As everyone probably knows by now, tonight's Mega Millions jackpot has headed north of $600 million; I generally don't play the lottery, but with those numbers I couldn't resist picking up a few tickets. I know I have no chance of winning, but still, it's fun to dream. What would you spend the money on if you won?
Follow me over the squiggle for my idea of how to spend way more money than anyone needs...
I'm a believer in taking the annuity option if you win the jackpot (not that I've ever had the opportunity to put this into practice!) so that the money can be invested pre-tax rather than post-tax; essentially, the difference between sticking your money in a 401(k) and just investing part of your paycheck in the stock market. I have no idea how much the annual payment for a half billion dollar jackpot would be, but just for fun let's guess on the low side and say that it'll be $10 million a year, after taxes.
So you've just gotten the first payment....where to start? The great thing about winning the lottery, of course, is that you get to get out of debt! I'd start by paying off the credit cards, the student loans, the mortgage...all that debt, overwhelming as it now seems, will take out less than 5% of the first year's payment! After that, I'd probably splurge a little; let's throw in a trip to Europe, a new computer, and a building (and supplies) for the art center my wife wants to open, and round it up to a million dollars spent.
Of course, I'll want to share the wealth a bit; let's say a million dollars each to my siblings, my wife's siblings, my parents, and her parents. That takes care of another $6 million (and gives somebody else the problem of spending it). We're doing pretty well - only $3 million left!
If you're going to get THAT much money, I don't see how you can not give away 30% of it, which will take care of the rest of this year's payment (of course, next year we don't have the debt or the $6 million giveaway, so we have a lot more to spend). So how can we give away $3 million effectively?
My church isn't big enough to handle a million dollar donation, so while they'll certainly get a nice chunk of change, it won't make a significant dent in the pile. My old church in Colorado, though, is a lot bigger, so they can actually make use of a six figure donation. Let's say I get rid of $250k in this section.
My favorite charity, as I've mentioned before, is Children International, so I'd like to send some money to the Dominican Republican office. Let's say another quarter million.
I'm big on education, and I always wanted to have the money to set up a scholarship fund. Two, really: one that's completely merit-based and one specifically for students with disabilities. My dad is retired, so I'll ask him if he wants to oversee them. My wife is big on promoting the arts, so maybe we'll set up an art scholarship as well. I'll fund these to the tune of a million dollars a year.
That brings us down to $1.5 million. I used to teach middle school, and I definitely have opinions about what works and what doesn't. I also remember my years of being constantly bored in a system that never challenged me. I'm tempted to set up a charter school for gifted students and staff it with people willing to try my ideas. I suspect this one is going to take more money than I have left this year, though, and it also needs some setup (hiring staff, designing the curriculum) so we'll leave it for next year.
How about politics? With this much money, I can do a lot of good, but the government can do more. I'm not interested in running for office myself, but I can support people who actually believe that the job of our elected representatives is to make sure the government is doing a good job, not stop it from doing its job. Let's mark down a half million for people like Elizabeth Warren.
In most years, I'd give the other million to various charities I like, but given how sick I am of what the republicans have been doing to this country, I'm thinking about putting it into an educational campaign. A million bucks isn't a lot when it comes to advertising (just ask Mitt Romney!) but it could certainly fund, for example, a few youtube videos. One thing people here seems to agree on is that the administration sucks as messaging, with the natural result (people wanting to get rid of the ACA, for example, when they agree with everything in it aside from the mandate). Perhaps we could have a group coming up with creative, low-cost educational campaigns.
And now I'm out of money...but then, there's always next year...