Making the Internet My Accountability Partner

My family is the type to follow the lottery with mild interest. So when my mom mentioned that the lottery was upwards of $180,000,000 because no one won the previous night, we both thought it wouldn’t hurt to buy a ticket since we were out running errands anyway. Unsurprisingly, neither of us won. But it was nice to think, if I won the lottery what would I do with the money?

I like that this is an exercise in priorities not just of necessities but also wants. If I had somehow come into a relatively smaller sum, say $10,000, I would need to restrict myself to practicalities, what has the greatest impact on my necessities? With such an exorbitant amount I also have room to prioritize the luxuries that would bring me happiness.

First, I’d want to pay off my and my immediate family member’s debt. I know I personally have about 90k in debt between my student loans and my car loan. My mom also took out about 30k in Parent Plus Loans for my college education. (Can we also have a moment for how fucking expensive US higher education is.) I’d pay off the mortgage for my mom’s house and any outstanding car loans for immediate family members. I am not sure how much that would total but let’s estimate high and say after this (and of course after tax) I’d still be left with over $130 million.

I’d of course fill my emergency savings, not just to what I’m working towards now but even more to account for post-lottery lifestyle changes. I think I’d like to look into buying a house for myself. Which brings up some difficult questions. I love living in Boston but buying property is a terrible idea. It’s multiple millions of dollars for the most standard house simply because it has a Boston postcode. What will ultimately be more important for me is having space for my favorite interest, reading. I would be in absolute heaven to have a room in my future house dedicated to being a personal library, bonus points if one of the bookcases is a secret door to a cozy little reading room. This of course will mean I’ll wind up moving well out of the metropolitan area.

I’d also set up a savings fund for traveling. I plan to start with a cross-country road trip, eventually seeing all 50 US states, and at some point visiting each continent (excluding Antarctica) at least once, if not multiple times to see different countries. I know I’d still be working full-time. The sense of fulfillment from being in the field I’ve worked towards for so long is not something I’m ever going to give up on. But I may find myself taking some non-paid time off to focus on traveling a couple of times a year. I’d also set myself up for retirement, as much as I love what I do, I want there to be an end date for my working years.

After that though, all of my wants and needs will be met. I’ll still have my typical income for clothes, groceries, gas, etc. So I’d start donating to charities. Of course, major ones like Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, and the Trevor Project would receive donations, but I’d mostly focus on poverty relief efforts, particularly expanding access to safe, stable housing. Health in every sense of the word is impaired when someone doesn’t have access to their own address they can reliably return to every night. One person’s leftover lottery winnings aren’t going to fix homelessness, but it sure could make a dent.