What would you do if you won the 425 Million dollar Powerball?

To start things off I would pay off all of my debt. And after the Air Force nullifies my contract (if you gain a certain amount of money, your contract with the military is terminated), pay off all of my wife and I's family debt. Buy a nice house and a few cars, blowing a couple of million you might say. Say half is taken for taxes, that leaves me with 200 million to play with (rounded down). so... after spending say, 25 million, I would put the other 175 million and collect interest, living off that for the rest of my life.

I would live in a really terrible apartment, but have a limo drive me everywhere.

Buy a starter home, and invest the rest in mutual funds. Never have to work again. Set my grandma up in a nicer place, or fix up her house.. guarantee my father's retirement.. and then donate quite a bit to certain charities.

I'm a simple person, but I would use that money for worthwhile causes for sure.

Go to Japan and buy the entire Super Potato, minus the porn.

Move to south America specifically Peru and live like a king while also having a small modest vacation home in south Florida to enjoy during the winter.

Or figure out how to invest that money efficiently into technology that will allow me to be launched into the sun.

Go to Japan and buy the entire Super Potato, minus the porn.

@Colourful_Hippie said:

Move to south America specifically Peru and live like a king while also having a small modest vacation home in south Florida to enjoy during the winter.

Or figure out how to invest that money efficiently into technology that will allow me to be launched into the sun.

And survive? Or just.. boom.. into the sun?

Run for Office.

@murisan: One way trip.

Fund the development of a new version of Multimedia Celebrity Poker (with the same cast) and then put the rest in a big pile and set it on fire.

Buy my mom a bigger house.

The first thing I'd do is make sure my family, especially the older people who don't have much money left, are taken care of. Then, I'd take out two million and just buy anything and everything I've ever wanted, plus pay off my college loans. After that I'd put the rest of it in the bank and live off of the interest.

Would I have a job? Well, I'd probably always be searching for something to work on, some goal to achieve, but would I be working Mon-Fri, 8-5? Unless I really liked the job, no. I would never be at the whims of anyone, it would be a job I'd want to do, I'd be happy to do, and one where I'm surrounded by people I like. The chances of finding such a job are slim to none so I'd probably delve into a hobby or something.

Also, this is probably going to sound odd but I'd never have a maid or butler or servant or whatever. No, I'd buy a reasonably sized house and clean it myself.

EDIT: While I'd never be able to hide that I had suddenly become rich, I would do my best to make sure that the fact that I'd won the lottery never got out. On top of that, I'd have to find ways to keep myself in check - going from having to manage your money well to never being able to spend it all could certainly have some detrimental effects on someone. I'd imagine that such a person would have to end up managing themselves instead of their money, arguably a much, much more difficult task.

after spending say, 25 million,

That's a vast sum of money - even though that's only an eighth of the 200 million you've estimated ending up with, I doubt you could just up and spend all 25 million in a short amount of time. Maybe if you bought several beachfront homes and several yachts and several private planes, but eventually you'd have to sit down and, y'know, use that stuff you've bought instead of constantly shopping for a new one. I just can't imagine anyone immediately going to buy a yacht when that person has never, ever had anywhere near enough money to care about that sort of thing in the first place - no, I think the first things people of average financial status would buy are immediately obtainable. TV's, game systems, computers, iPads, stereos, etc. Only when they've gotten all that stuff would people start to look for things that take time to obtain but can still be gotten and enjoyed in a day, like cars and furniture, and then I'd imagine they would go for houses. I'm no psychologist so maybe I'm just shooting in the dark here, but most people would want to spend a lot of money on something as quickly as possible, just to release all of that past tension of looking at something and only being able to afford it after savings or a bonus check or something.

Boy, this post hardly ended up the way I thought it would.

If I had a good amount of money left over after my other goals are reached I would donate the rest to Giant Bomb so that the crew will never have to worry about trying to figure out how to fund something stupid like the Tokyo Raid.

