Let's see what you woulda won? (What would you do if you won the lottery?)

Member Name: stevepeto

Product:	What would you do if you won the lottery?
Date:	03/07/08 (269 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: never having to worry about money again, can help others

Disadvantages: unwanted attention, hangers on and begging letters

Sometimes, normally in drunken conversation it is discussed what you will do if (and when) you win the lottery, I don't mean a tenner, I mean the full shebang, maybe even a euro-millions rollover kicking in at say 30 million pounds. Just says that amount both makes me happy and scared at the same time.

The drunken conversations normally degenerate into mates telling each other that they would "sort them out to a million quid" or each friend increasing the amount of money that they would give you, which basically means they are hedging their bets thinking well if I tell him I will give him a million, he may give me a million if he wins.

It's all very childish and full of one-up-man-ship, but really, what would I do if I won that big fat amount of money?

1. Well after the initial shock of winning millions (30 in this example) I would of course pay off all my debt, I am lucky in that I don't have much in the way of debt, but what I had I would pay off.

2. I would call into work and tell them that I am emigrating abroad and won't be back in. I would do this as I would not want publicity and so telling work you have won millions and are off, that news would soon get to the newspapers, so I would tell them something else. But basically I would retire.

3. I understand that in winning such a large sum of money, you are offered financial advise where you are advised on investing that money, I would invest a massive chuck of it, but not in high risk investments, but obviously enough interest that would allow me to live off the interest leaving the main bulk of money alone.

4. I would buy myself and my family a really nice house, yes it would be expensive, it would probably be in Sevenoaks or an area around there. I've look already and there are some beautiful houses from 1 to 2 million. Any decorating etc would be done, by a contract company of course before I moved in. I would sort out immediate family and friends too, how much, I don't know. But debts would be paid and a windfall n top for sure.

5. In my new house, I would ensure there is a Gym, and state of the art cinema room and a superb kitchen, I would also ensure that I get a personal trainer. The gym and the trainer because I need to get fit, a state of the art cinema room as I love my moves and want a dedicated place and a kitchen because I love to cook. The home would be as environmentally friendly as possible, utilising solar energy, maybe wind energy if possible, recycling everything, all low energy where possible etc

6. Yes I would have a nice car, maybe a Bugatti Veyron, or a Ferrari but that would be for special occasions, for a normal car I would have something quite luxurious, but something that was as environmentally friendly as possible.

7. I may well look into having at least one holiday home abroad, maybe in an exclusive part of Greece, maybe something in New Zealand too.

8. I would invest money for my kids, but it certainly would not be handed to them on a plate, they would mean to learn some values for money, but ultimately they would be better off.

9. I would travel extensively, to lovely destinations, bora bora, necker island, Seychelles etc

Ok, that's me, how I would sort myself out, and now to look elsewhere.

10. I would love to loo into setting up a business in order to take young people off the streets, maybe people who could or have fallen in a life of crime but are saveable. It maybe in the form of sponsoring someone to learn a trade in a company, or to DJ or anything really, something where that person would feel valued and that their opinion counts and so it decreases their chances of falling into crime, I would research ways into making sure they are rewarding for going on the straight and narrow, any breach would mean they would lose the thing/trade that they love and want to do. With some tweaking I think something like this would work.

11. I would also like to set something up for underprivileged/terminally ill kids, ones that don't get Christmas or birthday presents, or have no holidays at all, orphanages that sort of thing, using money that has been invested I would select people that were in most need to give them that holiday, or to provide money for some Christmas presents. Those examples are of course on a basic level, but you get the idea.

I guess the list is inexhaustible really, but these are the basics that I can think of for now, yes I would live a good life, but I would want to give something back too, something to help others. I would also be prone to what ive heard called as random acts of kindness where you help someone out on the fly really, a guy in the street that looks down on his luck, just give them £100 for example. I would also be sure that I am as environmentally friendly as possible, that could be another business idea in terms of providing friendly energy like solar at a price that is more affordable.

The possibilities are endless really, now I just need my numbers to come in.

Summary: I think the benefits outweigh the disadvantages as long as your sensible