Ok the power ball lottery is 290 million. my coffey shop buddys have been ragging me. what if you won the lottery? would you still want them chickens,goats,hogs, calfs and so forth? he he they dont know i cant win didnt buy a ticket. but got me to thinking what would eny body do with that much money? i duno what think ye. Bob se,ks.

-- Bobco (bobco@hit.net), August 25, 2001

Answers

Response to how about the lottery

Pretty sure my lifestyle would not change a whole lot. I have spent the last 20 years working for wealthy celebrities and I can tell you, being rich and famous hasn't made too many of them very happy- I have always said that I have a better quality of life than most of them as it is. I have just about everything I want and no debt except a little on the mortgage which will be paid off soon anyway. Aside from helping out some family members and giving a bunch to my favorite charities I don't really know. Maybe I'd open a free spay/neuter clinic in my community. Oh, and I'd set up an education trust fund for kids in my extended family.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), August 25, 2001.

Response to how about the lottery

Our son and daughter in law always say if they win, they are buying out both of the neighbors for us, and their neighbors, and paying off all our debts for us, etc. Nice, but wouldn't change our lives too much. I might hire some help for the outside work, tho, and have some nicer flower gardens. Trust funds for college for the grandkids, house for the mother, some worthy causes, but guess you do have to have a ticket to win.... Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), August 25, 2001.

Response to how about the lottery

My husband and I always say we will split it. That way he can take care of his family the way he see's fix and the same goes for me. then there won't be any fighting. But both say the first thing is to get good health ins. for are folks. Its a shame what the seinors have to go through just trying to stay healthy.

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), August 26, 2001.

Response to how about the lottery

"Lottery: A tax on those bad at math."

-- Brendan K Callahan (Grinnell, IA) (sleeping@iowatelecom.net), August 26, 2001.

Response to how about the lottery

I think it would change anyone's life a whole lot more than they realize.

Some folks near me hit the lottery when it was much much smaller (they are only making about $1.5 million a year), and they had to leave their house because of all the people that landed on their doorstep asking for money, the phone kept ringing off the hook within minutes of their name being made public knowlege with more requests for money (as well as people asking them if they could 'have' their old car, since now that they were rich they could buy a new one, so how about giving it to them?). These calls were going on 24 hours a day. They changed their number to unlisted, and inside of about an hour, the calls started up again.

You'd probably need a body guard too. They eventually moved away to a gated community just to have some peace again.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), August 26, 2001.

Response to how about the lottery

Julie- Some neighbors of my parents had the same experience, and it was heartbreaking for them as they were in their 60's, had lived in their home for over 30 years and had planned to retire there where they knew everyone and were established in the community, etc. They too moved in an attempt to remain annonymous. Here is a tip for those who bought tickets- when you win, LOL! First thing to do is contact an attorney who deals with trusts. Set up a trust and have your attorney claim the prize in the name of the trust, so that you can not be identified as the winner. there are ways to set it up so that it cannot be traced back to you. Now, my boyfriend and I have a running disagreement over this issue- he says he would tell his family that he had won and would help them financially. I say that as soon as you tell someone you blow it, because it will get out- nobody can be expected to keep a secret like that for you. I would actually lie to my family about the origin of the money, and I am the last person who would normally lie about anything, so my boyfriend thinks it's weird. But, if you want to enjoy both the prize and your privacy I don't know what else to do.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), August 26, 2001.

I'd keep on teaching middle school until the 290 million was gone.

-- Jim (catchthesun@yahoo.com), August 26, 2001.

Jim- you just paraphrased an old farming joke (except it isn't really funny)- When asked what he would do if he won the lottery, the farmer replied "Well, I guess I'd just keep farming till the money ran out" Sad, but often true.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), August 26, 2001.

I'd do like the Nature Conservancy and buy wilderness areas and try to purchase land between them as corridors so the critters could migrate and speciate. I'd also find some legal way of making sure these areas could never ever be developed. As one of my favorite bumperstickers says "Developers-go develop in hell"

Another thing I'd like to do is provide free sterilization to anyone who wants it. I've wanted to have this done on myself for years, but it's so expensive.

-- debra in ks (windfish@toto.net), August 26, 2001.

If I won that much money I'd pay all our kids out of debt, but then say, that's it---you're on your own now and I'd STICK to that!

I'd pay off or place here And possible buy somewhere so I could have at least 100 acres with a small cabin in the middle and the entire thing fenced in! And YES YES YES I'd still want my animals and a big garden but at least then I wouldn't always be wondering how I was going to buy feed or a new water bottle or whatever!

