William Nichols Fair enough. I have spent a lot of time thinking about this, even though I never actually buy lottery tickets, but I don't think I ever dream quite as big as a billion. The main conclusion I always arrive at is that having that much money would change the way everyone I know treats me. Sure, I could easily pay off all my friends' mortgages, bankroll their business plans, and pay for their kids to go to college. But after my closest friends are taken care of, and we move into acquaintances and extended family and friends of friends, eventually, I will need to draw a line. And if I pick up the check every time we go out to dinner, my friends will feel guilty, but if I don't pay, I'll feel guilty. So, okay, buy a house, buy your closest friends a house, then set up a non-profit that provides homes for people in need, and donate 90% of your annuity every year to that non-profit. Hire someone else to run the non-profit. Return to your normal life. Or, your "new normal" life, if you, say, quit your job to open a youth camp.
Yeah, it said it wouldn't work, but I clicked on "try it anyway", and it did. I couldn't see the running tally, though, and it jumped around a few times, but I figured that was just my old phone. I thought you would like it, though, because it gives a rough cost estimate for lots of the kinds of things you talked about - paying off student loan debt, funding the arts, etc. It gave me context for the impossibly huge "billion" dollars.
Don't tell anyone.
ReplyDeletePay off all your debts.
Buy a house.
Go back to your normal life and pretend the money isn't there.
Jule Ann Wakeman With a million or even ten, I think you're absolutely right.
ReplyDeleteWith a billion dollars, I think something else happens.
At that level, paying off a hundred mortgages at a hundred thousand dollars each is a rounding error.
And ok, it's 1.6 billion over 30 years, so, like 40 million a year. Still, those hundred mortgages would be like a quarter of the first check.
It feels like it would be morally imprudent to not help folks out, once that's the case.
Note: I cannot really understand a billion dollars, at all. It's a ridiculous number.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Nichols Fair enough. I have spent a lot of time thinking about this, even though I never actually buy lottery tickets, but I don't think I ever dream quite as big as a billion. The main conclusion I always arrive at is that having that much money would change the way everyone I know treats me. Sure, I could easily pay off all my friends' mortgages, bankroll their business plans, and pay for their kids to go to college. But after my closest friends are taken care of, and we move into acquaintances and extended family and friends of friends, eventually, I will need to draw a line. And if I pick up the check every time we go out to dinner, my friends will feel guilty, but if I don't pay, I'll feel guilty.
ReplyDeleteSo, okay, buy a house, buy your closest friends a house, then set up a non-profit that provides homes for people in need, and donate 90% of your annuity every year to that non-profit. Hire someone else to run the non-profit. Return to your normal life.
Or, your "new normal" life, if you, say, quit your job to open a youth camp.
Hire an attorney who specializes in representing lottery winners. That is a real thing.
ReplyDeleteHow much rainforest can you buy and preserve with a billion dollars?
ReplyDeleteHow much healthcare does a billion dollars buy?
How much does it cost to fund a class action lawsuit against the ten companies who are rapidly eating our planet?
How much does it cost to start an anti-capitalist revolution?
This answers your question in Choose Your Own Adventure format!
ReplyDeletedirekris.itch.io - You Are Jeff Bezos by Kris Ligman
Jule Ann Wakeman That bezos game throws an error for me. Does it work for you?
ReplyDeleteYeah, it said it wouldn't work, but I clicked on "try it anyway", and it did. I couldn't see the running tally, though, and it jumped around a few times, but I figured that was just my old phone. I thought you would like it, though, because it gives a rough cost estimate for lots of the kinds of things you talked about - paying off student loan debt, funding the arts, etc. It gave me context for the impossibly huge "billion" dollars.
ReplyDeleteI got it to work on a different laptop!
ReplyDeleteFun times. I got to the "true ending", too. Gosh, I like playing games.