Conference quark::human_relations-v1

Isaac Asimov was once asked what he would do if he won $1,000,000. He 
replied that he would give it ALL to the IRS with the message
"There --- never bother me again!"

				Nigel

    I'd buy myself a mountain retreat -- probably a large Victorian
    house with garden and view -- near a small lake or river and
    invite all my artsy and writery friends to live with me so I could
    start a famous arts circle. . . 
    
    If you've been to the Saint-Gaudens house on the Connecticut
    river, you know the kind of thing I mean . . .
    
    --bonnie

Here's what somebody else is going to do with his millions:
    
    "Wozniak Venture to Sell its Assets" (NYT 7/28/88, PP:D4)

    CL9, the company founded by Steve Wozniak after he left Apple Computer,
    is negotiating the sale of its business, technology, and patents.  The
    main product, Core, can operate stereo television and other video
    equipment from a single remote control.  Sales of Core were slow
    because of lower-priced units from established manufacturers.  If the
    company is not sold by October 31, it will close its offices and move
    to a smaller facility, continuing sales.  Mr. Wozniak, who is no longer
    involved in the daily activities of CL9, plans to go into elementary
    school teaching. 

    
    	Re .2-
    
    You mean you would'nt buy a *dec* computer - even if you had Millions?
                                     
    	:') ;') :')

    I'd buy a small house that perfectly suited the piano my parents
    will give to me when they retire to their house in Maine (1906 mahogany
    6'10" Steinway practice concert grand *sigh!*).
    
    I'd buy some new clothes.

    I'd buy a Concepts II Ergonomic Rowing Machine.
        
    I'd buy a 35 mm camera, and a cd player.
    
    I'd pay off all my loans (both to the banks and my relatives).
    
    I'd buy lots of books (I could even afford to get some books in
    hardcover and not have to wait til they came out in paperback!)
    
    My father's always wanted to drive a Rolls.  My mother wants
    the house cleaned for her every week.
    

    -Jody
    

    If it were a mere million bucks, (achem!) I'd buy a motor home,
    travel around the United States for a long while.
    
    Next I'd have to invest, because a million bucks just ain't what
    it used to be.
    
    Pay bills and give to the family so they can pay theirs and have
    money to spare.
    
    If it were more than a million, I'd buy small homes in different
    areas of the country and one large, sprawling ranch-style home in
    either Wyoming, Montana, Colorado area.
    
    I'd quit dreaming and and do all these things instead of write about
    them...but it's always fun to dream!
    

    I'd pay off my mortgage on my current house and design and build
    a better place on a lot more land where I can't hear my neighbors'
    stereos and they can't see my ham antennas.  I'd pay off my
    sister-in-law's mortgage, and buy a place for and provide for a
    driver for my brother (who is blind).  Depending on how many millions
    the pot was, I imagine that Uncle Same (who always has his palm
    out...) would get the rest of it. $1M isn't all that much anymore,
    except to us working stiffs!
    
    Of course, *I* will never win a lottery, since I don't buy lottery
    tickets....  I figure them to be a voluntary tax that I don't have
    to pay.
    
    A friend of mine won $70K or so in a lottery.  She bought a big
    Lincoln Continental and a big diamond, and paid the rest of it to
    the IRS.  (Of course, that wasn't *millions*...don't know what she
    might have done if it were - I wouldn't want either of the things
    she did buy anyhow!)

    Invest it.  5% interest on a million is still $50,000, which is
    a tidy income.
    
    Buy some land and build a little house.  Pay off loans.
    
    I don't know if I'd quit.  I like my job, but I don't know how
    motivated I'd be if I were independently wealthy.  There are all
    these other things I'd like to do, too, and only so much time in
    a day, week, month, year.

    Always thinking positive...
    
    After the IRS takes out the lion's share, and I'll pay off my bills
    then...
    
