If you won $10 million what are the big things you would do?

Divorce? Oh that’s sad. First I’ll pay taxes. That’s a big thing I guess. Followed by a really humongous thing. Have a kid. : )

@mazingerz88 I once heard someone say divorce. Made me sad too.

Go to college and graduate school at the university that I really wanted to go to. And the only thing that is stopping me is, sadly, money.

If I knew I were financially secure, I might pursue a career in fashion or in interior design instead of international relations and politics, though I’m not sure I would do this as I love my current career path equally as much.

After that, I would give @augustlan whatever she needed to be financially secure and whatever she needed for her health. I wish I were able to do that now!

Lastly, I would invest in Fluther, to help it realize the potential that we all know it has. ;)

Buy an island in the Carribean, build a house and set up a sustainable community and then donate the rest of the money and just live off the land.

Retain a lawyer. Since I don’t much care for them it would be a big step for me.

I’d invest it, probably not change my lifestyle all that much. We are comfortable now, but it would be nice to know that no matter what happens in the future, health wise or otherwise, we would never have to worry about finances. Maybe a couple of new toys. I wouldn’t mind having a little jeep again, although in this climate, it wouldn’t be all that practical.
That reminds me, the main change I would make is that I would arrange my business so that I could spend the winter in the tropics and the summer in the south. I love them both at the different times of the year. And when I die, what I hadn’t spent would go to the charities I always donate to and probably something to all the kids and living relatives.

What would you do @JLeslie ???

I would buy a house by the ocean. It is my BIG dream. A window overlooking the sea where I can sit and write. Listening to the ocean at night as I fall asleep. I have always had this strong affinity with water.

I would also like to buy something like a motel or a big house that could be used as a safe house for homeless people or young people who have gotten off track and need a supportive, save environment in which to get their lives back together.

Other than that I would travel.

I would build a machine, that has the capability of launching small metallic balls in every direction at once, almost like an explosion.

I would then have 1000’s of small metallic balls made.

The inner nucleus of the balls would be made of a soft man made material, such as porcelain or some other similar material, about 5 grams or so.

The inner nucleus of the balls would then be coated in a harder man made material, and would then have many other layers, all of man made materials, each layer harder than the last.

The balls will ideally be magnetized, or perhaps even mildly radioactive.

The very outer layer would be a thick layer of titanium, and engraved and indented on the surface it would say “I got here first” on one side, and kind of map on the other side.

I would then hitch a ride in to space, and have my machine launched in to space. The machine would be programmed to fly out of the solar system, and once well outside, it would open up and explode.

The metal balls would be shot out in all directions, and eventually end up some place. Maybe roasted in a sun, or lost in a gas giant, or maybe some will find their way back to earth. Maybe some will just drift in space forever, and maybe, just maybe, one or two may end up in the hands of a Zorlaxian farmer.

I think 4 million would probably cover it.

Pay off all my debt. Put aside plenty of money for my daughter (college, wedding, whatever).

And yes, I am doing those same things now – just much more slowly and incrementally.

I’d only need about two million (max) – so I’d have plenty left over to bank and give to charity.

Convert it into ££££££££‘s.

After taxes, I’d have to pay my ex one million (long story).

I would buy a modest 4 bedroom house in good shape, which in the town I live in would be $1.25 million.

I’d set aside a half million each for my kids. I would spend a quarter million on a few modest cars, some toys and furniture, and not much more.

The rest i would invest.

Have that one surgery for which I’m going to be saving up for years otherwise…. and then move to France. Buy a nice apartment in a suburb of Paris. And not be a starving grad student living in a closet and eating two meals a day, haha.

As it is, I’m going to be saving for years, and working my tail off this year to hopefully get some grants to go back to the Old World.

I would buy an apartment in London, and another in Chicago (I have a couple of close friends in Chicago). And I would give up work and devote my time to painting, and probably open an art gallery to sell my work and that of other local artists.

