What would you do if you won the lottery?

Maurice Burns

A-Team Member

The first thing I would do if I were lucky enough to have that much money fall onto my lap would be to hire a financial advisor. Far too many lottery winners have gone back to being broke after a few short years of their winning their prize, so I would make sure my financial advisor kept me from making the same mistake. I would also invest a large chunk of the money in gold and hire someone to bury it in several secure locations to stabilize my wealth in the event of a financial crisis or something similar.

After making sure my wealth was secure, I'd of course do some frivolous spending. I'd start with buying custom fit scorpion jackets, like the one worn by Ryan Gosling in the movie "Drive," in a different color for every day of the week. I'd also buy a pet white tiger and an exotic area to display him. Finally, the Jedi bathrobe I saw on thisiswhyimbroke.com, along with the super realistic light sabers they sell there as well. Along with those trivial objects, I would also purchase a home where I can keep my purchases, as well as another more modest home, in a remote location, where I could enjoy ultimate privacy and the time and freedom that would come with the money I earned from winning the lottery.

On top of spending my time in solitude at my vacation home, I would also spend it helping my mom start a gift-wrapping business. My mom can wrap a gift more beautifully than Santa's[Claus] most trusted elf and has long wanted to start a business of her but hasn't had the means to do it. I would definitely use the rest of my time and earnings to help her accomplish her dreams because she's spent so much time helping me try to accomplish mine.

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Madison Boemecke Burns

A-Team Member

I have never bought a lottery ticket or even a scratch-off in all the 21 years I've been alive. I'm just not much of a lucky person. The odds are most likely not in my favor. However, if for some reason I were to buy a lotto ticket and end up winning the jackpot, I would consider myself the luckiest girl in the world.

I would like to say I would donate all the money to my favorite charity, but that's easier said than done. There is no doubt in my mind that I would donate a good portion of my winnings to the Women's Safe House in Cape Girardeau, considering that's Alpha Chi Omega's philanthropy, but I would have to save some of it.

First things first, I'd pay my student loans. Being a college junior, I know these loans tend to sneak up on people quite fast, so I would definitely rid myself of all the pressure and agony loans bring college graduates and pay all of them ASAP.

Next, I would travel. Traveling across the world has always been on my bucket list. Italy, Brazil, Australia, India, New Zealand, etc. -- the list goes on. I would take two or three years just to live on my own traveling to wherever I pleased.

Honestly, my shopping addiction would probably be the death of me. I could definitely see myself spending most of the money on dumb things like my own personal yacht and then end up broke and selling everything back. I wouldn't be surprised at all.

Winning the lottery would be awesome and just thinking about all the fancy purchases makes me a little excited, so maybe one day I'll be courageous enough to buy a lottery ticket and maybe even lucky enough to win. Fingers crossed.

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Alex Frisby

A-Team Member

As a college student who is seriously concerned with money, winning the lottery seems like a dream.

I've never seen that kind of money, and I honestly wouldn't know what to do with myself if it was sat in my lap. I do, however, have a use for millions of dollars, so I know exactly what I would do with it.

I would first pay off my loans from the past three years of school. This would insure that I don't have to worry about paying Southeast back after graduation.

My next step would be going to my parents. They have given me so much help over the past 20 years of my life, and I literally owe them my life.

First, I would give them enough money to pay back their debt so they could enjoy a debt-free life. Next, I would give them back any money they have spent on my wedding thus far and assure them that I would be paying the tab for the remaining expenses.

Speaking of weddings, I would also immediately book a trip for my future husband and me to enjoy a week in St. Lucia on our honeymoon. Along with that I would book a trip for my parents and his parents to the place of their choice.

After a little paying back and fun for the people I love, I would begin giving back to some of my favorite organizations, charities and my church.

I feel like my answer to this is pretty boring and lame compared to what some people might do, but I have always taken pride in the fact that I can manage my money relatively well. I wouldn't want to go and blow it all, but rather spend it wisely, pay back debts and invest it while I can. The money I save now helps me and my future family out in the future.

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Agathe Pompon

A-Team Member

Having the opportunity to become rich just by selecting numbers is great. Even though there is a greater chance for someone to be struck by lightning than to actually win the lottery, it didn't prevent me from playing every week for two years when I was living in France. I actually started believing so much that I would win that I was also scared of lightning (that is some twisted logic I know). It is impossible for me to summarize in only 300 words what I would do if I won the lottery. I have had a long time to come up with the perfect plan and it is very detailed. I know how I would spend each of these dollars.

First of all, there is an important factor that plays into the plan of action: how much money the lottery is. Every week I was playing for a different amount and I was adapting my plan depending on how much it was. I should have come up with a plan in percentages that would be easily adaptable for any amount. Next time I play I'll do that. And then, should I tell anybody? I wanted to keep it secret, but I also wanted to spoil my family so I put in place a strategy where I invent fake promotional draws to promote a fictitious company and my family would always win the big prizes, like a car or a house. I wouldn't want to just give money to my little brother and then have him become even lazier than he is now.

I would give some to charities or create my own. I would buy houses in different places. I could divide the rest of the money by my expected life span, which would give a specific amount to live on each week. That would mean I wouldn't have to work for the rest of my life. But I would probably get bored doing nothing, so I have different business plans already prepared. And if they work out I could maybe become the next Bill Gates! If I become a billionaire I would financially help people who have new innovative ideas. That is, of course, if winning doesn't drive me completely insane because of too much emotion at once. But I don't think so because I trained myself for that moment many times in my head, and I'm ready.

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Daniel Eckert

A-Team Member

Winning the lottery is a tall order, but if it ever did happen to me I know exactly what I would do with it. I would start to save it, maybe invest a bit into something. The rest I would use to travel the world for however long I wanted to.

I've always wanted to travel the world, but it's not a very feasible dream these days. That's OK, but if I won the lottery things would be very different. I would travel as much as possible to see as many places as I could. There are so many countries and just general landscapes that I would love to see.

I want to travel to all of the Scandinavian countries, to Japan, to all of Europe's countries, to Australia and every other country there is. I want to see the Amazon, vast deserts and quaint little villages on seaside cliffs. I want to see towering buildings and ruins from thousands of years ago.

People like to say that money can't buy happiness, and I agree. Money definitely helps me get to the places that make me happy, though, and that's something really wonderful.

I've had friends who have traveled through the United Kingdom and all across Japan. I'm jealous of them, but those friends are my proof that traveling can be one of the best things to do in your life. I've seen my friends learn so much about culture and about themselves that I want in on that, too.

While I may not ever win the jackpot of the lottery, I do plan to try and do some studying abroad. If I can't travel the world completely, I'll settle for just a small part of it.