Hitting the Jackpot!
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (121503)
Gainesville, Florida
January 7, 2016 7:38pm CST
I am by no means a regular player of the lottery, and in fact, I can't even recall when the last time I ever played was. But the PowerBall lottery has been getting quite a bit of attention this week, as the jackpot is up to $700 million! With a pot of money that large, I just can't help but dream about winning it all, so I think I'll splurge this week and spend a few dollars buying some tickets tomorrow.
What would I do with that kind of money? I would probably spend less than $10 million total setting myself and my family up with trust funds to usher us all into a ripe old age. After that, I would probably give most of it away to worthwhile charities and causes. I am by no means power hungry or greedy, and have no desire to be wealthy beyond my means.
Are you planning on playing the lottery this weekend? And what would you do with $700 million?
11 people like this
11 responses
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Jan 16
If I won the lottery and even just keep enough money to give myself a good monthly income for the rest of my life, I probably would still find a job I love and keep working. I don't think I could sit idle for very long. I would love to travel the world though.
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
8 Jan 16
You can put all into trust fund.
You do not have to donate all the money right now.
When you set up trust fund, you can name the charities you want to support, and you can specify that only the return from investment will be used to support the charities.
This ensure that your family will be rich for life, and your children cannot spend all your money on foolish things.
You can set it up so that the trust fund can support your descendants for generations.
2 people like this
@TiarasOceanView (70022)
• United States
8 Jan 16
I would have a house in each country that I chose.
It would not take me long to be out of here.
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Jan 16
@TiarasOceanView That's not too bad! You made it sound like you would have a dozen or so! I may have around three as well, one in the US, one in Europe, and one in Australia.
1 person likes this
@carexing25 (1822)
• Philippines
8 Jan 16
good luck! hope you win the jackpot.. it's okay to dream big, and who knows, maybe you will be the lucky winner ..
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Jan 16
Someone has to win it, right? Might as well be me!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Jan 16
I would build a log cabin in the woods and disappear off the grid after winning the lottery! lol
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
19 Jan 16
@PamJam I would love to own an AK-47! lol But I already have a nice rifle collection, and my dad is quite adept at making his own ammo, so I will just rely on him to stock me up if I can't buy enough ammo in the stores! But then again, if I give away most of my fortune like I intend to, there really won't be enough leftover for anyone to hunt me down for!
@VivaLaDani13 (60794)
• Perth, Australia
16 Jan 16
My best friend bought some tickets for the lottery but sadly didn't win. I really wanted him to because ( even though it sounds biased ) but he deserves it and I know he would do some good things with the money. Helping himself and others.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Jan 16
I think there are many good people in this world who deserve to win the lottery, solely because they will do nothing but good with the money. But interestingly, I bet the people who are MOST deserving of winning the lottery are the people who are most likely NOT even playing the lottery!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Jan 16
@VivaLaDani13 Especially when we just had a jackpot of $1.6 billion dollars. That is just too much money for one person to win. I think anywhere from 1-4 million dollars would be enough for a single person to win, and do good things with (if they were smart enough to invest that money). Anything more is just frivolous. If you think about that in terms of this most recent jackpot, subtract $4 million from $1.6 billion and you still have 1 billion 596 million dollars left. What could someone possibly do with all that money? That should have been used to go to charities and worthy causes!
1 person likes this
@VivaLaDani13 (60794)
• Perth, Australia
16 Jan 16
@moffittjc I agree. So many people could do what that money. Like really NEED it. There is a difference between wanting and needing something. I'm sure a big chunk of people were playing because they wanted the money whereas others actually need it because they are struggling in life and to be honest, I wish the money could just be straight up used for good instead of people trying to win it. There is so much that could be done with all that money.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Jan 16
Anytime I play the lottery (which isn't often), I always buy the same dollar amount of tickets. I don't buy more tickets when the jackpot is bigger, and less when the jackpot is smaller, because statistically speaking, it doesn't increase your chances of winning at all.
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Jan 16
Time for a road trip! Alabama would be looking good right about now! lol
@JESSY3236 (19892)
• United States
8 Jan 16
I don't play the lottery. But I would definitely would love to have the 700 million. I would move out and get me and Chris a house to live in.
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Jan 16
It's probably been 20 years since I last played the lottery! But $700 million was just too good to pass up. I put in $10 to our office pool.
@JudyEv (338724)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Jan 16
Occasionally we buy a ticket when it jackpots to a huge amount. We would hope to do good deeds with it somehow. We don't need much more than we have right now.
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Jan 16
It's interesting that we all say we want to do good things with the money if we win it. I wonder if we would all stay true to that in the event we actually won the jackpot? I would hope that we could all stay true to our word.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Jan 16
@JudyEv You are correct! I've read lots of stories about lottery winners either not knowing how to properly manage their money, or the fact that they are gullible and easily get taken advantage of. I would encourage people not to play the lottery unless they had an ironclad plan for what to do if they actually did win the jackpot!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (338724)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Jan 16
@moffittjc I've seen magazine articles where they visit lottery winners some years after their big wins. Some are back to where they were before the win but some opened soup kitchens or orphanages. Not everyone has the skills to cope with a huge influx of funds. I wouldn't mind having a try though!
@NancyWrites (31)
• United States
9 Jan 16
I'm with you, though maybe a little bit greedier-- I think I would take about 20 million for my family, and put 20 million into a business I've been involved in that I would love me to see succeed. The rest I would use to help homeless people and to provide education for kids who can't afford it.
@moffittjc (121503)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Jan 16
I have determined that I would donate about $80 million to my employer to fund their capital improvement plan for the next 20 years. We are doing some amazing things in our community, and I want to see my department continue to succeed.
1 person likes this
