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One BILLION dollars

Ginpanther

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Ginpanther Newbie

Ginpanther

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I've read on the news that nobody hit the PowerBall drawing on Saturday the 9th, so the pot has rolled over again and has passed the one billion USD mark. I don't know if this is lottery history, but it has to be damn close. I imagine that when it does finally hit there'll be several winners who had the magic numbers, but can you imagine how absolutely ridiculous it would be (even after taxes) if you were the sole winner? I'd love to prove that I can be a disgustingly cliche example of nouveau riche.

OneBillionDollars_DrEvil.jpg

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Ginpanther Newbie

Ginpanther

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@Saxon Roughly summarized, it's from an 80s movie starring comedian Richard Pryor. Protagonist character has an unknown rich relative who passes away and bequeaths him $300 million... but a clause in the will states that in order to inherit the entire amount, he has to spend $30 million in 30 days. There is, of course, a complicated set of rules that prevents him from just donating it all or having any net-new assets when the clock hits zero. It's a fun romp.

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Rassah Newbie

Rassah

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Buy Bitcoin :D

I would probably buy myself a Aeroscraft Yach, but, honestly, I can't think of anything I would want to buy for that amount of money. That amount isn't even spending money, but managing money, where you can use it to manage and control a sizeable chunk of the economy by investing in businesses that make more of it for you. So I think having a billion, without doing something stupid that'll cause you to lose it all in 5 years, would by itself be a full time job.

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Snagged Newbie

Snagged

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I'd get myself and closest relatives a nice house and a car, donate some for them, keep around 10 million and hire a damn good lawyer

What will I do with the rest? Hmm, probably invest them into small businesses, donate and fund research projects

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Rassah Newbie

Rassah

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The thing that really scares me is even investing that money in businesses can cause unforseen issues. What if I invest in a business I think is good, but that gives this business a very unfair competitive advantage over other businesses, and drives some much better business with a much better product into bankruptcy?

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Crazy Lee Newbie

Crazy Lee

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I'd be afraid of having that much money. Either I'd do what a lot of idiots do, and blow all of it right away buying everything and doing everything, and 10 years later be broke. Or I'd become lazy and never work again, and never do anything ever again, or be useful in any way. Or half the money would just sit there because I'd have no idea what to do with it. But, I wouldn't have any problems with money ever again.

If I'm smart I'd take the money, invest it into something with returns, so I'd always have a little money coming in. Take some of the money and start some kind of small foundation that would also invest the money so there would always be money coming in, and then I'd use the foundation to donate to things I cared about. Even after I was dead I'd write it into the charter what exactly the money should go towards. And I'd make sure I'd get enough coming my way I could pay my bills and buy nice things.
 

4 hours ago, Rassah said:

The thing that really scares me is even investing that money in businesses can cause unforseen issues. What if I invest in a business I think is good, but that gives this business a very unfair competitive advantage over other businesses, and drives some much better business with a much better product into bankruptcy?

Isn't that the part of investing. There's risk? You might invest in a business, it goes out of business later. Or it doesn't succeed. It's just a part of investing, taking that risk. A large percentage of venture capital businesses don't succeed, it's just part of how it works.

I don't see why you couldn't change your mind and just invest in the other company later on.

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Rassah Newbie

Rassah

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I don't mean risking losing money from investing.. For example, say there's a more established but struggling business that makes very efficient engines, and another smaller business startup that makes completely innovative engines that run practically on water. But these startup engines are a tad more expensive, and just barely compete with the other struggling business.

Now here I come in, and invest my $200mil into the efficient engines business, effectively bailing then out. Now the water business, which was expecting the business I picked to fold, can't compete. And the world is denied water powered engines.

Governments do this all the time when they subsidize businesses and technologies.

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Crazy Lee Newbie

Crazy Lee

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16 minutes ago, Rassah said:

Now here I come in, and invest my $200mil into the efficient engines business, effectively bailing then out. Now the water business, which was expecting the business I picked to fold, can't compete. And the world is denied water powered engines.

Governments do this all the time when they subsidize businesses and technologies.

But don't private people do this all the time as well if they invest in something, then something better comes along, or the thing they invest in fails? It's part of the risk. You invest in something, something better comes along, but that second thing fails because the first thing pushes it out of the market. Welcome to how things work. It sucks but it happens. Do your homework better.

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LazerMaster5 Newbie

LazerMaster5

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With a billion dollars, I would build a house where half of it is a huge, multileveled garage. I would also have my own private racetrack for track meets or just driving fast cars. And don't forget a room made solely for PC gaming, with 4k monitors and a mega rig with top of the line components. Add a small theater and a premium sound system wired through the whole place, and you get my ultimate place. I would even find a way to legally import a Land Rover Defender.

