[Question] What Strange thing would you do if you won the lottery?

Dave

Dave

Staff member
After taxes you've cleared $500 million. You're set for life. Well, probably set for life. I know the usual things like pay off bills, get new car, new house, etc. But what off the wall thing would you do?

Me? I have a few of them. Most of which would give me considerably less money. In no order:

  • Small town Iowa I'd start a business. I'd hire at least 10 - 15 people to run the place. It would be an arcade/VR place for kids. It would cost absolutely nothing to come in and play. The workers would get at LEAST $50k a year and medical/dental paid. Their jobs would be to run the place and make sure the equipment was in good working order. It would partner with the local cafe for food and drinks so they wouldn't have to make anything themselves. I figure that would be about $1 million a year to keep running, even with startup costs. Again, with the money paying for it coming out of an investment fund specifically for this it would almost be a set it and forget it kind of thing.
  • Peruse some of the subreddits that talk about money like poverty finance and random acts of pizza. Randomly give out money. Not much, like $5000. Enough to make a difference but not enough where they have to pay taxes.
  • Dress like a bum and go to car lots. See how I'm treated. Buy a car from those who treat me like a person.
  • Tip 100% everywhere I go.

Yeah I'd probably be broke within a few years, but when you're my age...(Yes, I'd have retirement set up and give money to my kids so they are set. I'm not THAT dumb!)
 
Cog

Cog

I would quit my job. That is the only thing I like to fantasize I would do if I win the lottery. After that, I would give a portion to the people of halforums, and then I would probably spend the money whatever way Vero tells me to do it.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

I'd probably check with friends who are still paying off student loans and give them enough to pay it off (and a little extra).

I'd also probably invest in some green technologies, or start up my own local company. Something like helping people afford to renovate their houses to be more energy efficient.

I've always wanted to build or buy some apartments, but make them as efficient and self sustaining as possible. Then I'd ensure they're ALSO considered affordable housing.

I'd offer some grants or bursaries to universities for low income people or people disabilities.

I'd also quit my job and use the money to pay artists to try my hand at comics.

Oh, and I'd go on as many biking tours as possible. And film it for travel videos on YouTube for a little extra income.
 
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Frank

Frank

I would work with Dog River to try to pull as many people out of poverty as possible and then I would disappear forever to Iceland or something.
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

Dave said:
After taxes you've cleared $500 million. You're set for life. Well, probably set for life. I know the usual things like pay off bills, get new car, new house, etc. But what off the wall thing would you do?

Me? I have a few of them. Most of which would give me considerably less money. In no order:

  • Small town Iowa I'd start a business. I'd hire at least 10 - 15 people to run the place. It would be an arcade/VR place for kids. It would cost absolutely nothing to come in and play. The workers would get at LEAST $50k a year and medical/dental paid. Their jobs would be to run the place and make sure the equipment was in good working order. It would partner with the local cafe for food and drinks so they wouldn't have to make anything themselves. I figure that would be about $1 million a year to keep running, even with startup costs. Again, with the money paying for it coming out of an investment fund specifically for this it would almost be a set it and forget it kind of thing.
  • Peruse some of the subreddits that talk about money like poverty finance and random acts of pizza. Randomly give out money. Not much, like $5000. Enough to make a difference but not enough where they have to pay taxes.
  • Dress like a bum and go to car lots. See how I'm treated. Buy a car from those who treat me like a person.
  • Tip 100% everywhere I go.

Yeah I'd probably be broke within a few years, but when you're my age...(Yes, I'd have retirement set up and give money to my kids so they are set. I'm not THAT dumb!)
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from: https://www.calculator.net/investment-calculator.html
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If you had $500M, you could very conservatively invest it, and spend $1M a month and still grow your principal.
If all you did was tip a little higher, buy a few cars, and pay $1m/year to fund a free public arcade, you're not going broke.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

I've always said what I'd do is buy expensive things at high-end stores and then sneak back in and leave them back on the shelf, so that when they come around to do inventory, they're going to be like, "What? How do we have extras of this highly expensive item?" Sort of like shoplifting, but in reverse.

In other words, I would become (more of) a force for Chaotic Good. And creative mischief. Or I'd be like Ray Walston in Rad, and buy up all of some underdog kid's T-shirts so he can stick it to the smarmy antagonist.

--Patrick
 
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Wahad

Wahad

I would take a number of my foodie friends to a high-end (3-michelin star) restaurant, possibly in a foreign country, including plane tickets and hotel rooms. After that I can do the responsible thing of hiring a financial advisor, pay off my debts, buy a house, etc. etc.

Also possibly give some money to my new fencing club so they can invest in better club/loaner gear.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
General Specific

General Specific

After all of the usual stuff, I would fund the building and running of a high-end music center and then pay acts to come to it to give intimate performances to select audiences. I'd then start bringing in my favorite artists to play. People like Gregory Alan Isakov, Nathaniel Rateliff with however many of the Night Sweats he wanted to bring with him, Caamp, and Novo Amor.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
I'd probably start my own hosting/VPN Colocation. No logs, of course. The nice thing about that is that its expenses scale easily with its use, so you aren't on the hook for more space/bandwidth than you need to use, to most extents. So the business dynamically resizes itself to only cost as much as it needs to be to handle your clientbase. But the initial hookup to the backbone is a huge expense, and barrier to entry, which is why everybody just goes with AWS most of the time because they already popped that cherry in multiple places.
 
phil

phil

Housing housing housing. I'm looking into whatever cross axis of affordable vs quality I can and building as many habitats based on that as I can and renting it out at just enough to cover upkeep. Everyone also gets 12 vouchers good for a free month to be used as needed Incase they're having a tight month.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
phil said:
Housing housing housing. I'm looking into whatever cross axis of affordable vs quality I can and building as many habitats based on that as I can and renting it out at just enough to cover upkeep. Everyone also gets 12 vouchers good for a free month to be used as needed Incase they're having a tight month.
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On the one hand I understand the want for a passive income. On the other, fuck all landlords, the soul-sucking, add nothing to society, build nothing scum.
 
