What would you do if you won $47 Million?

[WayAbvPar]

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4) Buy a modest house somewhere not rural, but not urban either. Somewhere like a suburb in the Pacific Northwest sounds ideal ($500k)

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You are gonna want to double or triple that for a nice house in a good neighborhood. I was out house shopping over the weekend and saw a house for $769k in [censored] Renton- no view, no waterfront, just Renton. Real estate prices here are out of [censored] control.

[mistermuni]

OKAY..

Prohornblower-- Okay, we'll do it your way. After taxes, lump sum, its 13M. Who the hell is going to rob you because you're worth (maybe) 13M?? There are entire stretches of roads in los angeles where each home is worth in excess of 13M, let alone the net worth of their owners. There are people with 13M EVERYWHERE if you know where to look (and if you're in the business of robbing rich people, you know where to look). Seriously, 13M isn't nearly enough to get worried about your wellbeing. Now lets say you take the whole thing over 20 years. Thats like 1.5M a year after taxes? Who the crap is going to rob you/kidnap your gf because you're worth 1.5M? You can't buy a home in some places for 1.5M. Lastly, I dont think many people really follow the winners of the lottery. They know when its been won, but nobody really knows/cares who the actual person is. Can you tell me the names of at least 1 former jackpot winners? Eh just reread your op and said to pretend that you're plastered all over t.v. for wahtever reason. alright, fine. i just dont think fame and winning the lottery go hand in hand as much as you'd think, *especially* if you're as paranoid as the op. why would you let your face be plastered all over t.v. before ditching hte states?

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[prohornblower]

I would definitely try to keep from being in the media. I'm assuming that I cannot keep it from happening before getting my money.

Also, you think I don't know how many people/how much stuff is worth 13M? I was just scanning around on zillow.com the other day looking at Malibu homes and whatnot. I'm fully aware of how many multi-million dollar homes are out there.

$13M after taxes isn't that much. BUT, when people hear on the TV "So and so won $47 Million dollars!" they don't think about taxes. They don't realize a lump-sum payout is far less than an annuity. Dumb people who would go after a lotto winner to try to extort money are dumb people. You can't expect them to do the math beyond the point of "ZOMG das a lot of moneyyy".

Having people (namely, criminals) out there who think you are worth 2-4 times what you are really worth isn't good. How are you supposed to convince them that you don't have $47 Million?

BTW, didn't Raymer have a run-in with some guys a while back who wanted his "$5 Million" lol. IIRC, Raymer only took home like $1.5MM after taxes and after paying backers (I could be way off, I'm really not positive). But having $1.5MM and having crooks come up to you and expect you to pay them $5MM could become very dicey.

[Sponger.]

mistermuni,

You're a much bigger target than some random guy who has $200,000,000 in the bank from his business.

[funkymunky]

Okay, I've avoided this thread. I suppose one never knows until you're actually in the situation, but I like to think that I wouldn't change my life significantly.

I like my house now, wouldn't want a mansion.

I prolly would get some sort of extra security, panic room, etc.

The thing that would scare me is how people around me might change.

Oh, and I would set my family up for life.

[wet work]

Has anyone seen the documentary on Sundance about lottery winners? It was kinda sad. They all seemed unhappy and isolated. Some were obviously broke. I think it would be hard to find the line between being generous and not being resented on some level.

[funkymunky]

Was this about some tiny town, and a regular group (one of whom didn't kick in for the week of the big win)?

[wet work]

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Was this about some tiny town, and a regular group (one of whom didn't kick in for the week of the big win)?

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It just covered about 5 or 6 unrelated previuos winners.

[funkymunky]

Okay. I remember seeing something about a few winners, and they described how nervous they were (immediately moved into a hotel, only let a trusted few know where to get a hold of them).

It was almost scary how they're lives had instantly changed.

[prohornblower]

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Okay. I remember seeing something about a few winners, and they described how nervous they were (immediately moved into a hotel, only let a trusted few know where to get a hold of them).

It was almost scary how they're lives had instantly changed.

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This is exactly what I'm talking about. It's hard to imagine what it would ACTUALLY feel like to know you took down a $47MM prize and were on TV.

Aside from holding a press conference and declaring that you are donating it all to cancer research, you will undoubteldy have to alter your lifestyle. Security becomes an issue, as does trust. Even among close friends and immediate family members.

IMO, as stated, the best way to deal with it is skip town ASAP for a while, and lay out very clear guidelines to whomever you wish to fund.

I would easily guess that 98% of lotto winners have run into huge problems stemming from friends/family who (unjustifiably) thought they weren't being compensated properly.