I wouldn't bother with the address changing or hiding myself.
I'm more concerned about randos finding me and making my life hell than I am about my friends or family turning shitty. I've read plenty of stories about people getting bombarded with mail, phonecalls, and in-person visits. My overall tolerance for other people is low, and I would definitely max out pretty quickly.
Fortunately, New York permits winners to remain anonymous, so flying low shouldn't be that hard.
I'll point out that many of those shitheads who won and lost it all were in the same boat as you. "I'm smart and capable! I've got this!" And then the money breaks them.
I'm just hedging bets against myself, because while I think I could handle it, I also know my failings.
Even in a state where winners can't remain anonymous, there's a loophole. Form a trust, and have the lawyer representing the trust go and claim the winnings.
2. Figure out immediate family debts, pay them off.
3. Quit job, move closer to Rochester, to be closer to family.
4. Build an awesome home, integrating the best in green tech. House would have custom rooms for art, gaming/socializing, etc. Bathrooms would be tricked out.
5. New vehicles, replacing current ones. Sensible though. No Ferraris over here.
6. Make sure big chunks go into safe, long term financial investments so we can live as the idle wealthy.
7. Replacing stuff with higher quality stuff. PCs, TVs, clothing, etc. Not over the top, but just updating and replacing older stuff.
8. Travel. Hell, with that much, probably travel with family or friends.
9. Gifts to charities and political movements that are worthy causes.
7) Put about half ($300 million) of the remaining winnings into stable long-term diversified funds to beat inflation and profit gradually.
Serious question: is a third of a billion too much to just dump in e.g. Vanguard? Google finance says net assets for VFINX are about 27 billion. I don't know about index funds, but quickly putting 1.5% of a stock's market cap into it would make people go crazy, right?
You would have a huge implementation shortfall if your money purchased any stocks at once.
You'd more likely have a money manager to put the assets "under management." They'd maintain a diverse portfolio of several kinds of assets and handle that part for you.
7) Put about half ($300 million) of the remaining winnings into stable long-term diversified funds to beat inflation and profit gradually.
Serious question: is a third of a billion too much to just dump in e.g. Vanguard? Google finance says net assets for VFINX are about 27 billion. I don't know about index funds, but quickly putting 1.5% of a stock's market cap into it would make people go crazy, right?
You don't put that shit in just one fund. Diversification.
Also, it's not too much. If you dump a bunch of money into one stock/fund, you own it! Buy enough stock in a company, congratulations! It's now your company.
After giving it some more thought, I'd hire different artists I like for different sort of concept or cover albums. Like a folk punk all stars album of Woody Guthrie covers and stuff like that.
After giving it some more thought, I'd hire different artists I like for different sort of concept or cover albums. Like a folk punk all stars album of Woody Guthrie covers and stuff like that.
And now I want to see David Bowie and/or Bruce Springsteen rocking on the roof of Sweet JP's Transam as it roars down a road.
After giving it some more thought, I'd hire different artists I like for different sort of concept or cover albums. Like a folk punk all stars album of Woody Guthrie covers and stuff like that.
And now I want to see David Bowie and/or Bruce Springsteen rocking on the roof of Sweet JP's Transam as it roars down a road.
You don't put that shit in just one fund. Diversification.
Also, it's not too much. If you dump a bunch of money into one stock/fund, you own it! Buy enough stock in a company, congratulations! It's now your company.
For me, besides the standard of paying off my friend's debts and funding retirement for my parents, I have two different paths I would have to choose from.
First is the classic path of the Idle Rich.
1.) Buy a cool mansion (and of course outfit it with everything from a fancy media room to secret passageways). 2.) Get a Delorean and a black 1967 Chevy Impala. 3.) Travel the United States, then the world. 4.) Various charitable donations combined with passive aggressive dedication plaques that berate the people who should have funded the projects in the first place, rather than wait for a billionaire to bail them out. 5.) Great Gatsby style parties with cool people forever.
And the other option is that I contact Netflix, and fully fund a Netflix Original Series version of the Wheel of Time. The conditions include that Robert Jordan's wife and Brandon Sanderson come on as consultants, ensure that the show is staffed with people who are interested in seeing it done right, and of course, that it doesn't get cancelled and it gets to run all the way through to the end.
