10 million dollars. What would you do?

[ThomCat]

I'm sure we've all had this conversation with friends. I have had this conversation with a couple of DU friends. I'm curious what ideas you all have.

I'd love to buy an apartment house somewhere. Tear out walls to double the size of each apartment, so everyone gets a generous amount of space. And let friends (including DU friends) live there rent-free.

Children would be welcome. Pets would be welcome. There would be one apartment unit open for communal use, parties, or whatever. And I'd have my door open for anyone who wants to drop in and have dinner with me.
:)

[MichiganVote]

1. Family, fun, community, world--- all and everything in that order

Do I win?

[ThomCat]

18. It would be nice if any of us could win.

:)

[IzaSparrow]

2. Economic stimulus rebate checks!!

A bonus for being uh-Murican:patriot:

[ThomCat]

19. Let's see. 10 million divided by the just the number of people in your state

means everyone gets less than a dollar. :P

[IzaSparrow]

26. Guess you'll have to: Spend it wisely! Invest! Save!

[MrCoffee]

3. I'd endow a scholarship at a secondary state school for non-traditional students (ie parents)

To make it easier for a small number of people to work, raise kids and go to school at the same time.

[ThomCat]

20. That would be very, very cool.

:)

[IzaSparrow]

4. actually, my thought would be to buy the local baseball stadium

and turn it into a velodrome, and help track cycling regain some of its lost popularity

[ThomCat]

21. Do you think there's an audience for it?

:shrug:

I'm absolutely not a sports fan, so I'd have no clue.

[IzaSparrow]

34. Most of the decline came when

those damn politicians thought it wasn't a good idea to permit gambling on human events (at the same venue). Americans seem to like NASCAR and football, I'll bet I could market something. Six Day track races are huge in Europe in the winter, but that may be due to the lack of indoor winter sports.

[seemunkee]

97. American Keirin

That would be awesome.

BTW Bicycle racing in the late 1890's attracted huge crowds along the lines of 10,000 spectators.
Major Taylor from Worcester was one of the greatest.

[IzaSparrow]

121. the japanese keirins are notorious for being

rigged.

i've raced at major taylor velodrome and have been through worcester on our way to SallyMander's parents', but I was unaware of the great Major being from those parts.

[flvegan]

5. Couple things...

$10 million...

$1 million to spend;

$1 million in trust for my rescue;

$1 million in trust for my mom;

$1 million in trust for my brother;

$1 million in trust for me;

$1 million in trust for LeftyMom;

$1 million in trust for my partner in rescue;

$3 million in trust for Sea Shepherd. Capt. Paul Watson christens the SS flvegan...bad things happen to those that kill whales and seals.

I die happy.

[ThomCat]

22. I hope 3 million would by one hell of a ship.

:)

[MilesColtrane]

128. 3 million could probably get him trained sharks with lasers.

[soleft]

6. I'd give everyone I know 10K a year for the rest of their lives

I think 10K is the maximum gift you can receive without paying taxes.

[ThomCat]

23. You would be a very, very popular person very quicly.

:)

[DarkTirade]

7. Start a business.

Keep myself busy while helping the economy. Providing jobs and selling a product, whatever that product may be.

IMO, half of why our economy is so bad right now is because the US just isn't producing anything. So I'd do my part to help shift us back to being a productive country.

[ThomCat]

24. If you produce an environmentally safe product

that people in an apartment building would need then sign me up as your first customer. :P

[DarkTirade]

60. Well, my main interests right now

are video games and brewing my own mead. :P

So if you have any pagan, hippie-ish or or ren faire types living there they might be interested in the mead.

[Random_Australian]

8. Nothing. The fact that I had it in the bank would give me security.

One less thing to worry about. Forever, if I don't really use it.

So I wouldn't change my lifestyle at all, but I would be happier. (My life at the moment is fine, pretty much).

