Rangerland Forum Information

[leedsy99]

Like most of America, I have mega-millions fever and for the first time in my entire life I bought some tickets. It got me to thinking about what I would actually do with sudden wealth like that. Would I still work? Would I give it away? Where would I live?

I think I would still work. I think I would establish an appellate law firm so I could hire lawyers like me that wanted to work on appeals and such, though my role in the firm would probably just be management and little work. I would probably have two houses -- a lake house in upstate New York and a house on the southern Jersey shore. I would also probably get an apartment in NYC to give to my brother, with enough room for me to stay when needed. I'd give my brother tons of the money and let him set up his own restaurant (his dream). I think I would also pay off all the law loans for my current co-workers, just so that they could keep doing the work they enjoy without the crushing bills. I'd donate to my law school. I don't think that I would give anything to the rest of my family, because I couldn't be fair about it. I would maybe buy some more vacation property and just provide them unlimited access to it. I would probably give a ton of the money to small domestic charities and find ways to invest in the communities I've lived in, rather than just dumping money into international causes (because fuck them).

[Kusand]

Nice thread. I've long had a plan, that I like to imagine I would stick to. My family is pretty small, or at least the family I keep in touch with, so I'd hook them up no problem.

Honestly, my hope is I'd have the guts to do something like this:

$10M for my parents, $5M for my uncle.
$20M or so for myself: whatever would be enough to set up an annuity guaranteeing me, say, $250k/yr for life, indexed to inflation.
Some money to take a year or two off.
Seed money for crackpot business ideas of my own.
Fund some scholarships at my old university, maybe.
The rest to charities.

[Tex]

I just pitched into the pot for my office ticket batch. I never do this, but, what the hell. Take a shot. *shrug*
Splitting the winnings 20 ways won't mean the collection of "Stoopid Munee" levels, but it sure would be nice to be comfortable to the finish line...
My usual rule about buying lotto is that it must come from the cash I get for periodically recycling the block party beer and soda cans. I always tell my neighbors: "If I win, we ALL win."

[Melvin]

I think I'd have to find some sort of "work" as well. Initially I'd probably take a few months off. Not only to relax, but to set up the rest of my now-very-rich life. Winning that much money requires a shit-ton of planning.

If we're strictly talking about an enormous amount like today's drawing, I'd always thought I'd eventually buy a minor league hockey team. After setting up trusts for my family and payoff the debts of some close family members, of course.

AFAIK, minor league teams are in the mid 7-figure range with operating expenses in the low 7-figures yearly. That's an expensive chunk of change to be dropping every year, but if I'm working with a yearly annuity of $20M+ (which is what today's drawing would be), that's a workable percentage of my income. But that would be my "job" and I'd enjoy every second of it.

This post has been edited by Melvin: Mar 30 2012, 08:40 AM

[Kusand]

Oh, other important key - find out if your state legally permits you to claim the winnings in a blind trust, so no one can find out you won.

[Tex]

Oh, other important key - find out if your state legally permits you to claim the winnings in a blind trust, so no one can find out you won.

is there a list of those states somewhere? Here's where the taxes can be figured...

[Leo95]

Like most of America, I have mega-millions fever and for the first time in my entire life I bought some tickets. It got me to thinking about what I would actually do with sudden wealth like that. Would I still work? Would I give it away? Where would I live?

I think I would still work. I think I would establish an appellate law firm so I could hire lawyers like me that wanted to work on appeals and such, though my role in the firm would probably just be management and little work. I would probably have two houses -- a lake house in upstate New York and a house on the southern Jersey shore. I would also probably get an apartment in NYC to give to my brother, with enough room for me to stay when needed. I'd give my brother tons of the money and let him set up his own restaurant (his dream). I think I would also pay off all the law loans for my current co-workers, just so that they could keep doing the work they enjoy without the crushing bills. I'd donate to my law school. I don't think that I would give anything to the rest of my family, because I couldn't be fair about it. I would maybe buy some more vacation property and just provide them unlimited access to it. I would probably give a ton of the money to small domestic charities and find ways to invest in the communities I've lived in, rather than just dumping money into international causes (because fuck them).

Today's drawing is valued $540 million, no?