I'd also give a lot to Hope House a charitable group here that works with domestic violence victims and those on substance abuse. What a nice dream.....

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), August 26, 2001.

A good share would go to Shriners Hospitals and the Cancer Treatment centers as they have both impacted my life a lot in the last 25 years, then if there is any left maybe a nice john Deere tractor.

-- Diane In Idaho (oleoranch3@aol.com), August 26, 2001.

I don't really have any concept of how much money that truely is. However, I think I'd buy all the land I could afford in Northern Maine and have my own privite hunting reserve/ four wheeling/ sledding paradise. Actually, I don't have a clue what I'd do with it.

-- Uriah (Uriahdeath2@netscape.net), August 26, 2001.

If I won, I would never have anymore debt. I would try to keep it a secret - if you tell one person you won, it wouldn't be a secret anymore. And I'm sure all kinds of people would be coming trying to get some money. I would donate to charities. One person mentioned about keep teaching till the money ran out. Do you realize that if you would receive $1 million and put it in a certificate of deposit at 5% interest, you would make $75,000 a year in interest without even touching the $1 million. Sometimes it's nice to dream . . . but, I've have also heard about people winning the lottery that it ruined their lives! Be careful of what you wish for!

-- Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania (kirklbb@penn.com), August 26, 2001.

Bob, Are you sure you were not in one of those lines? We saw a lot of Okies in Caney in line to buy their tickets. Did you see them? I would set my kids up where ever and how ever they would want. Set up college funds for the grandkids. ONLY college, not just money. I would set up a scholarship fund at area colleges. It would be for the any kid that makes A's and B's. No matter how much the parents make. Be surprised how many kids can't finish school because parents are not poor enough.

-- Belle (gardenbelle@terraworld.net), August 26, 2001.

Well, someone reportedly hit it!!

But it wasn't me. Guess I'd better go dig up those potatoes.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), August 26, 2001.

4 people got it. woohoo.. Doh i aint one of them. But if i was...

this is what i would have done....

I would have bought a 14 inch pizza for everyone i know. I would have bought myself a nice homestead, I would have set up the homestead with all the bits and pieces, got myself a small library of book vids and music.

Then proceed to use the remaining millions to get absolutely sloshed (drunk as a skunk) on Vodka, leaving $15k for a kidney and liver transplant at the end! (private ofcourse). lol

-- Craig (ruskie@absolutevodka.fsnet.co.uk), August 26, 2001.

I absolutely would keep it a secret that I got all that money. Then I would put into investments and charities that I believe in, and go retire deep into the hills, with my cow, chickens, etc. Probably would try out living without electicity just for the fun of it. Yeah, I HAVE been camping before, and I HAVE washed the family's clothes by hand before... I guess I am a glutton for punishment. LOL

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), August 26, 2001.

If you bought a ticket, and you drove 10 miles to buy that ticket, you were 16 times as likey to die en route as you were to win the jackpot.

-- Dave (dbelanger@tds.net), August 26, 2001.

The first thing I would do is tithe the first 10 % to my church. What do you think would happen to a small church that all of a sudden receives 30 million dollars? Second, I would give a million or two to any church that I had previously attended throughout my life. Third, I would immediately withdraw my kids out of public school for fear of kidnapping/ransom and hire a private teacher. I would then buy 1000-5000 acre ranch and live right in the very middle of it. I would set up a school trust fund for my childrens college education and a stuff a million in their annuity that wouldn't mature till they were in their 50's. I would do the same for all my sisters and their family and my wife's family. Get all of them out of debt and give them a million to live on. Then I would just build me an exact replica of my grandparents farm (house, chicken house, barn, stable, smokehouse, huge garden) and try to live kind of like they did. I wouldn't work as hard as they did and wouldn't have to worry about my next dollar,

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), August 26, 2001.

Hey Russell- Remember a while back when a church in Georgia, I think it was, was left many millions of dollars by a wealthy parishoner? Know what they did? Turned it down. Yep- they decided that having that much money would destroy their church and community- it was a really small town. They took a very small amount to fund some projects they had wanted to work on for a long time, then declined the rest of the gift. They were actually pretty smart, I thought.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), August 26, 2001.

Russ, tithing is Old Covenant. The only reference in the NT that actually says TITHE is when Jesus was telling those the Pharisees (read Old Covenant, there) that they should keep not only the entire Law outwardly, but also inwardly. In context, that doesnt apply to us. Nuff said. Do your own honest research, and you will get set free from all that Old Covenant curse stuff.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), August 27, 2001.