Mega Millions Jackpot = Lottery Fever
Right now, at the time I am writing this, the U.S. is in lottery fever. People who don’t usually ever think about buying a lottery ticket are plopping down $2.00 for a dream chance of winning one of the highest lotteries ever offered.
And yes, I too have been participating lately in the huge Mega Millions Lottery game. And last Friday after work, I made my way over to the counter of a convenience store and bought a ticket. Ok, I bought two, but hey, you can’t win if you don’t buy a ticket, right?
And I was shocked at how many people had the same idea. I have never seen a line so long. And I think I am a little bit different, because instead of getting impatient in the line, I was more focused on the people. And I was wondering what each of these people would do with a windfall of money if their ticket was the lucky one that won.
$2.00 For A Dream
So after I waited my turn to buy my ticket, and then got in my car to drive home, I started thinking of what I would do with a windfall of money like that if MY ticket was the lucky one.
Pay Off Debt
The first thing I would do with all that money is pay off all of my debt. The house, the credit cards and student loans would be gone. Poof. Bye-bye debt! See ya! Poof, all of my debt gone. What an incredible thing that would be!
Save
And while I would love to just run out and spend a ton of money, after my debt was paid off I would set most of the money aside, and save it. If you took the cash option of $904,000,000 after paying the tax man, you would be left with a whopping $542,400,000. That is a lot of money. By investing like $500,000,000, you still have $42,000,000 left to play with. So I would sock away 500 million dollars, and act as if I had 42 million dollars. Because honestly, 42 million dollars is enough money to keep me busy for a very long time. And you wouldn’t want to become one of the lottery winners that was bankrupt only a couple of years after winning the lottery right? And by saving a majority of the money without the plan of spending it, you are planning and saving for your future.
Build A Real Barn
I don’t think I would move. I might buy another home, maybe, sometime down the road once it had sunk in that I was rich. But no, I would not buy a new house. What I would do is build an incredible barn on the property I currently own.
I have already checked with my HOA, and I can have a barn as big as I want, so that is exactly what I would do. I would build the perfect barn that has an indoor arena, concrete aisle way, water, electricity, and all of the bells and whistles! Barn Pro’s comes to the forefront of my mind.
My ponies would be laying in the lap of luxury in huge stalls with deep beds of shavings. And underneath those well bedded stalls would be that fancy mattress like footing. Have you seen this before?
This is the coolest thing for stalls. It’s like a bed. I would love for my horses to be able to have stalls with a literally bed for the floor.
A Beautiful Tack Room
And of course, the tack room would be gorgeous, and have tons of storage. I would probably blow a lot of money on building out my dream tack room. It would definitely be Pinterest worthy. And I would not think twice about having a saddler come to my home and fit my horses for custom crafted saddles.
There would be a washer and dryer in the tack room, along with enough storage to house everything.
The indoor arena would be huge, and have mirrors down two of the walls. And since it gets cold in the winter, and hot in the summer, we would need to have the barn and arena to have their own heating and cooling system too. Money is no object right?
Buy A New Horse Trailer
Not only a horse trailer, but one of those fancy horse boxes. You know, the ones that is like a van, and you are driving around with your horse in the backseat? Yep, I would buy one of those. There are two companies located here in the US that sell them.
One company is called Horse Boxes USA and they are located in Orlando Florida. They have a really pretty red one available now for $85,000. Is that something I would plan on buying? Not really. However, if I had $42 million dollars to play around with, $85,000 would be nothing to part with. Especially if I were able to drive my horses around!
It would be awesome to not worry about driving a truck and trailer and instead, load my horses into a van and go. These things are so cool.
Yes I would Quit My Job
With a windfall of over 500 million dollars, I would quit my job. Sorry, I’m not one of those people that would continue to work. I love what I do, and I love working with people, but I also love working on projects, and riding my horses. So yes, I would say good bye to my day job, and focus on creating my own business. I bey I could have a heck of a YouTube channel if all I had to do was make videos every day.
And I could also focus on getting Ethan to the Summer in the Rockies horse show series at the Horse Park. Millions or not, eventually I will make that happen. But it would be a lot easier with 500 million dollars, right?
And all of the money I have spent in my day dream is just $877,000. So literally, a drop in the bucket from $42 million dollars. Which is why yes, I would quit my job.
Planning For The Future
And not only planning for my future, but the future of my family as well. And while it may not something a financial planner would advise, I would give a bunch of money to my children, in a trust of course, and my siblings, and parents as well. If you have that much money, you could afford to share it with others. And to be able to give back to my parents, and have the means to help my children, you van bet I am going to do it.
Even after setting up trust accounts, and giving money to family, there would still be enough money of that original $42 million dollars that we would never have to work again. And we could travel, create our own businesses, and do whatever we wanted too. That is a crazy amount of money. And it’s fun to dream about how you would spend it (or save it) if you came into a windfall of cash.
It’s Good To Dream
Sometimes it’s good to dream, because you never know what can happen. And $2.00 for a dream, it’s worth it, once in a while.
How about you? If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money? Go on a trip? Buy a new horse? Share your dreams! Tell me what you would do if you happen to have the lucky numbers for Tuesdays Mega Millions Jackpot drawing.
And don’t forget to buy your ticket! $2.00 for a chance to win almost a billion dollars? Why not?!?!?
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