With such money I would buy property in Seattle, New York, Dublin, Paris, Monaco, Barcelona, Sao Paulo and a lake house somewhere in the Rockies. Create my own architectural and engineering firm (i'm an architect). Help all my family and buy my father his desired 50 ft boat. Travel to many places like the French Polinesia, trekking in the Himalayas and Andes. And I'd love to become a Clienti Ferrari buying a Formula 1 car to satisfy my desire to be a F1 driver.


Well I'm not winning, since I'm not betting. But its a really nice thread.


Like Uncle Scrooge says: Dreaming is for free!

[toph]

I'd buy a shitload of Planter's peanuts.

[Tex]

(i'm an architect)

VandeLeo95?

[ree]

I don't know if I'd quit my job, I think I really do like it way too much to walk in on Monday and give in my two weeks. I'd let my husband quit his first - he's an MS patient, and sometimes his job requires him to travel and to work about 16 hours a day. It takes its toll on him, so if we win - he can quit, and then finally do what he's wanted to do - play the WSOP, or just play poker for a living.

I'd finally be able to pay off these stupid student loans.

[Leo95]

(i'm an architect)

VandeLeo95?

Nah, not him. Leo is my first name and 95 is my jersey number when I used to play ice/inline hockey.

[Tex]

Nah, not him. Leo is my first name and 95 is my jersey number when I used to play ice/inline hockey.

it was a, aw, never mind...

[SorryaboutthatWh...]

We've been talking about this at work.

I couldn't stop working. I took yesterday and today off, and was bored at approximately noon yesterday and started doing some minor work from home.

In my made up fantasy land, I'd pay off all my debts, my immediate families debts, and then I would continue living pretty close to how I live now. Most of the money would go into the bank or investments and I'd continue to work my job, my wife work her job and that would be that.

[Alitaki]

My plan:

1) Pay off the mortgages on my parents, sisters and aunt/uncles homes. Give my parents and sister a few million, my aunts/uncles $200k, and all my cousins $100k (I've got a lot of cousins).

2) Setup trusts for my kids so that they'll have money when they hit 30 (I want them to work for a few years after college).

3) Buy a good sized one family home for my family.

4) Buy, outright, as many 40+ unit apartment buildings as I can with half of what is left over. The rest is going to go into savings accounts to use for maintaining the apartment buildings.

Then I retire. I don't want to work. Ever again. Maybe I buy the local ice rink and use that to occupy my days. But that's about it.

EDIT: when my wife and I pass, each kid gets a building, their trust and everything else goes to charity.

This post has been edited by Alitaki: Mar 30 2012, 09:27 AM

[Hockey101]

Expand the medical clinic of my church.

Build a Roman Catholic School for my church.

Not splitting it with my family, but actually using it as a whole for us.

Buy an Aston Martin.

Be minor part owner of the Panthers.

Start my own side project business.

Buy a house with one of the nicest looking wine cellars you could ever find.

Buy Rangerland.net and make it a Tea Party movement forum.

[leedsy99]

In my made up fantasy land, I'd pay off all my debts, my immediate families debts, and then I would continue living pretty close to how I live now.

I've thought about this and just can't see it happening. I physically could not live where I live now, because if I did something like buy myself a new car or make improvements to my house, I outpace my neighbors and make myself a target for crime. I wouldn't want new friends, I wouldn't go crazy like athletes/celebrities do and make insane purchases, but I also couldn't live the way I do now.

I would also be real cautious about bring my family up to my level, because I have a decent-sized family that runs the gamut from already rich to meth-head poor. I don't want to be Don Corleone where my cousins beg me for cash, and I can only see the hostility that would come in knowing that I have unlimited funds and yet I'm stingy when it comes to distribution. That's why I would hope to continue to live somewhat modestly but comfortable, and give money to places where I feel it would make the most differences.

[HDH]

All you fucking dopes that would still "work" are fucking dopes.

The estimated final check after state and local taxes is TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY THREE MILLION DOLLARS. $253,000,000.00.

To put that in context, if you bought a 30 million dollar furnished mansion, a 10 million dollar vacation home, a bunch of cars and boats worth 3 million, and took a 10 million dollar trip around the world, you'd STILL have $200 million to deposit.