Buy giantbomb and make them move to yet another new office hahahahaha

In the short term I would pay off debts, give 1 million each to a few family members, then buy a high end crazy money gaming laptop and travel until I find a city I want to live in and call home. From there hard to say. Probably will involve a ton of high class hookers though.

Long term, probably start a bunch of charities and a small gaming company to try and make some games that I have always wanted to see get made but no one will make. If the games turn out good and people like them probably run that for a decade or two. Beyond that who knows. I know I have zero desire to own a house though. It's just a headache to deal with the upkeep and maintenance of one, plus I hate being tied down. With an apartment you can just pick up and go whenever you feel like a change of pace but a house is a hassle. You ether have to sell it when you want to move or have it just sit there being a leech on your money.

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@murisan: One way trip.

But.. why?

I'd probably give them to my father and sister. As much as I always complain about not having any money, having way too much of it sounds like the worst thing to me.

Pay Vinny to come sleep with me.

@murisan said:

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@murisan: One way trip.

But.. why?

Because I can?

It's not like I'm suicidal it's just that if there's a way to go out then that's the way to do it. Maybe I'll wait till I'm old enough to notice that I've reached my physical peak.

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@murisan: One way trip.

But.. why?

@MariachiMacabre said:

@murisan

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@murisan: One way trip.

But.. why?

Because then he'd be the man who launched himself into the sun for his own funeral. That's a pretty excellent way to go out.

The mental image of a casket with rockets en route to the sun is starting to motivate me to make it big.

I'd likely just sit on it and live moderately without working. I have really low standards of living, so that ball should keep me in a life of leisure forever.

Also, never ever tell anyone I have it. If my name or face are to be announced I'd rather refuse the money and live normally, that can only lead to bad shit.

well i'd let my folks retire and then retire myself :p. I would still complete my university degree, but would definitely take a break for a year to travel and explore, something i've always wanted to do.

quit university, quit my job, buy the most expensive car, the most expensive PC, and spend my life traveling around the world playing games on the PC and having fun.

I would also create a Battlefield 3 community of thousands of people whom I pay money to play the game right, on whatever server they're on.

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@MariachiMacabre said:

@murisan

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@murisan: One way trip.

But.. why?

Because then he'd be the man who launched himself into the sun for his own funeral. That's a pretty excellent way to go out.

The mental image of a casket with rockets en route to the sun is starting to motivate me to make it big.

@Masin said:

To start things off I would pay off all of my debt. And after the Air Force nullifies my contract (if you gain a certain amount of money, your contract with the military is terminated), pay off all of my wife and I's family debt. Buy a nice house and a few cars, blowing a couple of million you might say. Say half is taken for taxes, that leaves me with 200 million to play with (rounded down). so... after spending say, 25 million, I would put the other 175 million and collect interest, living off that for the rest of my life.

I would order 2 billion tacos on taco tuesday.

Find a field out in the country, though within reasonable driving distance of town. Have a decent sized house built there. Furnish it and everything, then put the remainder of the cash in a bank account. Live off the interest for the rest of my life.

This: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tourism

Stick it in the bank, live comfortably forever, never tell a soul.

@Icemo said:

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@MariachiMacabre said:

@murisan

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@murisan: One way trip.

But.. why?

Because then he'd be the man who launched himself into the sun for his own funeral. That's a pretty excellent way to go out.

The mental image of a casket with rockets en route to the sun is starting to motivate me to make it big.

This needs to be a thing. NOW.

I would worry less about money. /obviousness

Give a good amount to charity, keep it a secret, keep enough to buy a nice apartment for myself and to live comfortably for a while.

Do the one thing that I have always wanted to do...buy a SNES!