Although I would live of it rather than take the government's money like I do at the moment for the time that I am an (unemployed) student, but that is only my sense of ethics.

But that isn't a lot of money so I wouldn't mind. The total wouldn't change much.

[ThomCat]

27. That wouldn't work for me here.

I'm sure medical bills would eat it all up pretty quickly. I wouldn't be able to buy private insurance, so I'd be paying top dollar for everything. Better to spend it and somehow get it out of my name. :)

[Random_Australian]

42. Same planet, different worlds.

No medicare = alien.
No PBS = alien, but just what the pharma companies are pushing for.


(PBS = Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, a thing that keeps drug prices low)

[Tektonik]

9. I'd spend 4 mil, invest the rest

and I would subsequently plan to donate a large portion of whatever profits I would make from my investments.

I'd spend 4 mil by paying for:

mom: mortgage, car
dad: car, down payment for house or business (he's been looking to buy a franchise but has not had enough money to do so)
brother: offer him a trip around the world with me
sister: I'd buy her a house for her family (military husband + 4 young kids)

I think I'd buy a townhouse on the west coast, preferably San Diego or mid coast CA.

ugh there's way too many people I know that could use the money; I know way too many people in their 20's and thirties that have kids and have no financial security in their future.

[ThomCat]

28. You could survive a trip around the world with

someone in your imediate family? That's cool.

In my family, pick any two people and one of them would be dead before they eached the first country.

[Tektonik]

29. Of course I could

I'd have leverage with all that money.

'H******, shut the fuck up or I'm leaving you here in Bali!'

[Generic Brad]

10. I would be fishing every day...

In the brand spanking new boat hauled by the big ass truck that I will never be able to afford. You can all come along if you like.

[ThomCat]

32. If you're catching fish every day

you're gonna get sick of eating fish. :P

[Generic Brad]

119. Catch and release, ThomCat

I would never eat fish every day. There are too many vegetables and fruits out there.

[ghostsofgiants]

11. Make a film.

[ThomCat]

33. I hope it would get a good return on your investment.

:)

After all, we'd want you to be able to make another one.

[XemaSab]

107. Would it involve hot lesbian sex with Naomi Watts and Laura Harring?

:shrug:

[ghostsofgiants]

113. It is entirely possible.

And of course plenty of surrealism and weirdness.

[XemaSab]

115. I'll be first in line to buy tickets.

:patriot:

[LostInAnomie]

12. Put it in the bank for one year, then take the interest out in $100 dollar bills.

Then, I would go around on the street everyday paying people $100 to let me slap them in the face HARD.

That's been a dream of mine since my youth.

[DS1]

13. wait

having reading problems tonight

[fudge stripe cookays]

14. Travel to all the places...

that I need to to finish my book!

And I'm not talking exotic locales like Italy or Bali. I'm talking places like Easton, Pennsylvania and Ithaca, New York, where I can camp out in courthouses and libraries for weeks on end doing tons of research and tramping through cemeteries.

It'd be GREAT. :D

[ThomCat]

17. I've been to both of those places.

:P

[fudge stripe cookays]

62. Well aren't you a lucky fellow!

:D

I've been to oe but not the other. The area around Ithaca was beautiful. So many waterfalls! I have so much to do when I get back, but maybe I'll actually see one this time instead of sitting at a microfilm reader the entire time!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. One of my ideas is similar to yours

I'd buy one of those apartment buildings that's already been turned condo and turn it into low-cost or free apartments for people, especially single people with few or no family members, who are down on their luck. It would be cooperative, and everyone would help with cleaning and maintenance and regular communal meals, sort of like co-housing, only not as expensive and requiring no buy-in.

If that project worked out, I'd start more cooperative houses for the economically unfortunate. Generations of students have proved that this is a good way for people to survive on a low income.

