The Mega Millions is $750 million now

Oh when do they pick this? I thought I missed it.  

jeremysgirl I love your idea. It sounds divine.  

I've always wanted to own a little coffee/book shop. There was one in the upstate town where I lived and it combined my two favorite passions. 

But most of all I would donate to my favorite causes: animal welfare, children aging out of foster care, and feeding the hungry. 

THe first thing I would do is sell the cows! LOL Goodbye girls! See ya later!

The first thing my husband would do is buy MORE cows.

We laugh at the though of that big money and how long it would take to lose it all farming ..

It's so fun to think what you could do with all that money and how many people you can help. But I also think how it would absolutely ruin your life and your children's lives. I only know (and I don't know him that well) one person who one a seriously large lottery. And that was a long time ago. They had to put their children, who were high school age, into protective security. His wife ended up passing from cancer shortly after. So money doesn't fix everything. He has been a huge doner to his university, and has given a large portion of the money away. Life is good for them now, but at the time of winning - it really upended their lives. He was very comfortable before the lottery win. So having pot loads of money thrown at him really didn't dramatically change how he lived his life.

I really wish you could remain anonymous with the win.

I would want to give a lot to our local school system, but I would want to be somewhat specific on how it was spent.

I would want to start a really good affordable daycare that paid the workers well, but people could send their kids there and not spend the entire paycheck on it.

Funding scholarships would be awesome too.

I'd build me a big old electric fence around my farm and zap anyone who tried to go over it! LOL

I'd quit my job. I'd like to think immediately but we're in year end so I'd probably tell them immediately and work thru our Q1 reporting so my last day would be April 30th. I'd actually have time to learn all the things I have on my list (photography, quilting, knitting, and the list goes on). I'd like to donate to causes that are important to me but I want the ability to do it anonymously. I do that now when I make donations (granted they are WAY smaller than they would be if I won the lottery), I don't want anyone making a fuss. I'd probably set up trusts for family and my friend's kids. I'd pay off all debt for my family/friends.

Honestly the biggest blessing that a lottery win would allow me is to set up a trust for DS. He has autism and it keeps me up at night thinking about how he will be able to provide for himself in the future. A trust would remove that worry (good Lord, if I didn't have that worry, what would I do with all my free time??). I'd still expect him to have a job but he'd have a cushion knowing his needs were taken care of.

I would hire a team of folks to authenticate stories (going to miss rent, can't afford RX, need a car, need to pay for a surgery etc..) and randomly take care of these types of things, for people. I would have a shell corporation or entity, so they would never know. Things would just get handled. A big RAK I guess you could call it.

And I'd get a new car too.

You could just move your entire community or neighbors you like with that much money!! haha... 

First thing I'd do is buy my parents a new larger house (their's is small and crowded and my sister who is on medical disability lives with them) with separate living spaces for both of them and my sister. I'd give them lots of money so my father could finally retire if he wants to (he's still working at 81 full time and says it's because he wants to) and live out their years with no worries at all. 

Next I'd like to start 3 animal sanctuaries and find qualified, experienced people to run them. One would be for elephants that would be rescued from circuses, from terrible zoos in other countries, from places where they've been chained up and made to work all of their lives in solitary conditions like in Thailand. The second one would be for rescued primates like chimps, orangutans and gorillas. And the third sanctuaries would be for big cats like tigers and lions who have been rescued from private people, circuses and private zoos. Or anywhere they needed rescuing. 

Last thing I'd do is two-fold. I'd buy for my family two houses: One in Maine where we could live during the spring and summer and one is St. John, USVI where we could live during the fall and winter. Then I'd buy myself my dream sailboat and I'd finally have the money to take my dream sailing trip around the world taking as long as I like, stopping wherever I wish and taking photos with my camera, writing a book perhaps as I go of my journey. When I got home I'd finish the book include a ton of the photos and hopefully get it published. The book wouldn't be the ultimate goal-that's just be the icing on the cake. The ultimate goal would be the journey, the people I met along the way, the change in me from getting through the difficult times and pushing through them and never giving up-hopefully I'd be able to do that.

 

Not if I beat you to it!!    That house is amazing! I just bought a lottery ticket for tomorrow night, but ours is *only* $5 million. So I'm not going to get too much change from the $4,995,000 asking price. 

There are a few states where if you're a resident, you may remain anonymous. I would do everything in my power to remain so. However, I only played powerball one time, years and years ago and no others, so my odds of winning are really, really pathetic

My dh and I talked about it. He would retire and I would stay a SAHM. We would buy another house and give our present home to either a family member or sell it.

My dh says that he would be like Oprah and tell everyone You get a car and You get a car for family members because he is friends with a guy who is an awesome salesman and an even better teacher at the local school.

Other than that, we agreed that we hoped if we won that it wouldn't destroy our lives. We watched a show about Jack Whittaker who took home $314 and just had loss after loss.

Jennifer

I think you can remain anonymous in 6 states, if the jackpot is large enough.

I wouldn't claim it until I had to. I think you have a year? But I would be getting all my ducks in a row before I ever claimed it, so that when I did, every legal issue would be in place.

But I don't know why I am so worried about winning it. I never buy a ticket! LOL