I'd pay off all my debts and all my family's debts. I'd pay off my parent's house and give them money to fix it up. And I'd buy them new cars if they wanted. I'd pay for my sister's college tuition. And my struggling Aunts and Uncles I'd help as well. Assuming that takes a couple million to pull off I'd still have around 200 million left. I'd move back to Chicago and live in a nice apartment with a regular cleaning service. I'd spend at least 50 million to fund my company. I'd probably spend maybe a couple hundred thousand on things like every video game and console ever, the best TV and computer money could buy, a smartphone and tablet, and other geeky odds and ends. I'd divide $100 million into various investments and accounts. With the final $50 million I'd probably give a portion to charity, and then use the rest to fund various projects in a venture capitalist manner.

Thats so much money you could spend 20,000 a day for 60 years. I don't think you have to worry about putting it in the bank to live off interest.

My brother won 7 bucks from that powerball. Livin' Large.

I'd purchase a trillion years worth of Giant Bomb yearly subscriptions.

Even with that money I still couldn't rent out the Staples Center.

Hide it all. Then create a series of clues and riddles, each more difficult than the last, that lead my intrepid treasure hunters all over the world. The first clue will be in my will...

Quit my job, finish college at a nicer college than I am currently at, get a job after graduating college while I invest/save most of my money while buying whatever I want (within reason) for the rest of my life and leave a large inheritance to my children. Weird right?

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

Thats so much money you could spend 20,000 a day for 60 years. I don't think you have to worry about putting it in the bank to live off interest.

Where the hell else are you going to keep it, under a mattress?

After taxes, I'd have about 210 million left? Well, I'd quit my job for a year, and get my bachelor's, then pay off all my loans at once while giving the biggest middle finger to my university (screw your interest rates!). That still leaves me with....a little less than 210 million.

Let's be straight, the first thing I'd do is put that money straight in the bank. None of this stock market/investment BS, who the hell cares, 210 million is enough for my great grandchildren to live comfortably. Then I'd probably take $10,000 and travel the US for a year, doing who knows what and visiting out of state friends. Maybe I'd make a vlog of myself doing so, then have little contests with cash prizes, essentially buying my way to internet fame.

I'd give my parents a house and 1 million dollars, that's all they'd want, then I'd keep their original house as my own, because why not? It's already paid for. Of course, I'd buy the best gaming PC money could buy and any game I'd want.

So after all of this, I'm probably down to....208 million dollars. Yeah, sounds about right. Then I'd go back to working a minimum wage or other low paying job that I like, as well as go to school and just get a bunch of degrees in everything that interested me. I could be a modern day renaissance man, and that would help with my new fandom. That's about all I can think of.

I'd hire Michael Caine to be my butler.

60% Holodeck research, 30% Replicator research, 9% Life, 1% Tacos. 

Still wouldn't have enough to rent the Staples Center...

Two chicks at the same time.

I have kind of a powerful distaste for exorbitantly rich people, and I'm honestly a little disgusted at the idea of becoming one. So yeah of the 200 million or so I'd get to keep, I would probably give away about 190 million of it. I'd use the remaining 10 million to buy a bunch of houses I could rent out and be an awesome landlord, finish the stuff on my bucket list that I can't afford to do, and maybe start a company that gives me something to feel proud of.

what i would do(in no particular order.)

1. buy a huge plot of land
2. build a big 1 story house w/ basement on said plot of land
3. make the basement into a huge man cave with everything i ever wanted
4. pay off family's debt
5. get a nice car
6. go to the next E3 (ive always wanted to go but never could)
7. invest the leftovers and live on that for the rest of my life

@Hizang said:

Pay Vinny to come sleep with me.

DAFUQ?!?!?!? you forgot ryan and jeff

I'd buy a hundred dollars worth of McDonalds. And other stuff, too.

Pay off my school loans and debts, finish off my parents and sisters mortgages, give portions to each of my nieces and nephews for college. After that...not sure. I'd live modestly with a moderately sized home in which there is plenty of space between houses so I don't have to put with neighbors. Ohh and I'd buy a drum kit!