If You Won The Lottery

In the comment section of my last post, Sues indicated that if she won the lottery she'd quit her job and leave Fornicalia, which she called Mexifornia. That got me to thinking:

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Let's say, perhaps, $20 million dollars?

With that figure in mind, I have a few questions:

• Would you stay at your job for a period of time?
• What would you immediately do with your money?
• What would you do with the rest?
• Would you stay in your current home or town?

BZ's ANSWERS:

Yes, for a period of time I would continue working my job; I would also do my level-headed best to ensure that my winning the lottery was not made public, nor would I mention it to family or friends until I was in a fiscal and mental position to handle the flak, hysteria and complications that would inevitably result.

What would I expect?

First, some amount of media coverage. My inclination, because I was the media years ago, would be to put them on Ignore Mode. However, they would publish and/or portray whatever they wished anyway and one must expect contacts from not only family but the outside world as well.

I would envision family members who'd never given me the proverbial "time of day" to come out of the woodwork, leaving tearful pleas on my home and cell phone. I'd have friends I'd not spoken to in years clogging my voicemail as well. Throw in total strangers with offers of "making more millions" and I'd have a thoroughly confusing conglomerate.

My reaction? I'd ignore everyone except those who are actually meaningful to me. And I'd take care of me and my immediate family first. First long-term move: begin to investigate the appointment of a professional and competent personal financial counselor/attorney, as I am not an Economics or Accounting major. I would do this sub rosa; making my own inquisitions and sending out my own feelers.

Second: I'd put a roof on my fiance's home, buy her a new vehicle, and make sure her mother was overseen and taken care of. I'd pay off a portion of my own home -- but not completely.

I would also spend a few dollars on my own one immediate whimsy purchase: I'd buy a brand new 2007 GMC Yukon Denali SUV with every feature and appointment imagineable. Why, you might ask? Because GMC is domestic, it would be one clearly conspicuous purchase, and I've always wanted to be amongst the few who could sit high, display their conspicuous consumption, and afford something of that order with leather, luxury, a huge engine and no worries about size or fuel. My vehicles have historically always, always been small, thrifty, inexpensive, and much less than luxurious. Screw that now. I'd splurge for this one purchase.

And that's where my immediate purchases would stop until I stood back and got a Global view and prognostication of where my funds would be in three years, five years, ten years, and so on. $20 million dollar sounds unlimited; in today's world I suspect it is quite not.

In a longer view, I would consider moving to the Pacific Northwest where the area combines three of my favorite venues: lower temperatures, pines and the ocean. I would leave my home town of Sacratomato behind and consider the Jenner, Mendocino, Ft. Bragg, Bandon or Astoria areas.

What would you do?

Answer these questions:

• Would you stay at your job for a period of time?
• What would you immediately do with your money?
• What would you do with the rest?
• Would you stay in your current home or town?

I'm going to leave this post up for a few days because I really want to hear what readers of this blog have to say about sudden and overwhelming fortunes. How would you handle it, and what would be your reaction to this newfound wealth?

BZ