So if you put it in a 1% interest bearing account (which is WAY WAY WAY under real-life rates of return on investments from that amount of money), you would be making $2 million dollars a year. In interest. A year.

You have no reason, ever, to do anything except play golf, go to dinner, work out to stay healthy, and maybe be a philanthropist and go to charity dinners and stuff like that.


I would not, under any circumstances, have any interest whatsoever in going to any kind of "job" or doing anything except finding fun things to do on a daily basis.

[rightbug]

I've always thought about this. I like my life a lot so I wouldn't make crazy changes. I would stay in my current house, for example, but I would trick it out. Geo-thermal heating, finished basement, wood-shop, etc.

Money to my family and friends, obviously, as well as paying for college for several of my friend's kids.

I might keep my job initially, just to transition but I would eventually leave it and take up woodworking and photography, not because I would need the money but because I go crazy if I'm not working for too long and those are both "jobs" I would enjoy.

Lots of money to charity, obviously. Scholarships for local high-school students including a "scholarship" for kids not going to college that would allow them to spend a year traveling.

Travel would be the big one for me. I would stay in my modest house and live a mostly modest life but I would travel like a mother-fucker.

[rightbug]

You have no reason, ever, to do anything except play golf, go to dinner, work out to stay healthy, and maybe be a philanthropist and go to charity dinners and stuff like that.


I would not, under any circumstances, have any interest whatsoever in going to any kind of "job" or doing anything except finding fun things to do on a daily basis.

There's a balance though. I love a good vacation and I can generally find no end of fun things to keep me busy but I start to go crazy if I'm not working somehow. It doesn't have to be something shitty -- Just something to keep me from feeling adrift. Making furniture/restoring houses would do it for me. I'd be my own boss and could take as much time off as I'd like but I'd also work a schedule of some sort, just for the sake of structure and routine.

[Tex]

Maybe I buy the local ice rink

I always thought I'd build a 7000 seat arena for the immediate local high school by my house, plus a few practice rinks around town for the other districts. Maybe have a bar that has curling and maybe a couple of rinks just for short track racing and figure skating. Eventually, USA Hockey/ice sports would just hafta leave Colorado et al, if the facilities were awesome enough...

[HDH]

I'd be my own boss and could take as much time off as I'd like but I'd also work a schedule of some sort, just for the sake of structure and routine.

I'd find plenty of structure and routine flying back and forth to Vegas and fucking porn stars.

[rightbug]

Which reminds me, I would buy up all of the run down houses on my street, restore them to gorgeous single-family homes and sell them at a loss. Around here neighborhoods tend to be mixed. Really nice houses next to shitty multi-unit rentals. My street is downtown, right at the border between nice neighborhoods moving away from the center of town and sketchier rentals heading loser to the center of town. There are some gorgeous houses that have been neglected and turned into rental properties.

Restoring and flipping houses without having to worry about turning a profit would be a blast.

[SorryaboutthatWh...]

I would probably move, but I'd keep the house I'm in now.

I definitely wouldn't buy a car, that sort of thing doesn't do it for me. I'd buy A car, but not some high end dream machine.

My wife and I's families are way too big, that's why I said immediate families. Sorry uncles and cousins, can't do it. That's not to say I won't help them though. I wouldn't sit back and watch my cousins aunts/uncles suffer through expensive medical conditions or a funeral when the time unfortunately comes.

I still honestly think I'd keep my job, for as long as they'd have me. I think this is true for any manager, if you win the lottery but keep your job, your bosses have lost all leverage. Most likely the resentment will end in termination. A termination that probably wouldn't be wrongful because the urge to take month long vacations and having a very nonchalant attitude would probably take over. I love my job, I would still go in and do it but the second your boss comes in in a frenzy that something has to get done and your just kind of like "ok" because in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter, something has to give at some point.

HDH, if you didn't work, what would you do? Don't you know the death rates in this country for retirees who end up doing nothing? You need to give yourself a reason to get out of bed everyday. Eventually playing golf, watching movies and going on trips gets old.

Oh, and it's sappy, but the wife and I would start planning for kids because all the worries of staying home, daycare, nannies, can we live on one salary are gone.

[Charlie]

That is a lot of money.

It is also approximately 1/70th of Warren Buffett's fortune.

[Mike B.]

