I won't forget any of you (well, maybe a few...) after the drawing, tonight and of COURSE some of my winnings will got straight to Jim Robinson and Free Republic!
Best of Luck to ALL FReepers playing! :)
Before telling family members, hire some body guards to keep family members away.
First thing I would do is invest it with that Nigerian general’s son who contacted me on the internet.
Make a donation to FR!
Good advice. I do not even know if I would tell my spouse, I would be afraid he would leave. Certainly would hang onto the ticket as long possible. How in the world does one find those professionals that can be trusted?
Those diamond studded teeth things.
Priority one.
With $1.6 billion it's more of a question of who to do.
I disagree with the couselor bit, because the more people you tell, the more likely that the secret will get out.
Just take long vacation and do nothing while you absorb your good fortune. That’s what I recommend.
I’m going to Vegas! I’d play roulette until I doubled my money! Whoo-Hoo!!!!
‘Give it to the Gimmedats’
I don’t think I would tell my family at all.
We’d just quietly pay off our bills and have a new house built. Certainly nothing extreme or extravagant.
I’m old enough to not get too carried away with buying toys I don’t need. I would make sure the money was wisely invested, set up some trusts, then buy my Mom and brother a new home. Take my wife on an extended cruise, staying in the Presidential suite, and of course a sizable donation to FR.
My husband could retire. That would be wonderful.
I’d give all of my deposit beer cans building up in my garage away.
Except for my investment advisor and trust attorney (CPA), the First lady and I fall off the planet.
To be continued...
5.56mm
I would give my money to Hillary to invest in cattle futures. She would bring back ten times my original winnings; in about 3 weeks.
Take photos and videos of winner holding winning ticket. Including close ups, and both sides. IMMEDIATELY.
Find the securest damn place in your home, place your ticket there, and take more pictures. Just so you don’t forget.
As advised, keep low and your mouth shut
Hire FIRST a highly respected, board certified, EXPENSIVE, well insured, ESTATE PLANNING Attorney. Preferably one who’s handled big time lottery winners before.
(I knew one who told me he was able to prove the ticket could be split amongst immediate family, as they went “All in” on the purchase. This allowed them to split up the proceeds and accordingly, the estates)
Let him/her/them advise you on which other professionals to hire. DON’T HIRE a financial planner yourself. Or anyone else! A big time estate planning lawyer has plenty of recommendations for a planner, insurance guy, CPA, whatever. Don’t do it yourself and seek someone else out, especially your current one or a “Friend” in the business
Let the EPL advise you on when to sign, where to secure, etc. Don’t follow anyone else’s “advice” Including mine.
If you have to take a few days to make this hire, do so. Use searches liberally to see who’s who in your state’s EP field. When contacting, you might fake it, that you had won a much more modest, but large lottery and wanted to hire someone to handle it. Since winners generally have long times to claim their prize, you can again search to see some of the larger winnings and cite that $$$ amount. I say this to ensure that the word does not get out before you have a chance to speak with the attorney. This will ensure even his/her partners, assistants, etc. do not know you are the billion dollar winner.
Most likely someone in a big downtown firm. That isn’t to say small firms or solos, as they generally have big time firm experience, and went out on their own. Nevertheless, big firms have lots of specialists you might need (e.g. tax) I wouldn’t worry much about their fees for this kind of winnings, but do be wary of “value billing” They didn’t win the lottery, you did.
If I win I’m giving everyone in the office incentive to quit that day.
I’m investing in a Conservative twitter/Facebook.
After selling my home and banking around $1 million I walked into my bank wearing dirty jeans and an old T-shirt. I wanted to withdraw a few dollars, without using the ATM. The teller opened my account and almost immediately an executive from the bank ushered me into her office and started showing me investment opportunities. On the way out the greeter at the door was practically slobbering on me. There must be some secret button the tellers push that alerts all the other employees. I can only imagine what would happen if a lottery winner showed up.
Fingers and toes crossed