I'd also start a free after-school arts program for children and youth: visual arts, theater, dance, instrumental or vocal music, whatever they were interested in. Sports are NOT the only way to keep young people out of trouble, and the arts have the advantage that people can participate in them (well, maybe not dance, but they can still choreograph and direct) for their entire lives and get better, not worse, unlike athletes.

Oh, and I'd see the world and find a place to settle where I didn't need to drive. I'd be the only multi-millionaire who didn't own a Mercedes or BMW. :-)

[ThomCat]

30. Those are great ideas.

If I get the $10,000,000 you've got a job offer as my parter to help me spend it. :)

[noamnety]

117. I'm with you guys.

and I don't need 10 million to do it.

I'd love to open up my house to either refugee families or disaster evacuees. Communal meals and a large veggie garden would be part of it, but I'd want to be immersed in it myself. So I guess it's half Tom's dream, half yours.

[Fox Mulder]

16. I'd move to Europe.

[ThomCat]

31. Which country would you choose?

:)

[Fox Mulder]

39. Ireland, France, Italy, or Greece.

:)

[Initech]

25. Buy a house, pay off my car, then put the rest in the bank and live off the interest.

[ThomCat]

35. That would be the safest thing to do.

As long as you're investing outside of the US in something other than the dollar.

I worry too much about too many people to do that. I'd have to spend it in a way that help people.

[Initech]

53. I'd help people too.

But my ultimate goal is to do nothing. Just like Peter from Office Space.

[swag]

36. Two chicks at the same time.

[ThomCat]

40. It would be better if they were there for fun,

not for money. :)

Though, honestly, I can't imagine a guy keeping up with two women. And if they're keeping up with each other, do they really want a guy there?
:shrug:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

109. Thank you, Mr. Bader.

Yes that's Mullet Guy's real name. He's a respected actor. Office Space reference.

Meanwhile, back at the Morning Wood Apartments........(another Office Space reference).

[zabet]

37. I would give away

9 million and invest
1 million for me.

[ThomCat]

41. That sounds good, depending on how you'd give it away

and who you'd give it too. :)

[zabet]

47. Our local VFW would be one of the 1st...

I donate to them every year.
My friend that has MS and lives
on a very small fixed income, I would
give them enough that they could quit
renting an apartment (not even handicap
accessible for their wheelchair)and
not worry every month about how to make
ends meet. Then I would start looking
for worthy and needy causes to donate to.
You could have a lot of impact with that
kind of money.

[zabet]

38. I would give away

9 million and invest
1 million for me.

[DS1]

43. hang out in the ER for awhile, just in case I had a heart attack

and think.

Probably pay a few people's bills while I was there. Make sure no senior citizen ever had to eat pet food in my town.

[ThomCat]

45. That is a sweet plan.

:)

I hope you don't get the heart attack, and I hope you do get to help the seniors.

[Cabcere]

44. Pay off my student loans, first of all...

x(

Then I guess I'd find someplace to live - nothing too fancy, but somewhere nice where I could be pretty close to my friends and family. And I'd make sure that everyone I love had everything they needed.

I'd like to travel, too - maybe a trip to Europe, or even around the world, with my best friend since infancy. :) We haven't gotten to spend much time together lately, and I think it would be a blast to go exploring different countries with her.

I'd invest some, and give a fair amount to charity, but I think I would mostly use it to buy gifts for my friends and family - little things that would mean something special to those I love. :)

[ThomCat]

46. Student loans are such a scam.

x(

I'd love to be able to make a bunch of them just disappear for a lot of people.

[fortyfeetunder]

48. If it was tax-free....

I'd quit my day job. Do something I'd really like.

Get involved on "This Old House" project on a home I want.

Endow a few scholarships to a few organizations that helped me at one time.