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Rassah Newbie

Rassah

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2 hours ago, Crazy Lee said:

But don't private people do this all the time as well if they invest in something, then something better comes along, or the thing they invest in fails? It's part of the risk. You invest in something, something better comes along, but that second thing fails because the first thing pushes it out of the market. Welcome to how things work. It sucks but it happens. Do your homework better.

Generally private people invest smaller amounts, and you're right, they do their homework. They have a lot of experience understanding this and knowing how to do their homework, because that's how they got so much money in the first place. Someone who just ends up winning that in a lottery is what worries me.

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Sidewalk Surfboard Apprentice

Sidewalk Surfboard

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If I had one billion, I would buy my mom and sister whatever house they wanted. Then, I would donate a bit to a few charities of my choice. Third, I'd fly to Florida and take a tour of Creative Engineering, and give Aaron Fechter some of it, because he needs it. I'm not sure what I would do with the rest. I guess I'd be able to buy a lot of shit :V

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Käpt'n Newbie

Käpt'n

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To give a more elaborate answer than just a picture:
I would probably buy a house in the city (because fuck gardens, I'm too lazy for that shit) with one big room that I'd use as a photostudio. Not for commercial use, just for dumps and chuckles. Like a hobby room. I'd also upgrade my camera equipment. No more used gear for me!

And then I'd travel a little. Taking photos at all the amazing places of the world.

But I'd probably donate most of the money, as the image above implies. Saving lemurs from extinction would cost less than 10 million dollars (mainly to stop deforestation). But there are other charities that I'd support.

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DrDingo Newbie

DrDingo

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If I got a billion quid for free.. it would really mess up my ideas of what my life should be.

My life objectives are to study at uni and get a job so I can earn a good amount of money. But what happens when I don't need the money? What do I contribute to the world then? If I don't need a high-paying job, what incentive is there to learn a skill and keep myself occupied through the years?

I dunno, it could do bad things to me. What if it made me laze around all my life and never accomplish anything because everything is in my lap already, causing me to feel as though I have no place in society and die an untimely death due to a lack of things to keep me focused and motivated?

 

I'd still go and get my qualifications. Maybe I'd start a business with the money, or work on a big project.

I might pick up my guitar again, learn to draw.. something, anything, to keep my life busy.

Edited by DrDingo
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Rassah Newbie

Rassah

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That stupid-rich friend of mine I mentioned before, who used to be a global financial and economic advisor to billionaires and decabillionaires, who since quit and went full time into Bitcoin startups, actually posted his advice for what to do with that type of money for free: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10100356779812377&id=18602678

If you do ein i tsomehow, I hope you follow it. This guy is the only one with education and experience of anyone I know to actually know what he's talking about when it comes to that amount of money.

On a side note, when I hear people say

11 hours ago, DrDingo said:

My life objectives are to study at uni and get a job so I can earn a good amount of money. 

it makes me sad and really pissed at our society and public education for convincing everyone of this.

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AlastairSnowpaw Newbie

AlastairSnowpaw

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well considering it's the lottery there is going to be one hell of a tax on that money. You may not even get half of it.

Also these what if scenarios are the reason why so many people throw away their money to the lottery. One of my bonuses at work was free lottery tickets and that showed me how rediculous of a rip off the lottery is and how much of a waste of money it is.

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DrDingo Newbie

DrDingo

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11 hours ago, Rassah said:

it makes me sad and really pissed at our society and public education for convincing everyone of this.

Aside from money, there are so many other incentives for University.

- Whilst at uni, you can experience things within the subject area and decide on a career that really interests you.

-University in itself is a pretty valuable experience which teaches you workplace skills, even if you go off into a different area of work afterwards.

-It's a really interesting time in anyone's life. It teaches people how to better socialise, manage living space and feed themselves.

- You have a wide choice of jobs at the end which will make you really happy. Because you enjoy doing them.

I don't know whereabouts you live. But in the UK, this list is pretty accurate. 

 

This thread has made me realise I don't want loads of cash. I just want to be happy doing what I do. Because otherwise, what's the point?

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Sarcastic Coffeecup Newbie

Sarcastic Coffeecup

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8 hours ago, AlastairSnowpaw said:

well considering it's the lottery there is going to be one hell of a tax on that money. You may not even get half of it.

Also these what if scenarios are the reason why so many people throw away their money to the lottery. One of my bonuses at work was free lottery tickets and that showed me how rediculous of a rip off the lottery is and how much of a waste of money it is.

'tis a lousy bonus until you suddenly win something.

And even if you wouldn't get the entire pot money to yourself it's still a whole lot of cold hard dosh

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Rassah Newbie

Rassah

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7 hours ago, DrDingo said:

Aside from money, there are so many other incentives for University.

