So you've just won the lottery.

Congratulations. That two-dollar ticket your spouse divorced you over because you promised never to waste any more money on your hopeless gambling addiction turned out to be the Big Winner. After the taxes come out, you are the recipient of a whole ten million dollars. And not just any dollars--American dollars. The best kind of dollars.

After a moment, it starts to sink in: your lifetime of poverty and worrying about bills and living from paycheck-to-paycheck is over. Your parents' dreams for your life, all fantasies due to the lack of money, are now suddenly feasible--hell, if dad'll ever apologize for voting for Bush twice, you might even help them out with post-retirement life. Your kids are now guaranteed an excellent, debt-free education. Your (ex) spouse can go **** themselves--who's the pathetic loser with a tiny dick now?!

But even after paying for the little Snowflakes' college, you go over the budget and find that you still somehow have five million dollars left. What's next in your new life of financial indulgence and security?

Travel, travel, travel.

This.

Take all my friends to the bar and get just disgusting gross.

Invest half of that, put a million in the bank for safe-keeping, and use the last mil and a half to buy a old farmhouse way out in the country with 10 acres of land. Screw the luxuries, I just want to live in peace without worrying about expenses, so I wouldn't "live it up". I'd just buy a half-decent car, get a part-time job to keep myself from getting bored, then use the rest to pay for utilities until I die.

If I get a killing back from the investments, then I might buy a Royce or something.

Would invest and try to grow it more, but pleasure wise I would like to do a lot of travelling.

Disney World is the #1 choice, but would also like to go out of the country to places like Japan, London, and maybe either the Bahamas or just Hawaii.

I have 5 million left? Well assuming that along with my little shit's college tuition, I must have spent a lot of it on toys, cocaine, hookers and a house, etc. I think I'll put a good chunk of it in several high-interest savings accounts and invest the rest. Then I'd continue to live on the interest and dividends.

buy some properties and invest the rest of the money.

Buy a plot of land on a mountain in austria and build a home there then live the good life for the rest of it.

HookersB-)

But seriously i would invest most of it and put the rest in a savings account whilst getting cash from assets i purchase. Make my money work for me.

Invest in high-yielding; blue chip dividend stocks. There are some monthly paying BDC companies, Prospect Capital being an example, that yield over 10% and pay monthly. $1 million in PSEC would net around $100k a year in dividend payments.

Outside of the investing, I would buy a modest house in South Lake Tahoe where I could ski all winter and golf all summer. I'd probably splurge on a Nissan GT-R and a Subaru (for every day driving in winter conditions).

10%? how do they manage that? are they an MREIT?

Probably wouldn't take the lump sum

They're a BDC (Business Development Company). BDCs avoid paying income tax on earnings so long as they return 90% of the earnings back to shareholders via dividend payments. The Dividends are then taxed as Income, rather than at the qualified dividend/capital gains rate, on the shareholder's tax filing.

It's very similarly structured to a MREIT, but BDCs provide secured and mezzanine financing to private businesses rather than dealing in commercial real estate. They're private equity firms, in essence, with a different tax structure.

Some other high-yiedling BDCs:

Appolo Investment Co. (AINV)

Ares Capital (ARCC)

Main Street Capital (MAIN)

BlackRock Kelso (BKCC)

I've only ever owned Prospect Capital in the BDC space, and I did quite well with them. Sadly, I sold most of my individual stocks when I built a house last year.

Blackjack and hookers of course.

cool.. yeah, was wondering if the dividends were taxed the same way as MREITs.

9mil goes into whichever bank offers the best interest rate.

even at 3% yearly, it would net 270k in interest.

the other 1mil would be spent on

house

car

education

by the time I'd finish a 4 year degree, I'd be back up to 10mil just with interest.

Then I'd live off the interest.

I don't think a simple savings account is a good place for 9 million dollars. Probably better to actually invest it.

Invest some money for financial security so that I don't ever become unable to provide for myself and family in case I lose all my money.