Hmm. I think I’d buy a big old house in a New England village and another in Felton, California, and fix them up nicely without changing their superficial appearance: modern plumbing, heating, etc. I’d furnish them with classic wooden furniture that’s also chosen for comfort. I’d install an elevator.

Then, let’s see, I’d add a caretaker’s cottage on the property and find someone to live there and take care of things.

And I’d outfit a large library in each one and have a wonderful time buying books to fill it. I’d purchase some original paintings for the walls and some nice oriental rugs. I’d have a glass-fronted cabinet filled with Limoges porcelain.

And then I’d live in one until I was in the mood to live in the other one for a while. Autumn in New England, for sure.

I’d also give a big chunk of money away, some of it to support organizations I’d like to help and some directly to individuals chosen discreetly and idiosyncratically.

Actually, I think I’m going to need more than $10 million for all this. Mind making it $100?

I’d set up proper homes for homeless people. Skill training centers for people with no jobs. Donate some to our awful government hospitals, so they can at least install showers and give patients blankets. I would assist street marketers with buying there stocks to help them get a business going.

Then pay back my mates who’ve helped me at this time. Plus my dear ex husband.

Then I’d buy a log cabin with solar power, generater a vegetable cropping system, and retreat to the woods not forgetting to install first the man I love and who has been my strength for many years.

I would pay my taxes, Buy the business I used to work for, and fire the Idiots that are running it into the ground. (I may even hire some thugs to tattoo “loser” on their foreheads because they were very mean to me.

I would love to move to Alaska!

Retire at 53. YES! lol
I would set up my daughter and her boyfriend, house, new cars, plenty of cash in the bank and afford them the freedom to pursue their dreams.
I would donate tons of $‘s to my favorite charities, and then, I would live my dream as a full time writer/humorist.

I would have the Merry Maids clean house for me forever more and would buy a hot air balloon and learn to fly! Of course I would also upgrade from a wimpy 5 acre parcel to about 200 acres and create an awesome wildlife refuge,waterfowl sanctuary, stables with the finest horseflesh and a bunkhouse for all my hot, young, live in stable, pool and cabana boys. lol

Oh, dreams! ;-)

I would sell my house, I want to do that anyway.

I would buy land and open a karting race track (you have probably seen me write that before if you have been on Q’s with me in the last few years) and have also a lodge, large rec room, small cafe, and pool on the property. I like the idea of having houses on the property too if people want to have weekend cottages or even live there all year. But, the track is first with an apartment above the large garage where we store the carts and sell race clothing. After, if it can make money or pay for itself, then I would continue to grow the project. Eventually I would build a house for myself, it would be a cottage on the property with 3 bedrooms, 4 baths and a lap pool of some sort. Then give the apartment to a grounds keeper, it would be nice if it were a couple I think. Best would be if one of them was a mechanic too, and work with the karts, probably the man to stereotype, and his wife helped cook and clean a little.

Oh, and I would love to have a farm on the land. Or, maybe just a screen house or greenhouse. Fresh vegetables and fruits. Use the veggies at the cafe and maybe have some sort of cooperative in the community, not sure how that works. Or, let a farmer work the land for a very very reasonable price and have fresh veggies and fruits for me, and allow him to make a nice profit for himself. I know very little about farming, but I like the idea.

Buy a condo in FL. Maybe just rent it out for now.

Travel more. 2–4 weeks a year, plus my husband’s racing which is 3–4 long weekends a year. Some of the travel might be just extending the race trips at first.

Set up for the relative comfort and health of my few living older relatives.

Buy Bill Graham’s old Masada compound in Marin, CA and relocate my immediate family there along with some friends.

Finance a local bakery, yoga studio and artist’s collaborative near where I live.

Buy a “floating condominium”.

Pay off my debts. Give some to my family. Set aside most of it for the future so I don’t die penniless/homeless. Those are the big things I’d do with the money.

Move to a larger place, and take a trip or two. That’s about it, really. The main thing about winning such a sum that would help me other than to pay off my debts would be to provide a certain amount of financial security, and that’s all I really need (and did I say pay off my debts…?).