If I Won The Lottery...

As of today, the Powerball Jackpot is $125 million. If I elect to take the lump sum, which is $63.7 million, I would get paid $47,775,000. The Federal Government takes out 25% on all lottery winnings. The other option is to get paid $125 million over 30 years. After Uncle Same does his hack job on my winnings, I would get paid an average of a little over $3.1 million over 30 years. I would purchase my ticket in Pennsylvania, where there is not State tax on lottery winnings ;). My first years' payment would be around $1.67 million. It goes up by a percentage every year so at year 30, I would get a check for just around $5.23 million. Get all that? Good. I did not do this math. I used a great website as a resource.


Alright, so let's break this down. If I take the yearly payout, I would get around $93 million over 30 years. $93 million over 30 years OR $47,775,000 right away?? That's a helluva decision to make. I would probably take $93 million over 30 years because that seems best. But this exercise is more fun if I get to think about splitting $47 million. But for the record, I'm taking the 30 year payout.


So I have $47 million to divide up. First, I'm buying property. I think I'll buy two. First, I want a house that backs up to a golf course or a body of water. Preferably a lake. I figure that I could get a very nice house for $3 or 4 million dollars. I would love to have a great rooftop apartment in Philadelphia or Washington, D.C. That's $1.5 million I think. Let's say that property will cost around $6 million. 
Left to spend=$41 million


Second, a donation. Actually, three. It would be pretty dick of me to not donate some of this money to charities. $3 million each is going to the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research, The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, and Operation Homefront. O.H. assists veterans coming home from war and their families. . I'll set aside another $2 million for smaller charities to donate to at other times. Right there we have $11 million. 
Left to spend=$30 million


Next, I want to do something for my closest friends and family. We are going on two, 10-day Caribbean Cruise. Everything is on me. The itineraries can be decided on later. One cruise will be for my friends. The other will be be for family and family friends. Figure the friends one I take 30 people; Family cruise about 60. The first cruise I would set aside $2 million, the other $5 million. $7 million there.
Left to spend=$23 million


I also just realized I need to furnish the two properties I'm going to buy. Probably need $2 or 3 million for that. Let's dream big and say $3 million.
Left to spend=$20 million


Some of this money needs to be secured somehow. Thats why half of the remaining money, $10 million, will be invested; in savings accounts, stocks, bonds, and so on. Then I need to pay somebody to handle my investments. Figure $2 million? 
Left to spend=$8 million


I'm getting a dog. Period. End of story. Maybe two... no! Three! Three dogs!
Left to spend= $7,997,000 million


I don't like having weird numbers of money. I would really like a couple new cars. Figure that will cost about $150,000. I want some nice cars. Not sure which cars, but that can be decided on later. I would also pay off the college debts of myself and my two brothers. Whatever is left over, gets donated to my alma mater, Catholic University, and I'll probably get a plaque or something on campus named after me. Not a bad deal right?
Money left=$7 million


And that concludes the spending escapades of me with my lottery winnings. The rest of the $7 million will be considered "cash on hand." It will be used for emergencies and any other unforeseen things that may come up. I think that I got a pretty good handle on what I would do. I think it's fairly simple and I don't have to many complicated purchases.


Oh wait, one more. Season tickets to the Phillies for life. However much that costs, consider it purchased.