Friday, March 30, 2012

Stash that cash!

Logo: IL lottery website

So, what will I do with all that money?  Let's see.  First of all, I rather skip the dubious picture ceremony with the fake, commemorative check  from the lottery. The Mega Millions lottery jackpot swelled to $640,000,000 today! Did you get your ticket?  I sure did. Two of them!
No, I don't want to advertise to the world that my pocketbook just got fatter by $462,000,000 (yes, I'll grab the lump sum, you're welcome federal government).
Some online articles suggest a cooling off period (to celebrate, I guess) before claiming the prize.  I suspect it takes couple of months to process all the paperwork for the money.  So, quitting your job is not a good idea.  For now, I'll keep mine.  Boredom is a mood destroyer.

Establishing a trust fund is a great way to conserve and protect your return on $1 investment.  Yes, you want to leave yourself some fun-fund money to get all those toys that you always wanted.
For me, the first order of business would be (drum roll and hand clapping): an Audi Q5.  Sweet ride, check it out.

Now, when you have your ride, it's time to pay off that mortgage and other obligations.  Although, with today's market and prices going down, I would think twice about that option.
Helping your close family?  Absolutely.  What else creates a stronger emotional ties if not couple Gs in your hand for uncle Spendalot.
 
So, all that brings us to some travel times.  Oh yeah, that frequent flyer miles card is already burning my pocket.  Australia (kangaroo boxing match?) and New Zealand are first on the list (watch out Lord of The Ring chopper travel sights seeing service dude!).  Then, Asia (I want to confirm that kids in Japan have really cold classrooms, according to my frequent-visitor friend Angel), Europe (I hear Greece has some good deals now; that's fetalicious) and South America (owning Peruvian bowler hat is a priority).  I'll skip Middle East for now.

And, last of all, I take on those sailing classes.  Taking family on the Carabiean trips between the islands on the 40 footer sounds very Captain Sparrow like.  So, there, that's the plan.