[ThomCat]

75. When you're done with that old house

I hope you'd invite us all over for one hell of a party. :7

[crim son]

49. I think I'd go to school. Since I'd be wealthy I could afford to fuck around

and so I'd do journalism or some other form of writing that makes use of the intellect rather than the otherworldly imagination. And should I fail as a journalist, I'd take drawing and watercolor classes; I was hailed in high school as a brilliant artist HEH! and now am hailed as nothing. Should that fail, or perhaps concurrent with school, I'd work with the local homeless shelter to provide more rooms, more food and more support for the humankind I see lurking outside our local refuge. If I had one hundred million, it would all be invested there. I see those people every time I drive down Buck Street and I know I am two steps from their fate.

How is it that we spend billions on war, yet begrudge our dear Compatriots a home and a warm meal? I will never understand it.

[ThomCat]

76. I'd love to come to your graduation!

I like the idea working in a homeless shelter. I often wish I could still do volunteer work. There's so much that needs doing.

My idea of the free apartments is sort of a not-homeless shelter. :P

[BreweryYardRat]

50. For starters, set myself up in a nice but not oversized place near Seattle or Portland.

A 3/2 or 4/2. (One bedroom for me, two for any future kids, and one to act as my library.) Put 2 million into investments to pay for future living + travel expenses. (Solar energy, precious metals, etc...) Put 2 million into supporting my dad, with the provision that my mother has no access to the money. 5 million goes to various charities and environmental preservation causes. (Definitely buy up some land in Africa, Asia, and South America.)

And the remaining $500,000 or so...well, there are some cryptozoological reports I wouldn't mind investigating.

[ThomCat]

77. I've thought about buying up land for environmental conservation

efforts. But the problem is, how do you protect it? I think I'd fund rangers to patrol land that should already be protected. :)

[laconicsax]

51. I'd end up giving most to charity.

I honestly can't imagine spending more than $100,000 on stuff for myself. My fiancee feels the same way, so if the two of us bought everything we wanted (including a house), we'd end up with at least 9 million left. Set aside a reasonable amount for the future/children, and there's still a veritable ass-load of money left to do awesome charitable things.

Oh and get a dog.

[ThomCat]

78. Or two dogs.

Or three. :P

The local shelter would love you. :)

[LeftyMom]

52. I'd get a nice house on acreage and semi-retire.

With company, should he be so inclined.

[ThomCat]

79. There would be room for his furry family

and it would get him out of Florida!

I understand that some people actualy like Florida, but I count it a good thing when people can be rescued from there. :P

[GoddessOfGuinness]

54. Pay off debts, fix up the house

buy a hybrid vehicle, help my kids get through college, invest in green stocks, and put the rest away in cds, etc.

Then I'd find at least one person a year to help using the interest from my investments.

[ThomCat]

80. That sounds like a good plan.

Finding companies that are truly green to invest in might take a bit of research though. :(

[GoddessOfGuinness]

106. I love my Greenpages...

http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/greenpages/results.cfm?category=&state=&keywords=green+investment

[harmonicon]

55. similar to you, I think

First I'd figure out how much I needed to put away so that I could live off of the interest (I'm an incredibly frugal person, so it wouldn't have to be a whole lot, I don't think).

Pay off mortgages for my parents, brother and sister, along with any other debts they may have. Do the same for a few friends who I know are in desperate financial trouble.

Set up a college fund for my nephew and some little second cousins I have.

Then I'd buy houses, cabins and apartments (just normal small apartments and houses) in different places.... great lakes, the desert.... France or Holland... Prague. I'd let friends and people I admire come visit whenever they'd like and use these places when I wasn't there. I suppose I would need cars to get to these places too - I really want a used VW diesel jetta wagon, or maybe I'd spent a lot of money to find the one remaining mid-80's saab 900 that's in good condition, just like the first car I ever had and loved.

Give loads of money every year to animal rescues.

That's about it - live life. I would of course probably buy hundreds of ukuleles. I would also pay to put on concerts and record albums with my friends, but for me that goes without saying - we do that anyway. Maybe I'd pay my former bandmate's salary for a few years so we could make another record and go on a low-rent tour of shitty clubs like we used to, without his wife freaking out about him not having money and being on a shitty low rent rock tour.