    I'll treat my family to the clothes and vacation they deserve and
    continue working for DEC for at least one more year so
    I'll qualify for my retirement (one nevers knows how long money
    will last).  I shall invest in DEC stock plus check out the Japanese
    stock market and invest in reasonable amounts.  I want to donate a
    tidy sum to my college for both a daycare center and scholarships
    for single parents. Next, I shall publish my book.  After my final year
    and one hour at DEC, I shall either resign or take a leave of absence
    to return to college for a degree in Communications and Advertising.
    There will be a standing offer to help my children through college.
    A reasonable amount will be set aside to help anyone I know who
    may need it.  Any money I'm not sure about, I'll tuck away until
    there is a need.
  
    (Oooo!  This IS fun!)
    
    Barb
                                     

    
    I'd arrange to have a social life.
    
    Just what kind I'm not sure. 
    

    Another vote for investing, probably in bonds to provide a steady
    income.  Let's not forget that these state lotteries stretch their
    payments out over 20 years (or more), so that $1M is really on $50K
    per year.  I'd try to keep it quiet for a year or two, keep on working,
    let it build up in the bank, then raise a big stink and quit on
    some grand principle.
    
    Mostly I would live modestly....pay off brother and sister's student
    loans, and parents' mortgage....and ski whenever my heart so desires!!!
    
    

    Update on the "instant millionaires". all of your replies are
    interesting, but the initial amount that this lucky couple won is
    $15,000,000 not $1,000,000. There amount over a 20 year period is
    $750,000/yr. After taxes, it's roughly $562,000/yr (any way you
    smooth it out - it's more than I'll ever see!) Go for it! Be
    extravagant! Give Robin Leech's "Rich and Famous" a run for their
    money!
    
    Barb

    500K+ per year...after taxes...for 20 years?   lets see.  I'm 47,
    that's pretty good income until i'm *old*  (wait a min.  67 ain't
    old) 
    
    I'd put 100K per year in a retirement plan that will keep me in
    sneakers after the 20 years is up...and give up a little to my heirs
    (let 'em fight over it!!)
    
    With the other 400K (thats more than $1000 per DAY)!!  I'd buy a
    smallish (about 3000 sq ft) home in the Sierra mountains, nearthe
    tall trees and a lake and waterfalls.  I'd set up a nice ham station
    ( I was never able to do that)  and I'd pay off all my kids college
    expenses.  I'd buy a nice sailing boat (about 32 ft.) and keep it
    in San Francisco.  I'd finally learn to fly and have a light plane.
     Maybe  a four passenger.
    
    I'd entertain my friends, and share the *good* life with them. 
    but not ostentaciously.  Id go back to shcool and get a MBA (just
    cuz I *want* to).
    
    I'd send about 6 kids a year to college somewhere.
    
    I'd smile a lot!
    
    tony bean

    After the house and the arts community and the Apple -- I'd by an
    emerald the size of an egg and have it made into a custom-designed
    necklace.... 

    --bonnie

    Yeah, if we're talking gigabucks here, let's see...
    
    Lotus or Lamborghini...
    
    Faberge Imperial Eggs...
    
    Maxfield Parrish original art...
       (particularly Stars, Daybreak, Enchantment)
    
    A crystal chandelier...in a house decorated entirely in Art Deco
    
    -Jody
    
    

I'd join Bonnie's community, and put the money in a revolving loan trust
for helping people own their own homes.

Jim

    There would probably be enough to endow a scholarship fund to help
    students finish high school and go to college, too. 
    
    --bonnie 

       
       
       	Take a leave of absence.. About 6-9 months or so.. I'd splurg a
       little on my family, buy my Mom a BIG home in Ireland and another
       here, build myself a nice home up in the woods with an airfield and
       a 4 car garage with full workshop and invest the rest.. Oh yea, I'd
       get a nice sailboat and a plane.. Then I'd come back to DEC cuz I'd
       be SOOOOOOO far behind in Notesfiles!! hahaha  I'd probably go back
       to school too.. But I would come back here.. I'd be bored and I
       NEED the challenge DEC can offer me..
       
