What would you do with $500 million in lottery winnings?

[TexasHusker]

They say your cash payout would be $330 million. So the first thing I do is give Uncle Sam his $150 million in taxes.

That leaves me $180 million. I would likely put the total remaining in AAA and AA municipal bonds at around 3% APR and never pay income taxes again.

My monthly income would be around $450K.

I would live on about $35K, including a $1 million mortgage, and take the remainder and fund child hunger, health, and educational causes each month.

I think one could do something pretty substantial in that pursuit by committing over $400K a month in perpetuity.

[rennigade]

I would stop coming to this site.

[james.hendrickson]

This discussion reminds me of the story of Brad Duke. Basically this guy won the powerball back in 2007 - and decided to invest it in real estate. His goal was to turn it into 2 billion.

Here is the news story from Kiplinger:

Turning a Lottery Win Into $2 Billion

Brad Duke, 34, of Star, Idaho, wants to make his $125-million Powerball winnings grow to $2 billion.



By Elizabeth Leary, Contributing Editor
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance, April 2007

Editor's note: As the Powerball jackpot climbs above $1.5 billion now in January 2016, we are refeaturing our 2007 interview with former lottery winner Brad Duke, who sought to grow -- not simply spend -- his winnings.

KIPLINGER'S: How long will it take to become a billionaire?

DUKE: My plan is to turn my winnings into $1 billion over 12 years. I took the $125-million lump sum instead of the $220-million annuity, which would have been spread over 30 years. I had to pay $40 million in taxes, so I started with $85 million.

Can you earn an annualized return of nearly 23%?

I'm a little behind. I've reached nine figures, so I made more than $15 million in just over a year. I want to reach $2 billion by the time I'm 55.

What's your investing strategy?

I have a financial team of three people who work for me full-time. Two of them have a lot of experience building real estate empires, so we're focusing part of the money on buying raw land and building commercial and residential developments.

What are you doing with the rest of the money?

Some is in conservative investments, and the rest I use to run my two companies. Synergy Fitness Group is my health-club consulting business, and the Duke Speed Academy helps kids be better athletes.

Why do you want to be so rich?

I've always had a drive for success. I want to be able to provide future generations of my extended family with three things: an education, a job in one of my companies (if they need one) and enough financial backing to be able to pursue their dreams.

Has the money changed your lifestyle?

I'm still single, I live in the same house, and I still work for Gold's Gym. I had a chef for a while, but now I'm back to eating cheese straight from the fridge. I have traveled a bit and bought a few mountain bikes.

[bjl584]

This discussion reminds me of the story of Brad Duke. Basically this guy won the powerball back in 2007 - and decided to invest it in real estate. His goal was to turn it into 2 billion.

Here is the news story from Kiplinger:

Turning a Lottery Win Into $2 Billion

Brad Duke, 34, of Star, Idaho, wants to make his $125-million Powerball winnings grow to $2 billion.



By Elizabeth Leary, Contributing Editor
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance, April 2007

Editor's note: As the Powerball jackpot climbs above $1.5 billion now in January 2016, we are refeaturing our 2007 interview with former lottery winner Brad Duke, who sought to grow -- not simply spend -- his winnings.

KIPLINGER'S: How long will it take to become a billionaire?

DUKE: My plan is to turn my winnings into $1 billion over 12 years. I took the $125-million lump sum instead of the $220-million annuity, which would have been spread over 30 years. I had to pay $40 million in taxes, so I started with $85 million.

Can you earn an annualized return of nearly 23%?

I'm a little behind. I've reached nine figures, so I made more than $15 million in just over a year. I want to reach $2 billion by the time I'm 55.

What's your investing strategy?

I have a financial team of three people who work for me full-time. Two of them have a lot of experience building real estate empires, so we're focusing part of the money on buying raw land and building commercial and residential developments.

What are you doing with the rest of the money?

Some is in conservative investments, and the rest I use to run my two companies. Synergy Fitness Group is my health-club consulting business, and the Duke Speed Academy helps kids be better athletes.

Why do you want to be so rich?

I've always had a drive for success. I want to be able to provide future generations of my extended family with three things: an education, a job in one of my companies (if they need one) and enough financial backing to be able to pursue their dreams.

Has the money changed your lifestyle?

I'm still single, I live in the same house, and I still work for Gold's Gym. I had a chef for a while, but now I'm back to eating cheese straight from the fridge. I have traveled a bit and bought a few mountain bikes.