[ThomCat]

81. A tour sounds awesome!

I hope you'd hit places DUers could get to! :applause:

[leftofthedial]

56. sleep good for the first time in a long time

[ThomCat]

82. My mom likes to say

"If money can solve all your problems then you don't really have any problems."

I hate that expression because it totally demeans the weight of poverty. x(

I've been homeless. I've been destitute. I've been heavily buried in medical bills. Having money can absolutely make a huge number of problems go away, releave a whole lot of chronic stress, and definitely help you sleep at night.

I hope you get that good sleep. :hug:

[sazemisery]

57. Here is my game plan

1 million to each of my children = 3 million
2 million for my husband and I to spend on "living out our days"
The rest would go into a philanthropic foundation to disperse grants to people in need.

[ThomCat]

83. Running a grant organization sounds like a great job.

How cool would that be, giving away money for a living. :)

[Richard Steele]

58. #1: Send my little sister's kids to college; #2: Buy ThomCat some...

...cool "flame" stickers for his new zoom-chair!


Whatever's left over would go toward a blurred, whirlwind lifestyle of
booze, hookers, weed, and power tools. (not necessarily in that order)

And I might actually put "Operation Pirate GreyHound" into effect-
a very time-consuming and expensive practical joke that really wouldn't
make much sense to anyone but me.

[DS1]

69. would that be something like taking a Greyhound bus

beating it up, cutting the roof off in parts, and driving around the highway with a big pirate flag and a dozen or so of your drunken buddies waving plastic swords at people and hurling vegetables at other buses?

if so, I'm in

[ThomCat]

85. It definitely sounds like you'd keep yourself busy.

Now, keeping yourself out of trouble sounds like something else entirely. :P

[krispos42]

59. I'd probably move back to Connecticut

I wouldn't particularly want to. I like living in the Midwest, not so much in Connecticut. Except that I would want my kid to be really close to my parents and relatives and away from my ex's family.

I'd buy two houses in the same school district, reasonably close to my parents, and undertake whatever bribery would be needed to get my ex, her b/f, their kid, and our kid out there. Moving expenses, cheap/free rent, whatever.

Trust fund for my kid, maybe a million bucks, then invest most of the rest and live off the interest. I'd probably go back to college for a degree in something or other.

I'd like to buy one of those new light-sport aircraft. There's this one, looks like an egg with a high wing attached to it. Awesome visibility, seats two, costs about $50,000. So light you can push up on the end of a wing with a single hand and tilt the entire plane.

Hmmm... maybe live in Vermont or New Hampshire instead, and fly down to Sikorsky airport on the weekends with the kid. That sounds good. Or maybe pick up a Cessna 172 ($150 grand) or Cessna 206 ($350 grand). The 206 seat six and cruises at over 160 mph. so I'd probably get that one. Get a set of floats for it, and I'm ready for anything!

[ThomCat]

86. I hope you'd offer occassional rides to your friends.

:7

I'm sure a lot of us would love to get airborne and see the world from that perspective.

[krispos42]

123. You didn't get the VTOL option with your Jazzy?

Sheesh! :eyes:


:-)



No reason you and Pri and I couldn't take the scenic overwater route to, say, Cape Cod. Leave Kennedy, fly up the Atlantic side of Long Island, swoop over Block Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket, then fly up Cape Cod. Provincetown has a little airport. Hop out, get lunch, some ice cream, do some touristy stuff...

Then fly home. Take a low pass over Fall River, Mass., to see Battleship Cove, then over Newport, and follow the Connecticut coast down to Kennedy!

Bring your digital camera so we can get some nice aerial shots of the trip, :-)

[MissMillie]

61. you already know my plans, dear

:loveya:

[ThomCat]

87. Yup.

That's part of what I was thinking about when I posted this thread. :hug:

[BarenakedLady]

63. Pay off bills.

Tap out the kids' college funds and set up nest eggs for them all.

