Posted on 10/22/2018 10:32:35 AM PDT by LibWhacker
One in 300 million. The odds aren’t great, but your chances of winning the massive Mega Millions lottery are as good as the next person. The current jackpot is estimated to be more than $1.6 billion. That is 1,600 million for those who are used to seeing smaller prizes. According to the USA Mega lottery website, the lucky winner will take home approximately $687 million after taxes if he or she opts for the cash option -- life-changing wealth by any standard. It's fun just dreaming how would you spend or invest the money if you won. The opportunities would be endless. Well, almost.
You still couldn’t buy an NFL team or an NBA franchise. Those are reserved for the multi-billionaires, not somebody who has a mere $687 million. Nonetheless, you could still afford most of life’s extravagances. Once you have shared the wealth with family members and your favorite charities, you would eventually have to get down to the business of investing your windfall. Don’t worry; there would be plenty advisors knocking at your door with all sorts of ideas. Help is only a 1% fee away, after all. But if you are more of DIY investor (which most likely would change with $687 million to your name), here are a few suggestions to get you started.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
You could buy 7.2 miles of California high-speed rail.
Yes kids, that’s how much that socialist monstrosity costs.
That's the brilliance of lottery commercials, selling you the dream and convincing you to spend your money on something you will never get back. And giddy as all get out until the drawing leaves you a loser.......
LibWhacker wrote: “It may be better to switch over to Powerball this week for a better chance at a larger win.”
You don’t have to switch. You can ‘invest’ in two tickets.
BTW, there was an interesting caller on Rush back in the mid-90s. He told the story of winning big. I forgot where he won but that state provided a 2 or 3 day class on what to do next. One recommendation was to avoid going home. He was told there would be maybe 100 people in his front yard waiting for him: real estate agents, car salesmen, travel agents, etc. He was told that if he went home for the dog, etc., these people would follow him. He was told to get a friend to retrieve the things of value, pictures, dogs, etc and keep them for him. Said he would get two duffle bags of mailings a week.
He said he would get phone calls at 2 AM from people wanting money. Typical call: “You may not remember me but my sister dated a guy in your 11th grade english class. Her neighbor’s brother’s second cousin’s girl friends sister was in a very bad car wreck and needs $20K to pay the hospital. Can you help?”
That’s why if I win, I will simply disappear.
If there are ‘junior’ prizes, I’ll settle for a mere $100K.
I got the money and the cows, go hump a post in the next county until that trailer from McDonalds shows up.
That’s funny. My wife and I do the same thing. And what we’ll do is always different from drawing to drawing, even if the amount of money is the same, lol.
Go sign a lease on a shack at least 100 miles from your home. Before you go the lottery hindquarters to cash in, change the address on your drivers license to the new rental. That would be your official address for the media and various hangers on to line up outside.
This would buy you some time for planning - and building your Fortress of Solitude.
Yeah it’s still a lot of money. And why does it have to be invested? It would support me for the rest of my life, and Hubbie’s, and still be plenty left to leave to the kid and grandkids.
We would be able to start construction on a new church.
My dad viewed large sums of money as a curse. He said you would constantly have to worry about the safety of your kids and live behind walls with security guards. He and Mom had everything paid for when they retired and a basic but still comfortable (for them) amount of money coming in. He had an old pick up truck and rambled around in the woods whenever he wanted. He did not have any bumper stickers on his truck, but the one about ‘God, Guns and Guts’ building this country pretty much summed up his beliefs.
Snicker...
Immunize yourself.
Keep the win a secret. Call friends and family and ask for a $10,000 loan. See how they respond to your entreaties.
I’d help out this Nigerian prince I’m in email contact with.
Wife and I discussed just for fun. We did get a set of tickets - again knowing it’s for the fun of the dream.
We agreed that we would setup trusts for our parents, brothers, sisters, and our girls. Build my dream house (I’ve had plans with a 2 story library drawn up for years). Get a apartment/condo in Japan. Take 1M for the rest of our toys and do some traveling. Invest the rest at 3-4% return.
The only additional thing I want to do is build a true cathedral...I mean old style stone, gothic structure with flying buttresses, gargoyles, etc Unassociated with any single type of Christianity. Just the basics....like C.S. Lewis discussed in Mere Christianity. All to glorify Him since no matter what I do here it all eventually crumbles to dust. She said ‘ok’.
Just remember: if you win $1.6 billion, Bernie want $1.5 billion of it (you’ll be rich and don’t need it)
So many people pay a large chunk of their money hoping to get rich from the lottery. But also vote for someone who will take most of that money if they are lucky enough to get rich from the lottery. Seems like there should be a campaign message
* Vote R if you want to keep your lotto $billions
* D’s want to take away your $billion winning ticket to pay for the Honduran caravan to live in the US
Something to relate their hopes and dreams to Bernie’s policies.
The first thing I would do is buy a House for the guy or gal who sold me the Ticket.
Some states allow you to collect your winnings at this level anonymously. DEFINITELY do so!
The last time Powerball got up close to this number, someone ran the calculations and determined that someone would have to have all the ticket machines in a state (I think they used CA as the example) running non-stop for the 4 days between the Sat and Wed drawings in order to play all the numbers and then you would be at risk of 1 more person also winning it which would put you at a loss. More winners, bigger the hole.
yeah...I pity the losers...especially the 15 that won a $1 million, the one that won $5 million because he spent the extra buck for the bonus multiplier 5, and....
;>)
I will invest in a small team of scientists to study the problem of poverty.
The best minds are the former bodyguards of Muammar Gaddafi...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.