I wonder a lot about the practical implications of being handed that much cash. What do you do, walk down to the local Chase branch, and say, "hi, I'd like to open a new account, here's $250M?" Wouldn't you become an immediate target for criminals? Cyber and real world? Hell, wouldn't some of your own family members be tempted to kidnap you? I always wondered whether state lottery authorities offered any sort of consulting services for winners.

That said, for me, pay off all debts immediately, millions each to my parents and two sisters, trust funds for my godchildren, pay off the mortgages on all of my closest friends' homes. After that, massive donations to Cooper Union and Tulane, and Habitat for Humanity. After that, I'd really have to think things over.

This post has been edited by Mike B.: Mar 30 2012, 10:23 AM

[HDH]

HDH, if you didn't work, what would you do? Don't you know the death rates in this country for retirees who end up doing nothing? You need to give yourself a reason to get out of bed everyday. Eventually playing golf, watching movies and going on trips gets old.

Playing golf never gets old. And with that money you could travel ANYWHERE in the world. It's a huge place. It couldn't get stale.

I have younger kids now, so a huge part of my day would be taking and picking them up from school. I'd be at the gym every day for an hour or so. I love cooking, so I'd shop at Whole Foods or farmers markets coming up with the night's dinner. Maybe take some culinary classes. Don't know if this qualifies as a "job", but perhaps open a small restaurant as a place to hang out and design a menu or something.

I'd still attend hockey and baseball games.

I'd have some hobbies. I'd learn how to ride a motorcycle, and maybe take up restoring or assembling them like American Chopper. Perhaps building guitars or something.


Again, just think of the things you could come up with if money was no object. I can't take up hobbies like this because the equipment is too expensive, the gear is too much, you don't have space, etc. Take away all those reasons, and you could do almost anything.

[rightbug]

I definitely wouldn't buy a car, that sort of thing doesn't do it for me. I'd buy A car, but not some high end dream machine.

This is a weakness of mine and probably the area where I would end up being most obscene with my wealth. Like 101, I'd definitely get a Aston Martin, probably the DB9. I also get a Tesla Model S to offset the obscene mileage I 'd also get an Audi S4 for winter and a pickup for "work."

Again, just think of the things you could come up with if money was no object. I can't take up hobbies like this because the equipment is too expensive, the gear is too much, you don't have space, etc. Take away all those reasons, and you could do almost anything.

This I agree with. I think it's all in how you define work. I also think a lot of people who are happy with their lot in life say that they would continue working because it would provide some continuity. Money changes things. It changes people. It can be a mixed blessing and I think people who say they would keep working recognize this and want to mitigate it by not severing all ties to their current lives.

[Kusand]

This I agree with. I think it's all in how you define work. I also think a lot of people who are happy with their lot in life say that they would continue working because it would provide some continuity. Money changes things. It changes people. It can be a mixed blessing and I think people who say they would keep working recognize this and want to mitigate it by not severing all ties to their current lives.

Yes. I doubt I'd stay at my current company, because I'd want to be gone for at least a year or two, but I would still need SOMETHING to drive me. I'd worry about disappearing from my own life, that I'd stop relating to friends, or that for envy I could never keep them without paying them off.

[Nilan 666]

I would start my own country and then annex Karen Gillan.

[Rhino]

I don't know if I'd keep working. Probably not. I like my coworkers, but some days the stress is too much. Then again. I'm sure I would feel guilty about leaving them hanging while they trained up my replacement.

As for the money, I would want to take care of my immediate family. Get a nice house for myself (and wife and daughter) that would meet all of my fantastical whims, probably with some kind of super-cool hidden bunker system, because those fascinate me. I'd also make sure my youth group wanted for nothing, though we do ok as it is. I'd probably 'hire' my closest friends to pursue their own interests and spring for frequent vacations for the lot of us. (Nothing crazy. Disney and cruises and Bear Mountain and such.) Season tickets for my favorite teams. My wife would probably want to keep teaching, though I could also see her quitting to raise our daughter full-time.

I'd also like to think I would allot a significant amount of it to bringing infrastructure and water to third-world nations. At that point I feel like there has to be some kind of social responsibility as a human being to whom much has been given, you know?

[Rhino]

Wait, was Iron Man an option?

