I heard on the news a few weeks ago that someone had won 300 million dollars in a lottery. Powerball, I think. As I was driving home I began to reflect on the fact that most people who win that kind of money don't keep it long and end up broke. I started to wonder what would I do if I in someway was given that kind of money. So just because I thought it was interesting, here are my thoughts.
First, I'm going to assume that this is money I didn't win gambling, because I haven't ever gambled and I don't plan to.
So here is how I think it would go down.
$300,000,000
I assume that the tax on that kind of money would be about half so the government. I hope it would be used to pay off some of our debt, but it probably wouldn't.
-150,000,000
Then I would pay tithing on the whole amount, because that would be the right thing to do.
- 30,000,000
= $120,000,000
That is still an incredibly huge amount of money. I don't want a bigger house, I don't need a fancy car, I actually like my life the way it is. That's a good thing to realize. I'm not really interested in living a life of "The Rich and Famous." So what would I do?
What would I want for my children and grandchildren? How much money would I like them to have? I don't want a life of ease for them. I think we need to work, but maybe I could make it so they have more financial freedom in what they do make. $300,000 in the current market would buy a great house. It wouldn't be overly huge or luxurious, but comfortable and nice, in a good neighborhood, with good schools. If I gave each of them $300,000 for a house, that would mean they wouldn't have a mortgage (unless they choose to spend more than that). That would help to increase the amount of money they get from each pay check and so it would feel like they made more money than they actually do. I would stipulate that this money was to be used for a house. $300,000 x 4
-1,200,000
Then I would like to help them have enough money to retire. So, how about $3,000,000 each in a trust fund to be available to them when they turn 45. Then IF they want they could retire early. Another drain taken away from their monthly salary.
-12,000,000
Obviously, I would want to give some to each of the grandchildren. What I would wish for them is that they would be able to go to college and maybe someday buy a house, but since the future is so hard to predict money, I would set aside some money that would be designated "College or job training" and "house down payment." How about $100,000 each. Again, who knows how many grandchildren I will ultimately have. So if I set aside enough for 15 (which is probably more than I will get, but who knows?) what is left over could be divided between them.
-1,500,000
Then I would pay off my own house and debts. Let's say $150,000 just to give it a round number. (and which by the way, is more debt than I have)
- 150,000
And I would buy a new car but something small and not luxurious in any way.
-20,000
= $105,130,000
Now what? Well, let's see, I would like to keep working. I like my job, but maybe I could just work part time. So I would need enough to have some sort of steady income and some sort of retirement set aside. How much money would I need to set aside to give me a nice income for life? Some sort of safe investment?
If I took $5,130,000 and got a 4% annual interest it would earn me $205,200 per year which is a lot more money than I would need. That is $17,100 a month, yeah way too much money, but I wouldn't have to use it all. And I would be able to travel in the summer. Probably, as much as I like my job, I'd get frustrated one day and just quit. Then I could still travel as much as I want, or volunteer, or whatever else I wanted.
Then when I died my children could have whatever was left of that money and divide it between them. Which would probably be a whole lot of money.
That still leaves $100,000,000! Incredible! Okay, now I start giving to charities. I'd probably give it all to education in some way, scholarships, money for school music programs, stuff for my high school. Of course some would go to the general church mission fund. I would probably pay off the mortgages of some of my friends. I'm sure I would have a lot of friends suddenly, but I could be open to those who really needed help. Of course, my flamingo ladies, if they needed it would be first on the list, but there might be others who need help.
So, just in case you ever wondered. That is what I would do with 300 million dollars. What do you think? Do you like my choices?
What would you do?