Yeah the actual conversion of it from Book to TV is part of "seeing it done right". I figure you could do it in half as many seasons as there are books. Books 7, 8, 9, and 10 could theoretically be done in one season. LOTS of extraneous characters could be combined - you only need a handful of different Aes Sedai, instead of introducing a different character in every scene.
I think it would be a cool challenge to try and make it fit the new format, while staying true to the spirit of the work.
There was a pilot episode that they tried last year, just so that the studio could keep the TV rights. It covered the prologue of the first book, and starred Billy Zane as Ba'alzamon/Ishamael. It was pretty bad.
1. Pay off my debts 2. Reasonable-sized house that I can afford, fill it with nice but not excessive things 3. Pay off parent's debt 4. Pay off other immediate family's debt 5. Set up immediate family for life of relative luxury, including nice healthcare and such 6. Invest in business space and employees and start a game studio 7. Pay off friend's debts 8. At this point, at least half of whatever's left is probably going to charity, the rest into several different bank accounts.
Tell no one except laywers for first year. Tell immediate family members with some sort of binding legal document within the next three years. Don't change lifestyle, continue to work hard, donate to charities, invest and never have to worry about money.
I would be fucking bored out of my mind if I stopped working for the rest of my life. Worst case, I just live my life making weird art-house games or something.
Comments
Fortunately, New York permits winners to remain anonymous, so flying low shouldn't be that hard.
I'll point out that many of those shitheads who won and lost it all were in the same boat as you. "I'm smart and capable! I've got this!" And then the money breaks them.
I'm just hedging bets against myself, because while I think I could handle it, I also know my failings.
EDIT: And I wouldn't scoof at taking amtrak to NYC to visit friends.
2. Figure out immediate family debts, pay them off.
3. Quit job, move closer to Rochester, to be closer to family.
4. Build an awesome home, integrating the best in green tech. House would have custom rooms for art, gaming/socializing, etc. Bathrooms would be tricked out.
5. New vehicles, replacing current ones. Sensible though. No Ferraris over here.
6. Make sure big chunks go into safe, long term financial investments so we can live as the idle wealthy.
7. Replacing stuff with higher quality stuff. PCs, TVs, clothing, etc. Not over the top, but just updating and replacing older stuff.
8. Travel. Hell, with that much, probably travel with family or friends.
9. Gifts to charities and political movements that are worthy causes.
10. Buy the rights to Sanctuary and republish it.
You'd more likely have a money manager to put the assets "under management." They'd maintain a diverse portfolio of several kinds of assets and handle that part for you.
Also, it's not too much. If you dump a bunch of money into one stock/fund, you own it! Buy enough stock in a company, congratulations! It's now your company.
Fuck, you can put your car on boat and avoid all the traffic.
You can have a fleet of rigid airships.
Want to see a concert? Hire the band to perform it there.
Want to see Hamilton? Fund a Hamilton production on the island.
And you're not going to own it, no matter what.
For me, besides the standard of paying off my friend's debts and funding retirement for my parents, I have two different paths I would have to choose from.
First is the classic path of the Idle Rich.
1.) Buy a cool mansion (and of course outfit it with everything from a fancy media room to secret passageways).
2.) Get a Delorean and a black 1967 Chevy Impala.
3.) Travel the United States, then the world.
4.) Various charitable donations combined with passive aggressive dedication plaques that berate the people who should have funded the projects in the first place, rather than wait for a billionaire to bail them out.
5.) Great Gatsby style parties with cool people forever.
And the other option is that I contact Netflix, and fully fund a Netflix Original Series version of the Wheel of Time. The conditions include that Robert Jordan's wife and Brandon Sanderson come on as consultants, ensure that the show is staffed with people who are interested in seeing it done right, and of course, that it doesn't get cancelled and it gets to run all the way through to the end.
I think it would be a cool challenge to try and make it fit the new format, while staying true to the spirit of the work.
There was a pilot episode that they tried last year, just so that the studio could keep the TV rights. It covered the prologue of the first book, and starred Billy Zane as Ba'alzamon/Ishamael. It was pretty bad.
2. Reasonable-sized house that I can afford, fill it with nice but not excessive things
3. Pay off parent's debt
4. Pay off other immediate family's debt
5. Set up immediate family for life of relative luxury, including nice healthcare and such
6. Invest in business space and employees and start a game studio
7. Pay off friend's debts
8. At this point, at least half of whatever's left is probably going to charity, the rest into several different bank accounts.