Yeah, ok, I take it all back. I would be Tony Stark.

[LisaLisa]

I would start my own country and then annex Karen Gillan.

And you'd finally have the money to hire all the minions you need. #Winning

[Tex]

I wonder a lot about the practical implications of being handed that much cash.

well, with you being a single guy, you'll definitely need to get a body shield because tons of vagina and, quite possibly, even man-spears will be getting thrown at you.

that said, the Blind Trust idea can only go so far to keep you off the radar, but every little bit helps. Eventually, you will be outted by somebody who feels slighted by you and then you have the down side of this otherwise truly "quality" 1st-world problem.

[Beamer]

I didn't buy tickets, so instead I'll give the outline of my life goals (as written on a whiteboard):

1) Yacht by 37.

2) Private island by 43.

3) Private army so my private island can declare war on Richard Branson's private island and claim it as my own by 45.

[Sed]

10 QUIT JOB
20 PRINT "SO LONG, STINKTOWN!"
30 DO WHATEVER
40 GOTO 30

[Nilan 666]

I would start my own country and then annex Karen Gillan.

And you'd finally have the money to hire all the minions you need. #Winning

And I could afford enough of them that I kill them whenever I am displeased with their incompetence/treachery.

[Knight of Dight]

With a jackpot this large, I would think some mega-millionaire would have someone run the numbers and then invest like 20 million in buying up every combination of numbers. With it being over 600 million now, and probably around 350 million after taxes if you take the lump sum, you are getting a humongous return on your investment.

[Beamer]

10 QUIT JOB
20 PRINT "SO LONG, STINKTOWN!"
30 DO WHATEVER
40 GOTO 30

I still think you need a defined "whatever." At this kind of money a job is a hobby, so pick something fun that you would neither lose a ton on nor care if you make any cash (and therefore pressure and hours are low.)


For instance, I'd launch my own brand of designer jeans and send a pair out to every member of this board, just so you'd all have my name on your butts. Take that, Xavier Roberts!

[Sed]

For instance, I'd launch my own brand of designer jeans and send a pair out to every member of this board, just so you'd all have my name on your butts. Take that, Xavier Roberts!

Bravo!

[xcdudesquadloves...]

I would hire a personal banker to manage my funds and invest some of it. I would buy an apartment in NYC, a house on the Jersey Shore, and probably a house in Europe somewhere. Probably in Geneva.

I would set it up as an annuity after taxes so I can just not worry about it.

Donate a lot of money to NGOs and other charitable organizations.

Travel the world. Everywhere. Definitely go diving a lot and try and climb mountains. I dream of having the courage and the fitness to climb Everest. Also do the Snowman Trek in Bhutan, but I'm doing that any way even if I don't win the lottery.

I would probably try and write a novel about the travels I do. That would be amazing.

[Kusand]

With a jackpot this large, I would think some mega-millionaire would have someone run the numbers and then invest like 20 million in buying up every combination of numbers. With it being over 600 million now, and probably around 350 million after taxes if you take the lump sum, you are getting a humongous return on your investment.

Not that simple. There are 175,711,536 different combinations. If you factor in taxes and the odds of someone else splitting the jackpot with you (considering the likely outrageous number of players tonight), it's a pretty high risk investment for a relatively low overall return.

[Kusand]

If you want to read about real "investors" in a lottery, this is how you do it: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/201...all_scheme.html

[Knight of Dight]

With a jackpot this large, I would think some mega-millionaire would have someone run the numbers and then invest like 20 million in buying up every combination of numbers. With it being over 600 million now, and probably around 350 million after taxes if you take the lump sum, you are getting a humongous return on your investment.

Not that simple. There are 175,711,536 different combinations. If you factor in taxes and the odds of someone else splitting the jackpot with you (considering the likely outrageous number of players tonight), it's a pretty high risk investment for a relatively low overall return.

Oh, wow. There isn't enough ink nor paper to fill out that many different combinations anyway lol.

[gr8flscott]

As for the money, I would want to take care of my immediate family. Get a nice house for myself (and wife and daughter) that would meet all of my fantastical whims, probably with some kind of super-cool hidden bunker system, because those fascinate me. I'd also make sure my youth group wanted for nothing, though we do ok as it is. I'd probably 'hire' my closest friends to pursue their own interests and spring for frequent vacations for the lot of us. (Nothing crazy. Disney and cruises and Bear Mountain and such.) Season tickets for my favorite teams. My wife would probably want to keep teaching, though I could also see her quitting to raise our daughter full-time.