Take care of my parents bills as well.

Not sure what else.

[ThomCat]

88. You sound so responsible!

:hug:

I hope you'd find a way to have fun with some of it. :)

[dropkickpa]

64. Oh wow

Pay off my debts. Get a car. Buy a house with a backyard for Dropkid and the dog to play in. Pay off my parents debts. Set up trust funds for my daughter, neice, and nephews. Buy my brother and his wife a home. Buy good health insurance for my whole family - out of 9 adults in my immediate family, only 3 of us (my parents and myself) have health coverage, everyone else is ass out.

[ThomCat]

89. I hope, somehow, everyone at least gets that health insurance.

:hug:

[dropkickpa]

125. Me too!

:hug:

[malta blue]

65. I'd like to reserve a spot in your building Thom!

If I came into such money I would:

Establish a network of havens for unwanted dogs rescued from kill shelters.

Set up a literacy program in rural Dominican Republic. I am shocked that many folks can't even count, much less read. They do not recognize colors even.

For my own selfish reasons, fund an archaeological project in the Domincan Republic and excavate an early 16th C. monastary which is currently beneath a row of shanty-type homes. Of course, all of the residents currently there would be given a new home.

[ThomCat]

90. You've got dibs on the apartment of your choice.

:hug:

Could I help expand your no-kill shelter to include other animals too? Especially cats. :)

Not just a literacy program, but perhaps also a jobs development program so they've got productive places to use their education. Hope, and having someplace upward to go can be a huge incentive for learning.

[malta blue]

98. looks like wcross and I had the same idea on the dogs

and of course, the havens include the kittehs :D

My mom currently does volunteer work in a village in the DR where the women are making candles and transporting them to the capitol for sale in the markets. Mom's boyfriend got a big candle company in the US to donate its scraps and the village has free materials from there.

You are right about the jobs development programs :thumbsup:

[Wcross]

66. I would buy a couple thousand acre farm.

I would build kennels & runs on it so I could take in animals from the shelter who would otherwise be put down. I would have a full time vet on staff to provide care for them. I would also have to hire help to keep the kennels clean, the dogs fed & provide enough attention to each individual animal.

I would invest the rest to provide a small stipend for myself (I wouldn't need much) & the excess would be used to fund low cost spay & neutering clinics.

I know it wouldn't do much for humanity but it would do something for mans best friends. I could die feeling as if I did some good in my life.

[ThomCat]

91. It would do a huge amount for humanity.

I know a lot of people who are forced to give up their pets for various reasons, and they dread the idea of giving them to a shelter. My aunt and uncle may be forced to move into assisted living, and they would have to give up their cats. They'd gladly pay what they could to know the cats would be cared for.

Unfortunately, the sanctuaries they've spoken to want $40,000 per cat to take them in. :(

[Wcross]

116. That is cruel. 40k to take care of a cat?

I understand it takes $$$ to take care of a pet, I have eight of them. Even if the cat was taken in as a kitten at birth there is no way it would cost 40k to take care of it.

[pink-o]

67. first thing I would do is make sure that only a VERY few people knew I had such funds!

...only my immediate family and trusted friends I've had for years. I would not do anything obviously ostentatious. What I would do is buy a hybrid car and a solid, anonymous house, but inside both I'd be decked out in all the latest and greatest.

And I'd have my cousin be my lawyer and let him find me accountants and financial consultants--once again, because I trust him.

Personally, I'm afraid of so much money. Too much is like too little: it becomes a burden and a trap. Nothing is more horrible than abject poverty, but I would hate life if I were judged by being rich, and was suspicious of everyone who tried to befriend me.

If any of you have ever know lottery winners, they'll tell you it's a flippin nightmare. Give me just enough money so I never have to worry about it, but can still live in the real world with real virtues.

