Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?

Last night Justin and I were driving home from dinner. He turned to me and said, "we are going to be rich!" This got my attention because we have anxiously been awaiting the arrival of our little baby and I was hoping he had good news. A little baby we call the NHL collective bargaining agreement. Not quite our baby, but I can only assume the anticipation for a result from the CBA creates a similar feeling. And it wouldn't make us "rich," but it would relieve some of Justin's stress at work.  

Anywho, Justin was referring to the PowerBall lottery that is now up to $550,000,000  - about $360M for a lump sum payout.  First I was flattered that he mentioned "WE....WE are going to be rich." He wouldn't toss me aside for a tall, blonde and younger Pamela Anderson type . At least not yet.  I understand some people look at us and think...HELLO... you're 29 and not getting any younger!  Shouldn't you be married? And my answer to that is...what's the rush people?! I know I'm going to marry Justin - I know I am going to spend the rest of my life with him.  He's my best friend yo.  I don't need no ring to tie this man down.  We are so committed to each other that when, even though we have no financial commitment to each other, we realize that we are in this together, life and the lottery. 

I started thinking about what we would do if we actually won that modest chunk of change.  I have to admit that this is such a large amount of cash that I don't think I would know what to do with it.  I enjoy living modestly and stashing acorns away for a rainy day.  So I don't think I would be the type to hit the casino or invest in Picasso's.  But then again, you never know.

Justin and I spent dinner talking about what we might do and we had the same response.  See, meant to be.  First and foremost, if we won that jackpot tonight you would probably have no clue.  We would keep our mouths shut.  We would hire a lawyer that we trust (thankfully, we have one of those), and immediately open up a trust to anonymously accept the money - this is legal in the state of Michigan.  Secondly, we would let our parents know privately about the moo-la.  I would also discuss the pot of gold with my brother, Sean, who is an investment banker and an equally private and trustworthy kind of guy.  Now for the fun part, this is what we would do with some cash after investing for ourselves...

- We would both quit our daytime jobs.  While we are lucky to both love our careers, we would never leave in any normal case - but I can say that my heart wouldn't be in it and that's just not fair to the employer.

- I would open up a design service

- Justin would buy a golf course

- Donate to my favorite animal shelter

- Set up trusts for my niece and future niece (Justin's niece). There would be terms to the agreement that they would only receive a small percentage upon graduation from high school and then an annual amount upon graduation from college, and would do the same for a future child(ren)

- Create college funds for our nieces and future children

- Set up retirement plans for all family members, which they will receive in annual gifts and then a large payout only after working until the age of 45.

- We would ensure all of our elderly relatives are given the best care and remain close to us where
ever we are

- We would like two modest vacation homes. One in Vermont near Killington, and another on the coast of Rhode Island with a beautiful ocean front

- I would like to donate to youth educational programs for art, home ec and woodshop to encourage creativity

For the family...
- Buy my parents the lake house they keep talking about starting to look for
- And get Justin's parents a log cabin in the mountains with a private lake for kayaking, and maybe a little golf course
- Get a house for Justin's sister and brother-in-law
- Buy a yoga studio for my sister-in-law
- Buy that lake house for Sean and my sister-in-law
- Buy a lake house for Ryan (can you tell my family likes lake houses)
- Finally, we would take a year off from life and travel the world until things calm down and
people forgot about us, then settle into our little home in Rochester (Justin would like me to say that he did not approve the purchase of our home in Rochester)

I might like some horses - but mostly I would love to spend my life designing homes leisurely and travelling the globe.

If you're playing tonight, may the odds be ever in your favor...

What would you do with $550M?

Mary