I pack for the mountains or the beach?" 

"I don't care. Just pack your E36 M3 and get the berk out."

lol. That is not what I'm saying. My wife would just be better off not knowing; I'd tell her that I got a new job and it was work from home or something and it paid very well. I'm all for honesty, but that much money would be too much stress for her. 

nobody hit the $470M one.  Friday's drawing is expected to be ~$550M ($309M cash option).  

I could get by on that.  

I'd stop working.  For a few reasons,

#1  I wouldn't have to anymore

#2  Too much liability.  Every patient would sue me looking for a hand out

Buy a house with some property and build a shop so I have the amount of space I want for all my tools, projects etc.  That way I'm not tripping over bikes, etc and playing Tetris with stuff in the garage.

Ski mid week!  Mtn bike mid week!  Go to the gym at 10am!  Go to track days out of state again.  Sleep in, everyday I want to!