I remember this story. This was a little over 10 years ago. Do you know what ever became of him?

[corn18]

Philanthropy, focused on pet rescue.

[AJ444]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4lmW2tZP2kU

[disneysteve]

My monthly income would be around $450K.

If I could set up tax-free income of 450K/month:

I may or may not quit my job but I would definitely greatly reduce my hours. I would probably go back to per diem status and be able to just pick my hours rather than being locked into a schedule.

We would travel a whole lot more, starting with a cross-country adventure. We would also do my "bucket list" trip which is a Holland America circumnavigation cruise.

We would buy a house in Florida.

We would make a substantial donation to our synagogue and also provide ongoing support.

We would make a substantial donation to GKTW and also provide ongoing support.

We would help get DD set up in her own place.

Of course, there would be a whole lot more charitable giving involved if we had that kind of money because there is a realistic limit to what you can spend before it becomes ridiculous. I can't really say what that would look like right now. We'd have to figure it out once we were actually in that position.

Oh, and I'd really like to taste Pappy 23 which is about $2,500/bottle. I'm quite sure it isn't worth it but if I had money to burn, I'd like to at least give it a try and make my own opinion.

[~bs]

hookers and blow. lots of blow.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I’d take $20 million per year for 25 years for the full amount, no investments needed. IRS would take their cut every year for about $5 million per year leaving me with $15 million per year.

[kork13]

I'd take the lump sum (maybe $250M-$300M?), pay whatever the ludicrous tax bill is, then invest the rest. From there, I would do
LITERALLY ANYTHING I WANT

ETA: Upon more deliberate consideration, I think I'd do some of these things (just to name a few):

• Immediately quit my job.
• Move to somewhere my family loves that is near a good university, and audit classes of interest whenever I like.
• Approach a few charities I support & offer them a significant portion of my time and/or money
• Travel VERY frequently
• Hire a good estate attorney, accountant, and whatever other expert makes sense.
• Build a solid estate plan.
• Set up both a charitable foundation and a family trust to take care of my family/descendants.

...... Honestly, not sure what else. The trust & foundation would likely get the bulk of the money (maybe 70-80%?). The remainder would throw off so much investment income that I could do (as I said above) anything that I could realistically desire.

[disneysteve]

I’d take $20 million per year for 25 years for the full amount, no investments needed. IRS would take their cut every year for about $5 million per year leaving me with $15 million per year.

And what would you do with $15 mil/year?

[TexasHusker]

As i thought about it, I might first want to use the earnings to max out my IRA.

[QuarterMillionMan]

And what would you do with $15 mil/year?

Ha-ha, good question! I haven't thought about it yet but it would be a good problem to have (lol).

[Tabs]

$500m, even after tax and related expenses, is a huge sum by most any measure, but it is still nothing compared to how Billionaires need to manage their money. For example, I once read that their favored tax shelter lies in setting up some kind of "charitable" foundation, where they can be the chairman and pay themselves a salary while still avoiding most of the taxes regular people pay. Not sure how true this is; can't say I have any kind of personal experience with that. I guess what I am saying is that, while it would be a challenging transition, it isn't anything that solutions out there do not already exist.

For what it's worth, I would not stop visiting this site. I am here because this is a generally nice community, and financial knowledge and learning never goes out of style, regardless of how much wealth one has.

Plus, any sudden changes in habit could potentially tip someone off.

I think it goes without saying that security is vital. Security for not just yourself, but anyone who is close to you. I remember reading an unknown group kidnapping the granddaughter of a mega lottery winner. He went against the kidnapper's instructions and contacted law enforcement. When the kidnappers realized it, unfortunately, they killed the granddaughter.

But of course, this also needs to extend to not just physical security, but will want to keep the numbers to accountants and legal firms handy. This part has always been mentioned.

I've always like guns (and knives, and martial arts, etc). It's kind of an expensive hobby to take on, but I would certainly have the means, the time, and even the reason to pursue it more.

I would like to see my friends more. I don't think I would actually tell them what my net worth would be. I don't see any need for them to know, and frankly, it would probably just complicate things anyway.

I would want to make sure that my parents are well taken-cared of, though they might not care that much since they are already millionaires themselves.

I imagine that tackling such a level of wealth management and meaningful philanthropy would take on a life of its own. Maybe become its own part time job as well. I would need to take time and energy to look more into it.

[Keshet]

Philanthropy, focused on pet rescue.

+1. the more I get to know people, the more inclined I am to give money to dogs.