I would buy season tix down at ice-level for everyone in the 400s.

I wouldn't work, per se, but I would create a business for something that I truly enjoy (not sure what yet). However, it would have to be one where I could take time-outs to do my own thing.

I'd buy a brownstone right around our current vicinity (something that I've wanted to do since I started coming into the City to buy dimebags in Washington Square Park), a few vacation homes, including one in Jamaica. My wife and her family, spent summers up at a cottage in York Beach, Maine. That's one of the reasons that inspired us to have our wedding up there. So I would buy some land there where I could build some summer homes for our families.

I would definitely set up trusts for my neice and nephew (my brother's children) on top of paying for thier tuitions, buy my parents, brother, and mother-in-law new homes, and then give a lump some to the rest of my in-laws to use in any way they chose.

My largest donation would be to NYU Hospital. Not becuase my wife works there, but I have seen a neurologist there since I was 14. I have epilesy and have had 3 brain surgeries there performed by well-respected surgions in that field. Along the medical lines, I would also pay for any type of alieviation for my wife's back issues (yes, many of my family members seem to have some sort medical issues - my brother refers to us as "genetic garbage" ).

Obvliously paying off any loans and mortgages for family members is a top priority.

I'd learn to play guitar - classically trained by a musical virtuoso - and have one custom-made for myself.

That's all I can think of for the time being, but I'm sure there will be plenty of other stuff that will come along in the future, too.

This post has been edited by gr8flscott: Mar 30 2012, 01:24 PM

[Ebase]

Ummm...


I'd just retire.

Build myself a flat in NYC for part times.

Build myself an organic winery in Sonoma County for most times.

Build myself a retreat in Borocay on my private beach.

Then just kick-it for good...

[Knight of Dight]

For all the people claiming they'd no longer work, as attractive as that idea seems you'll quickly realize that it sucks. People need something to keep them occupied and involved; if you just sit around basking in leisure, you'll eventually get bored and depressed.

[SorryaboutthatWh...]

I definitely wouldn't just leave my job instantly. I'd stay and sort things out. I've worked their too long and made too many friends to just throw middle fingers in the air.

I don't know if I can bring myself to start a business. You just dump money away and your lucky if your breaking even after five years, especially in this economy.

Now, I hate how your name gets announced and basically everyone knows you just came into cash. At the same time you never hear of lottery winners getting in trouble with being kidnapped or robbed or anything so maybe it isn't as much of an issue as I think.

As to what Knight of Dight said I was thinking the same thing earlier, but it's not a sound investment, the lottery sucks. There's no guarantee you'd be the only winner, so you're litterally throwing away a ridiculous sum in the hopes of growing your investment, but the odds are nothing but against you.

[Kusand]

I don't know if I can bring myself to start a business. You just dump money away and your lucky if your breaking even after five years, especially in this economy.

Good news - you have hundreds of millions of dollars. You can be your own best customer. You can just run the business as a game.

"Oops! We're down fifty grand this month! You'd think Spoiled Meat 2 Go would be making more money. Oh well."

[SorryaboutthatWh...]

I don't know if I can bring myself to start a business. You just dump money away and your lucky if your breaking even after five years, especially in this economy.

Good news - you have hundreds of millions of dollars. You can be your own best customer. You can just run the business as a game.

"Oops! We're down fifty grand this month! You'd think Spoiled Meat 2 Go would be making more money. Oh well."

This is why most people who win the lottery end up broke in a few years.

[Mike B.]

I don't know if I can bring myself to start a business. You just dump money away and your lucky if your breaking even after five years, especially in this economy.

Good news - you have hundreds of millions of dollars. You can be your own best customer. You can just run the business as a game.

"Oops! We're down fifty grand this month! You'd think Spoiled Meat 2 Go would be making more money. Oh well."

"I'll just buy up all the stock myself! Back in the black!"

"What, that might be illegal? Oooh, what are you going to do, SEC, fine me? Oooooh, I'm so totally scared!"