Okay - minds out of the gutter! This coming Saturday the Powerball jackpot will be well over $500 million - perhaps the biggest jackpot in history! Depending on state taxes a single winner could net $250 million and more. For fun - name three things you would do with the money. No saying "charity" as that's a given knowing all the wonderfully giving people who visit this site.
I know the odds are one in a bazillions but the fact is - someone DOES win!
1. Have a meeting with my siblings and a separate one with my children to discuss what they need to pay off their homes, cars and all their bills, to make them debt-free.
2. Pay off my parents' home (where I live) and all my own bills and my Mom's.
3. Set up college (or whatever) funds for my one child that is still less than college age and for my grandkids.
4. Purchase property in the U.P. along the shores of Lake Superior and either build or buy existing properties that adjoin each other (trust me, it's possible) so that my entire family can all have their own homes or vacation cabins - whatever they want. I would want a handicap-accessible house for myself and Mom to share.
5. I'd pull Mom out of the NH and take her up to the new home, where she could spend the rest of her days looking out at her beloved Lake Superior, which is where she's always wanted to be. I'd hire a team of private nurses and caregivers to take care of her medical needs so I could truly just be her daughter again, not her caregiver.
And yes...I'm buying tickets. Latest jackpot update is $700 million.
Second - a pre booked ticket to Switzerland in case I am too far gone to be able to book in at Dignities later
Thirdly I would buy 4 huge RVs and go on tour around the US. Each RV would be equipped with 4 carers who are the best at their job and would be paid handsomely for their work. I will come to each of you in turn and exchange them for you and off on hols we go. Country Mouse - you get picked up en route and your role is to pick up those whose care time is over.
Destination? 1 st stop Vegas for those who like to gamble a little, and then on to a luxury spa where you can be pampered every moment of every day if you so wish and be alone if you want to be too.
Then every night we party the night away since we all learned not to sleep years ago!!!!
First I would quit my job . Probably buy a house for my parents with 24/7 caregivers.. Then I would go take a massive vacation where I am pampered 24/7 .. probably somewhere on a secluded beach.
Then I would block all my "caring relatives" from trying to contact me ....lol
After that.. I would love to put the money to good use. I would create a charity just for us caregivers that would pay for respite and anything else us weary caregivers need...and for a nice vacation where you all could also be pampered excessively ..for a change.
Hmmm.. after that I would like to build a haven for homeless animals.. somewhat of a paradise for them.. and and and....
Buy a dream home or two. One in warmer winter climates one that has cooler summers. Maybe a mountain home. Buy a new 4-Runner. Setup a non-profit for caregivers so that they always have access to excellent health care. Hmmm... So much more I could do.
Don't start sending me your addresses yet.;-) If anybody needs mine just let me know.
Here is my list:
1. Pay my bills and those of close family members, so we can live comfortably and not worry about money ever again.
2. Build the best, state of the art Memory Care facility in my hometown. I would hire and train the best staff, promoting those that work at my cousin's Memory Care unit and pampering the existing residents and staff with lots of nice things.
3. I would build a new plant in my hometown, maybe more, so as to help promote growth in the economy and give people in the community new jobs and a way to support their families. I would love to pay it forward.
1. I'd restore our home to its 1930's glory and spare not a penny. I'd make our home so efficient that it would make the cover of Architectural Digest. I'd hire the best landscape designer and have the most interesting and exquisite gardens money can buy and Martha Stewart would beg to film a show there. I'd buy up the McMansions that are popping up around us, tear them down and turn them into community gardens.
2. I'd join a luxury transportation service so whenever I needed a plane, helicopter, train, or automobile to get anywhere all my butler would have to do is make a phone call. My butler would come from that famous butler school in London. I'd travel to the most exotic places and my pets would come with me. I'd eat the food of the best chefs around the world..
3. I'd hire a personal tailor to make clothes especially for me. Clothes that fit perfectly, in luxurious fabrics I found while traveling the world. My white shirts would always be crisp. Even my undergarments would be made from 5000-thread count pure cotton or silk.
I would remodel and refurnish my old farmhouse. All the second hand "make-do" furniture would go, the wood floors and all the trim in the house refinished, that 1970's paneling gone and replaster the walls, new kitchen, and on and on ;) And then refurbish DH's big (very big) old barn - a lift for cars and/or a pit to walk down into for oil changes, new storage, good lighting, concrete floors, and whatever he wants.
And then, sell all our autos and buy each of us a nice, newer, dependable car we like, nothing extravagant or flashy, just nice and dependable.
After that, travel - Germany & Austria first and who knows after that, just where ever we want to explore -- but not too much travel, I want to come home to my remodeled house too ;)
Angel
I'd have a different pair of glasses for every mood and day of the week.
I'd have my own chef and personal trainer.
I'd get rid of my car and hire drivers to take me everywhere I want to go.
To entertain myself I would flip houses. I wouldn't turn them into McMansions, I would find nice affordable homes and make them fully accessible and environmentally friendly, to hopefully benefit the community as well as make money.
Oh, and when I get too old I will move into a suite at a luxury hotel and hire extra staff to cater to my every need. LOL