June 14 - a million dollars

[BradRamFan]

Costa Rica has gotten much more expensive over the years. My dad retired from the military down there. I spent 3 weeks down there an had a blast. But now people are retiring to Nicaragua from what I understand...well at least according to Yahoo...lol.

[BradRamFan]

I guess you could get Blaine Taylor a lifetime supply of hair-dye and unlimited tanning sessions if he relapsed back into that awesome mid-life crisis he had auditioning for a BCS job before ultimately finding no takers.

Sounds like a fair deal as long as he doesn't want to start living like a rock star

[Sir Duke]

"Ninety percent I'll spend on good times, women, and Irish Whiskey. The other ten percent I'll probably waste."

-Tug McGraw

[enonram]

Some funny comments above, but I really struggled with this answer. The guideline I have always used for my earnings is to give 10% of the gross (which goes to the church I attend), save 10%, and live off the other 80%. I usually fall short on the saving end of this equation.

The reason for this struggle is I looked at the million as something I received like a gift or prize instead of something I earned.

I would still give 10% to the church I attend, but I wonder if such a gift would actually hurt its ministry. I believe there is a blessing attached to giving when it hurts and trusting God to bless what was given through our labor when it could have been selfishly spent on us. Others might not feel so inclined to give, miss out on their personal blessing by not giving, when many of the needs of the church would be met with this donation.

I have two special needs children that we receive financial help from the Scottish Rite foundation towards their treatment – treatment we couldn’t afford without their help. I would certainly pay back everything they’ve provided financially plus 100 times.

I would certainly find some other way to give all the rest away. I have grown tremendously spiritually in learning to trust God for my provision. Over 50 years, He has always provided for my family’s needs. I’m afraid if I didn’t give the money away, I would start trusting in the money for my needs more so than God. That is not where I want to be. This is where the struggle is, because there is a part of me that would want to pay off the house, spoil my wife, set aside money for the kids’ college, and provide for my retirement. Where is faith in God and trusting in Him to meet those needs in keeping money back?

Some may argue that maybe the $1M is God’s way of rewarding my faithfulness. If so, how much more will He reward me for being faithful in giving away what wasn’t earned?

[Gmu_Crew_Econ]

Way to ruin the thread, Falwell. If someone put a million in my account today, I'd save it all and then spend the $10MM it would become later in life on a beach house and massive amounts of pot.

[ramnation]

I would use it to buy non-stop commercials for VCU during the C-USA tournament games in El-Paso, Texas next year. Maybe a couple dozen ODU fans will be going and the rest would have to deal with watching repeated highlights from VCU's games with ODU and the NCAA tournament last year during every break in play.

[bravesfan]

I'd pay for a government lobbyist to convince our overlords to allow half of my federal income taxes be reserved for non-profits of my choice since they are better at not f*cking things up when it comes to money.

I'd give 10% of it to non-profits.

I'd pay a photographer to take a picture of me wiping my ass with a fresh hundy.

Then I'd buy a beach house on the outer banks far enough away from tourists.

[Samnang]

This topic really seems to be taking off. Let's keep running with it today. Enon, way to keep it real. It's easy to talk about buying hookers and paying dwarfs to entertain you, but paying it forward is a nice gesture. I will root for you in future lotteries.

Keep the good ideas coming.

[smudge12]

I'd buy a small plot of land and build a container home, and I'd also get a motorcycle and a track car.

I really have no idea what to do with the rest, but saving the money seems boring...I can just use my regular salary to pay bills, give to charity, and save. So with the rest of the million, I'd splurge it on traveling, sports, hobbies, drinking, schooling (a PhD in Astronomy would be cool), and other fun stuff until it's all used up.

But in reality, I think it's wise to give it to the lawyer that sent me an email on my AOL account which stated that if I gave him money, he'll release $10,000,000 to my overseas bank account because my great Nigerian second-aunt just died and left me money since she was the grand priestess of the Zamfara tribe.

[PhilaMonarchFan]

Smudge, as cool as that all sounds, I just have this sense about you that you might be more inclined to do something along the lines of enonram.

Me? I'm currently struggling with a similar question, but on a far, far smaller scale. Enonram's post has resonated with me. My personal debt could be reduced significantly but there are others with needs far greater than mine.

Thanks enonram for your post and thank YOU Samnang for such a thought provoking topic. I guess we all flirt with it whenever the Powerball reaches a hundred zillion dollars.