Frank

Frank

phil said:
Housing housing housing. I'm looking into whatever cross axis of affordable vs quality I can and building as many habitats based on that as I can and renting it out at just enough to cover upkeep. Everyone also gets 12 vouchers good for a free month to be used as needed Incase they're having a tight month.
Click to expand...
You know what sucks? You wouldn't be allowed to. NIMBY zoning bullshit would stop you dead in your tracks for even trying. The status quo is making too many giga corps too much money.
 
phil

phil

Frank said:
You know what sucks? You wouldn't be allowed to. NIMBY zoning bullshit would stop you dead in your tracks for even trying. The status quo is making too many giga corps too much money.
Click to expand...
If Zillow didn't personally hire an assassin I'd consider myself a failure.
 
Squidleybits

Squidleybits

HCGLNS said:
Aggressively lobby parliament and the yanks to fund research into a cure for specific diseases that affect my loved ones.
Try Taco Bell.
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That’s sweet. I would want to have a home in the Arctic where we could view northern lights from our back deck and find a way to to help fund expensive biologic medication for people without insurance/for kids with pre-existing conditions who age out of the coverage of the their parents.
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

I've always wanted to have a ren-faire with period-accurate buildings for shops and restaurants and stuff.
But the older I get, the more I really don't want to actually *run* the thing.
 
klew

klew

I wonder if I went to my local indie bookstore and bought every single item for sale (books, magazines, gift items, etc.), would that screw them for the near future - having barely anything to sell until the shelves get refilled? I guess they could rush shipping and make special orders, but the next couple weeks would be just pre-ordered new releases and "normal" stock replenishment based on recent sales. Such a sales abnormality might cause problems. I would also donate all that stuff to local shelters, schools, hospice care facilities, even prisons take certain genres (mystery books are popular).
 
Shawn

Shawn

The basics for me.
* Hire a lawyer and get a financial advisor.
* Quit my job once it's confirmed I'm set for life.
* Invest in a house near where my daughter's school is.
* Get 50/50 custody of daughter since working situation no longer a factor.
* Keep my car until it absolutely needs to be replaced.
* Pursue voice acting as a career going forward.
 
Cheesy1

Cheesy1

- Build a Hobbit-hole house for my girlfriend and I.
- Pay off immediate family's debts and get them in their own places.
- Create a studio to help people create their own Youtube channels or facilitate their voice-acting ambitions. For an affordable fee, people would have access to our equipment, recording booths, and stages. We would get the rights to use them in advertising for the studio to help grow it.
- (If investments gained me the money to do so) Create an affordable monorail system that would connect most of the cities in my area. It would allow people access to an easy-to-use quick mass transit that would be low-emission, hopefully reduce traffic in the area as well, and also hopefully attract new business to the area too.
- (Again, if investments gained me the money to do so) Heavily invest in new affordable housing in my area.
 
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phil

phil

But also like... Did you ever play those older mech warrior arcade pods? I might get something like that. I want to play first person armored core with joysticks and throttle control and whatnot basically.
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

Things I would like to do:

Learn as many instruments as I can. Short list: cello and piano but drums and some brass instruments would be cool.

Live overseas (Europe and Asia) and explore until I get bored.

Get my kids tutors to set them up with the skills (financial, emotional, educational, health) to succeed in life and then let them choose their path to independence

Get to therapy and offer it to my extended family.

Philanthropic:

Pay off mortgages for friends and family

Find down-on-their luck individuals and really help them

All that should put a pretty big dent in the funds.
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

Besides the obvious responsible answers of pay off debts, make sure family has housing, invest, etc., I'd probably fix up the Little League fields around here. For some reason, the current township administration HATES baseball, and fights us on making any improvements or upkeep, even when the Little League pays for it. Also, more attention to the girls softball program, who doesn't get enough love compared to baseball.

Actually, let me amend that: I'd try to make baseball programs more accessible to areas in need. Baseball used to be one of the most readily available sports in the US, and now lower-income areas are losing their programs and their fields. If I remember correctly, African-Americans currently make up less than 6% of the MLB because of it. I'd want to restore access to fields, make equipment and uniforms available to anyone who wants. No one should lose an opportunity because of lack of funds.
 
Far

Far

phil said:
But also like... Did you ever play those older mech warrior arcade pods? I might get something like that. I want to play first person armored core with joysticks and throttle control and whatnot basically.
Click to expand...
 
Frank

Frank

phil said:
But also like... Did you ever play those older mech warrior arcade pods? I might get something like that. I want to play first person armored core with joysticks and throttle control and whatnot basically.
Click to expand...
Oh man. I only ever saw them on Electric Playground or in magazines. Always wanted to go.

Yeah, minor indulgences would definitely include crap like Virtual-On machines.
 
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