[ThomCat]

92. That's true.

If you win the lottery and your name is in the paper you're now a target for a whole lot of people who want to skim some off the top. :(

[RedStateShame]

68. Repay all my college loans. In singles. With curse words written on each one.

[ThomCat]

93. I think you could easily recruit volunteers to help you

write out those curses. x(

I'd definitely sign up to help.

[SarahB]

70. Good question.

1. take care of family and loved ones
2. open a health clinic for women and children providing basic care plus substance treatment
3. buy two houses both here and in Philadelphia big enough to fit our family comfortably and entertain
4. eat out more
5. travel more
6. put any leftover in Euros
'
My needs are simple.

[ThomCat]

95. A heath clinic is a fantastic idea.

Especially if it has the expensive diagnostic equipment so nobody has to pay a fortune to go for tests for anything.

That could have a huge impact on a lot of people. :)

[av8rdave]

71. Half to the American Diabetes Association...

$3 million for me (that's what my accountant says I need to retire), and the other $2 million to either Habitat for Humanity or to start a business that could help people facing foreclosure and/or bankruptcy.

[ThomCat]

96. I'd love to start an organization that does nothing but build homes

for people who have low income. Habitat for Humanity is awesome, but the requirement that you have to help build the house leaves out a whole lot of people who work multiple jobs, or who can't physically do the building. I'd love to run an organization that doesn't leave people out.

[av8rdave]

120. That's a great idea. Like you said, Habitat has its limitations, although right

now there isn't a better alternative.

[Javaman]

72. After I invest it in Euros, I would only have 5 million...

:rofl:

[ThomCat]

99. Damn. That's true.

But they'd be worth more than $10 million pretty quickly if the dollar keeps tanking. You'd be even richer!

[Fire Walk With Me]

73. Find Bin Laden and impeach Bush.

And get a few 2-litre Diet Cokes.

[ThomCat]

100. If you could manage to get bush impeached

you'd be a national hero! :patriot:

[CreekDog]

74. throw away my alarm clock

hire somebody to post on du for me while i sleep :boring:

[ThomCat]

101. But what would that person post?

How would you know that you're proxy isn't representing you poorly? :P

We'd rather have you here instead of a substitute. x(

[Redstone]

84. Give it away. I'd get lazy if I didn't have to work.

Redstone

[ThomCat]

103. That's wise

if you know yourself and know you'd stop working.

I can't imagine not working. :(

[triguy46]

94. ONLY $10Mil? What a waste of time. I wouldn't be bothered.

[ThomCat]

104. So you'd give it all away to someone else who want's to be bothered.

:shrug:

:P

[triguy46]

110. Yep, for those of us with finer taste, $10Mil just won't do....

I would not be able to get into the billionaire's poker game with that pittance. Nor buy Jack Welch's jet for $73M. Nor buy, er, fall in love and marry Miss Ukraine, with The Donald as best man...
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=%3Fv%3D1%26c%3DViewImages%26k%3D2%26d%3D17A4AD9FDB9CF1939847EC77F5F8D1CE9D13303FBC5F62EEA40A659CEC4C8CB6&imgrefurl=http://www.viewimages.com/Search.aspx%3Fmid%3D53228705%26epmid%3D3%26partner%3DGoogle&h=492&w=594&sz=68&hl=en&start=9&um=1&tbnid=0u31O5M8qzsewM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dphil%2Bruffin%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dcom.google:en-US:official%26sa%3DG

I'll just hang out here in rural Oklahoma if I can't do it my way. Plus, what the hell, Shrub is gonna give me $1200 bucks.

[seemunkee]

102. Take a Backpack and the wife and see the world

Set it up so the kids are taken care of and head out. Stop in interesting places and fly friends to visit where ever we are.

