Runner up = 2 chick's at the same time.
Runner up = 2 chick's at the same time.
runner up = $1M = no more car loan, mortgage, student loans, and wife can be a SAHM. (not that I'd necessarily pay off the mortgage, it may go to investments instead, but you get the idea). That pushes retirement up from a goal of age 55 to age 40-45.
$1M after taxes = I retire before 40. Possibly immediately.
$500k after taxes = probably retire between 40 and 45.
Hell I'd be happy if I found $20 in a coat pocket.
Enough talk about the runner up, lets talk about Winning!
Let's say that you win that you win the big one, and there are 4 winners total--the cash option on that is going to be $135M after taxes (in Illinois, with a 5% state tax)
That means that AFTER I've given $30M to family, paid off everything we have a note on (house, car, student loan), bought with cash $250k worth of cars, bought 6 different homes, a yacht, and 4 boats (fishing, sail, ski, jon boat/river fishing boat), I'm at $97.5M left over.
After that, assume I take a 3% withdrawal rate, I'm at 2.9M a year in salray. Out of that, about $650k to maintain and pay taxes on all my properties and boats, and $1M in "people" (accountants, lawyers, Maid, Personal Assistant, Yacht crew... We're still looking at an annual "salary" of over $1M. Think of all the fishing trips you could go on.
I can't picture increasing my income by very much. The difference is I wouldn't need to put any in 401k/IRA/HSA/Taxable, so I'd spend most of it traveling. Constantly.
mtn said:I know a lot of the .01%ers. Or I did, in a former life when I was caddying. I'd google search a few of these folks, and some of them had BIG money.
Most of them were happy. Most of them you wouldn't have known they were wealthy if you didn't know about the country club membership. They didn't drive Ferraris, they drove Lexus's or Audi. A few Suburbans or Tahoes and a few minivans. The sports cars were all older folks.
One guy was probably worth close to 9 digits. He retired at 33 and became a teacher. He seemed to be very happy.
I live surrounded by many of that 1% group. I think you have it backwards. They aren’t happy and nice people because they are rich but became rich in part because they are happy and nice people.
KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:Theoretical question. How would it feel to win one of the "almost but not quite" prizes when the jackpot is absurdly high. You know the hit 5 digits but not the final one and win a million. Life changing to be sure but to know how close you were to the REAL money would be heartbreaking.
Sure, only one more matching number and you would have won $1B rather than $1M...But just one fewer and your $1M would have been all of $500.
That runner up prize after taxes is a house in a decent, modest neighborhood in most parts of the lower 48. Not having a mortgage would allow for $900-1400 a month to enjoy life. Sure it wouldn't be retirement, but it'd be able to enjoy going to a nice restaurant once a week without worrying about budgeting until the next payday. It'd allow for saving to utilize vacation time to actually travel.
Yeah. $1M wouldn't let me retire immediately, but it would definitely help to solidify the time table. It would also allow me to do all of the house renovations I need to do.
If I won, I'd pay off the house and do a bit of work to it, rebuild the garage, build the Civic the way I wanted to, buy one nice vintage car and a daily driver, give a decent amount away and buy a few more bicycles. I figure all those things other then giving money away would be way less the $500k. That should leave me with about all the rest of it to retire on...
If I got the mil, pay off the house and rebuild the garage.
mtn said:That means that AFTER I've given $30M to family
I've always liked Warren Buffet's long ago stated thoughts on providing for his kids, which could be extended to other family as well..."Enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing."
Driven5 said:mtn said:That means that AFTER I've given $30M to family
I've always liked Warren Buffet's long ago stated thoughts on providing for his kids, which could be extended to other family as well..."Enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing."
The $30M would be split between 3 siblings and our parents. And because at least one of them would waste it quickly, it would be in a trust. Give them a decent income for life, but they'd not be allowed to touch the principal.
For the first time in a long time I bought a ticket. OK, full confession, I bought two. That plus a candy bar = $5. Cheap entertainment and sugary treats.
$1mm would not change my life in a huge way but it would make me a whole lot more confident in my choices. Going back to my 4% withdrawal rate, that's $40k/year I can spend, for the rest of my life, without worrying about depleting principal. In most life spans it would continue to grow. I'd leave a small legacy for my kids and hopefully their kids to give them a nice foundation for life. That's college education paid for, etc. Nice idea.
$1bn would be a mind blowing life change, no way around it. I wouldn't even tell you guys. I would make some major changes in my life but nothing super obvious to other people. After all, I already appear pretty wealthy with the real estate and all, so if I started actually spending money instead of living frugally people would just assume I'd hit some sort of savings goal.
Driven5 said:KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:Theoretical question. How would it feel to win one of the "almost but not quite" prizes when the jackpot is absurdly high. You know the hit 5 digits but not the final one and win a million. Life changing to be sure but to know how close you were to the REAL money would be heartbreaking.
Sure, only one more matching number and you would have won $1B rather than $1M...But just one fewer and your $1M would have been all of $500.
Heck $500 and I make a $498 profit, well a lifetime profit of $490.
I'd also learn how to play the steel drums. There aren't many percussion instruments that can also carry harmony and melody, steel drums are one of them. I'm confident that I'd be able to carve out the time to learn how to play them from the best in the world, who may all happen to live in the Caribbean, if I had a billion.
I'm still buying a P-51.
I gave it some thought on the way home. With million dollars I'm paying off the house and the wife can stop working. The rest is being given out to friends and family. With 1.6 billion I am going to split it with about 25 friends and relatives, probably evenly so there are no hard feelings. It's more money than we could ever spend, we have no kids, and there are some really great people who have help us more than I could ever hoped for after the wife got sick and now since her accident. With our piece we'd probably have our current house rebuilt properly and add a bedroom. If we bought a second place it would likely be an apartment in Manhattan overlooking the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade route. Then we'd travel to all the places and events that right now we only daydream about.
Bought a ticket tonight for the first time ever.
I paid my stupid tax again for the big lottos.
I'd start a non-profit foundation. I'd be CEO of course & family would be the worker bees & board members. I greatly admire Warren Buffet & I understand that's what he did to ensure that his children could feel that they could do anything,but not so much that they could do nothing.
I didn’t buy a ticket. I’ll be honest
It would ruin my life, probably end my 31 year marriage, and not help my 15 year old daughter. I’m selfish and wouldn’t help all the woodwork family. Might go back to drinking and might move to Denver and start smoking weed again.
I made the most money ever in my career last year and found the extra money doesn't do much but I really do enjoy giving to charities, churches, and those in need.
Maybe I should’ve bought a ticket to give it away?
Toyman, was it you? 
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