       	Ah yes, I'd spoil my sister and her new son rotten.. I'd build her
       a house and get her a Mercedes 450SL or a Nissan Pathfinder.. :-)
       Maybe both.. :-)  Needless to say, if I won it all, my family would
       share in everything..
       
       						mike

    A few dedicated souls stated that they would either stay on with
    DEC after taking a leave of absence or waiting another year to fully
    vest their pension. I don't think I could do that. I'd probably
    get calls from everyone in the area, wondering why I'm sitting here
    with $500,000 in income coming in every year. I'll bet that the
    interest per year alone would be more than my pension would be.
    
    My first week off would be going over house plans - "California
    Contempory" to be built in the area I live in (Harrisburg, PA).
    Then I'd purchase a summer home at the shore (Ocean City, MD or
    Hilton Head, S.C.) Rent a nice apartment in Manhattan, and spend
    the entire year living house hopping (of course each residence would
    be furnished beautifully.) 
    
    I'd pay off my mother's house, pad her bank account, and send her
    and my stepfather anywhere in the world they fancy - and every year
    thereafter. After the novelty wore off, I'd settle down and go to
    graduate school (I plan on doing that anyway in January.)
    
    barb

    I know this is going to sound a bit melodramatic, but it's true.
     The first thing I would do after my meeting with a financial advisor
    would be to donate some of it to certain charities.  Maybe to "Make
    A Wish" for kids who are terminally ill or to Mother Theresa and
    the black woman in Harlem who takes care of babies born of drug
    addicted mothers, maybe build a shelter for homeless kids and/or
    battered woman.  You get the picture so enough of this tear-jerking
    stuff!!
    
    After that, I would LIVE IT UP to the max!!  Travel to any exotic
    place in the world that strikes me, buy a big yacht and throw a
    HUGE party for all my friends, like Barbara, I would have homes
    in several different parts of the world.  I would invest, invest
    and invest to make sure the money kept coming in.  I would set up
    my own business and one for my SO (he's a professional photographer)
    maybe we would sell the pictures he would take of all the exotic
    places we would visit.  I would no longer have to worry about my
    son's college tuition (he'll be a senior in high school this fall
    and would like to try to get into an Ivy League school so that would
    take care of a bulk of the money!!!).  I would definately take care
    of all my friends and family (and please I know who those people
    are so don't try to pretend you are one of my long-lost relatives!!!).
    The list could go on and on, but one thing is "fur shure", I would
    (in the infamous words of some country rock singer whose name escapes
    me know) tell Dec to "take this job and.....................!
    
    Adrienne (As in Rocky and)

    
    I'd have a Cheoy Lee Offshore 47, a slip in Santa Cruz, and miles
    of open water leading to ??? 
    
    Seriously, I'd take the leave of absence and do some serious cruising
    in the Timor, Celebes, and Sulu Seas... Then I'd come back and become
    a SF building owner...
    

    
    I would buy bunches of people that care, and love me.
    
    Ed.

    First I would let my daughter go back to school to become a
    Veterinarian, pay off all her current student loans, and set her
    up in business.  I would buy my son a tractor trailor truck and
    set him up in business. Then I would set up a scholarship fund for
    my relatives, I have over 65 first cousins on my mothers side alone,
    to insure that any one who wanted to go to school could afford to
    do so. With the rest I would build my dream house and invest for
    my and my childrens future. 

    
    you could try to make the world a better place for yourself,
    your family, your friends....and if there is more left after that
    you can start making it a better place for strangers...
    
    you could buy a large apartment complex and open it up just
    to artists and musicians at a real cheap rate so they can
    afford to live and practice their art....
    
    you could buy an island and invite only people you can really
    trust and start your own truly free and truly democratic
    country....