[ThomCat]

105. I think I could enjoy that for a little while

(if I could handle the flying). I don't know that I'd be interested in living that way for very long. :(

[Fleshdancer]

108. build my waterfront dream home utilizing modern green building technology

I estimate the home will cost anywhere from $5-7M since I don't want a ridiculously large house so I'll set aside $2M to do nothing but collect interest and the rest will go toward paying off debt (which isn't much), charity, and college tuition accounts for the kids in my family and for the kids of friends.

[XemaSab]

111. My plans:

Buy my friend Clay a house and give him $100,000 or so to start his business.

Give my mom about a million to pay off her house, buy the house next door, tear it down, and have the sickest spread in Redding. :D

Buy myself some swampland or forest to protect. Build a little house on it for vacations.

Buy a SWANK house in the Riviera of Santa Barbara. I'm looking at those houses up on the hillside right now and they're looking *good.*

I should have about 6 million left after that.

I'd use 2 million to endow the Shasta Environmental Council, with my mom as chair.

I'd use the other 4 million and live on the interest. :)

[mdmc]

112. I think that I would buy DU

I would buy this site. I would open up a leftist lounge for those that have given up on the two party system.
I would also buy an apartment building in Newburgh NY, or I would build one. I would emphasize community and culture and work hard to eliminate poverty in Newburgh.

I often fantasize that I win a $420 million powerball lotto. That would be cool...

[Sultana]

114. Pay off my loans, buy my parents a bigger house,

start a foundation in Sudan, go on vacation with my boyfriend etc...

:D

[rosesaylavee]

118. REnovate housing near here into more sustainable or green housing

and subsidize for lower income folks.

And then, start the green business I have been planning for the past six months.

And then, start a foundation to pay the debt of the people holed up in the homeless shelter down the street.

And then, pay for my son's college education, update our house so its sustainably green and then...

Go on a friggin vacation for the first time in 5 years!

[JanMichael]

122. Start a Revolution.

Seriously, I would.

[Thothmes]

124. 10 Mil

Some rather mundane stuff for starts, pay off the mortgage, replace my 24 year old ranger pickup with a new ranger pickup. Hire a full time LPN to look after my wife during the day and sometimes on a weekend. Invest some of the balance, help support the food banks in the area

[KansDem]

126. Split...

:yoiks:

...I'd be out of here faster than a bat out of Hell.

[MilesColtrane]

127. Great idea.

We could all live as an anarcho-syndicalist commune.

We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week, but all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting by a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs, but by a two-thirds majority in the case of more major--

[KamaAina]

129. I seem to recall there's a city that could still use some rebuilding...

(hint: see avatar at left)

I could adopt a neighborhood much as Brad Pitt has done with the Lower Ninth Ward (Gentilly comes to mind). Brad's star power and deeper pockets vs. my on-the-ground New Orleans experience: game on! Let the better neighborhood win (and no one loses, except the Falcons, of course -- twice)

[LSK]

130. several things I guess

Build or buy a summer home somewhere in Colorado - $750k

Build or buy a home in the FL Keys - $1.250m

Help family pay stuff off - $1m

Toys such as a sailboat/RV/Car whatever - $1m

Donations of some sort - $1m or $2m

Invest/live off the remaining $3m

Optionally could move to New Zealand or Europe or South America would change these plans to some extent.

Most importantly, I would NEVER work for someone else again.

And oh yeah, sleep and read books for like 5 years. :D

[rbnyc]

131. 1. Get rid of all family debt ($50,000)

2. Put away for my son's education ($500,000)
3. Trust Fund for son ($1,500,000)
4. Supplement our retirement ($1,000,000)
5. Pay off my Mom's house ($100,000)
6. Contribute to Mom's retirement ($500,000)
7. Buy my dad and step-mom a house upstate ($300,000)
8. Contribute to Dad's retirement ($500,000)
9. Buy new home for me and my family ($800,000)
10. Start Family Foundation to support progressive causes ($4,000,000)
11. Spend recklessly ($750,000)

Kind of boring, I know. Running the Foundation would be fun!