After putting aside some money for that purpose, I'll start my journey of stunts and experimentation. I'll travel a lot, part for leisure but mainly for the experience and knowledge it brings. I'll have all the time I need for reading, and the peace of mind for that too. I'll also be investing my financial resources in a wide range of social and to a certain extent political experiments. I would try to supplement all of that with writing in order to preserve these set of activities and experiences and to build on them in the future.

When I feel ready, I'll try to formalize all of that and put it together by establishing some sort of a body that would constitute the sum of all these experiences refined and studied in order to be able to introduce some fresh value and maintain a sustainable and self-sufficient existence.

Just giving an example.

3% yearly on 9mil is 270k in interest, and while bforester suggested there's a way to get 10%, 3% interest is more than enough to live off.

Could just live off interest.

cocaine sex orgies and the finest whisky.

I don't think there are many savings accounts that pay 3%. There are definitely better ways to use the money.

not when the government comes along and steals all my hard earned interest...

You'll be hard-pressed to find a savings account paying 3% for a while. Hell, my mortgage is less than 3%. You're going to have to venture into riskier bonds (corporate, municipal, etc) or stocks to find a return greater than 3% right now.

Besides, if you put your money into any investment vehicle earning 3%, you're doing no better than keeping up with inflation anyway, and that doesn't even factor in the taxes you'll pay on your meager returns.

Invest, I guess. Quit my job and write full time as a novelist.

Considering 80% of lottery winners end up homeless and/or penniless within a few years and since I know how to live cheap, I'd probably invest/sit on most of it. I can get a nice small place for 500k, furnish it for another 500k and never have to worry about bills again.

Travel.

use it to fund anti-gay organizations

@Makhaidos:

Where'd you come up with this whole scenario? An interesting way to ask a simple question about what we'd do if we won the lotto.

I've got a savings account with 3% interest... So either I got lucky, or you're just wrong.

I also love how 270k a year is "meager returns"

I've already stated that 3% is simply a base bark, I know i can get 3% yearly, and as others have said, 10% is possible if you know what you're doing.
Point is, it's possible to win 10mil, and simply live off the interest generated from such an amount.

I would just put in the bank and continue living my life as it is right now.

It's boring, but I'd buy a house on a big piece of property. I need a house for my dog and huge backyard so she can run around. I feel awful she has to live in an apartment with me. I must take her for like 10 walks a day.

And then I'd buy another dog or two so she can have playmates.

Buy a new car.

Modest house outside the city, fast car for weekends, big truck for work.

@Iszdope: Yes, it's very amusing to do what thousands of other people are doing and making a living off it.

Just because it's above your limits it doesn't mean you need to piss on other people. You got that, bucko?

I wouldn't mind having the house I live in look nicer than it already is.

Gamble it all away

Still as clueless as ever, I see.

A new house, a nice car, some videogames and great food everyday.

Where did the other 5 mil go? And why did my wife leave me over something so stupid? I would never pick up a girl dumb like that. How many kids do I even have?

I would probably try to live the same life. I would just get a few upgrades such as getting a nice house in the neighborhood (nothing fancy such as a mansion) and a good car that would last very long. I would still go to my job. And I would just go on more expensive vacations rather than trips down to the beach.

Post on OT............................

I'd go to a Rolls Royce dealership and buy a Phantom. I'm only 18, so I would see how they treat me before I tell them I won the lottery. Then, I'd put it all in savings and finish college and become a doctor like I want to, without ever having to worry about finances.

Pay off my stupid student loans. Some European colleges offer education for practically free, but good 'ole Murrica thinks it's logical to shove thousands of dollars in debt down the throats of people fresh out of high school and trying to integrate into the adult world. Jesus, the Department of Education needs to get its shit together. I'd buy a house no more expensive than a million dollars. I'd do some traveling, save some in the bank, and then use the rest to pay bills, get a fancy car, and just, well, live.

What...the..flying...****...did I just read? Your first sentence entire post is facedesk worthy. "10 million isn't enough for ANYTHING"? *rageface activated*

Nothing wrong with still having a job if you're a lottery winner, of course, but man, I want to punch myself after reading "getting a house my job can afford" when you have 10 million dollars.

Who the **** even buys a seven million dollar house besides a stupid rich celebrity? It's a house. You can get a good one for half a million dollars, dude.