- Whilst at uni, you can experience things within the subject area and decide on a career that really interests you.

People change their careers once or twice throughout their lives. Successful people don't even have career. They do many different things at the same time. And it's easier, cheaper, and more accurate to pick a career from actually trying different types of work instead of just learning about it, cause what you learn isn't always like what the actual job will be.

7 hours ago, DrDingo said:

-University in itself is a pretty valuable experience which teaches you workplace skills, even if you go off into a different area of work afterwards.

I don't know about UK, but in US our university education involves sitting in a classroom, listening to the professor, taking notes, and passing exams. You get knowledge of some topics which you can apply at work, but no actual workplace skills. Not unless you go to a management or business school or something.

7 hours ago, DrDingo said:

-It's a really interesting time in anyone's life. It teaches people how to better socialise, manage living space and feed themselves.

Not really, since you usually don't pay for housing or food while there. Here your housing and cafeteria are covered by your student loan, and most students don't work to support themselves. The socializing is almost useless, too, since you spend 4 years building a network of people, only to have them all move away and the network become useless after you graduate. You get better socializing skills and network from working or interning.

7 hours ago, DrDingo said:

- You have a wide choice of jobs at the end which will make you really happy. Because you enjoy doing them.

How many people are actually happy at their jobs? I would guess almost none. And you'll be competing against tens of others out there who, like you, have a degree, and no work experience.

But that "choice of jobs" is the thing that bothers me most. Most people want to be given a job. Why doesn't anyone want to own a job? Make one themselves? Own a business? That's how you end up doing what you like and become successful.

 

Saying all that, I do believe that a university education is important. After you try out different things and decide on your career (hopefully by doing various jobs instead of wasting b thousands of dollars on classes), it's good to go to a university to learn your chosen field in debth. But not for the goal of getting a job or a raise out of it. Learn it so you can be good at it, and do it yourself, or with a team.

7 hours ago, DrDingo said:

This thread has made me realise I don't want loads of cash. I just want to be happy doing what I do. Because otherwise, what's the point?

I would say, "but loads of cash would make it easier to be happy, and easier to do what you want to do," but that's not entirely true. If you don't know how to manage your loads of cash, it will make you miserable, and soon much worse off than you were before. What do people with loads of money who don't understand it fear most? Losing money. I feel sorry for whoever wins this thing.

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DrDingo Newbie

DrDingo

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@Rassah

Loads of university courses, including the Computer Science course I'm going to be doing, involve a year of industry placement before the final year, wherein you can choose to spend your time with one of a number of different companies (and be paid for it). When I go out into the world, I'll have a good taste of what it's like already, and, a better idea as to which sort of area I want to work in. Along the way, you can choose different modules to specialise and focus your abilities.

The final year involves the creation of.. something. You can make a program to do or control pretty much anything you want, from apps to robots to controlling your home's thermostat or whatever interests you the most.

It's said that for every Computer Science graduate in the UK right now, there are 6 jobs available. The government has been pushing all sorts of schemes to get people into it.

I can safely say that the career path I go down will make me happy because I get to choose what it is.

 

EDIT: Shit sorry, this started out as a thread about winning the lottery. If it's of any relevance, if I won the lottery I'd still very much want to do all this stuff. Because it would make me knowledgeable, capable and feel more fulfilled.

Edited by DrDingo
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Rassah Newbie

Rassah

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8 hours ago, DrDingo said:

@Rassah

Loads of university courses, including the Computer Science course I'm going to be doing, involve a year of industry placement before the final year, wherein you can choose to spend your time with one of a number of different companies (and be paid for it). 

That's very different from most univeversity programs here. Similar options exist, but they're exceedingly rare. Some companies in Silicon Valley have actually started denying applicants with degrees, literally saying "Why did you waste 4 years on his shit instead of actually working and learning to code?" When I hire people at my company, I don't even look at the degree, really. Just their experience, prior code examples, and then give them between a month and three months of trial for a reduced pay to allow them to prove themselves. Their degree tells me nothing about how well they can process logic and algorithms in their head, how good they are at solving problems, how good their risk assessment skills are, how good their self time management skills are, and how well they work in a team. Which is unfortunate, considering they may have spent as much as $60,000 for that degree, and may now be desperate and extra stressed out about having to repay that debt. I'd rather have my devs have as few stresses as possible.

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The final year involves the creation of.. something. You can make a program to do or control pretty much anything you want, from apps to robots to controlling your home's thermostat or whatever interests you the most.

You can do the same thing for free, by going on github, finding an open source project, and contributing to it. And not only will it not cost you whatever you pay for class, and be easier since you don't have to come up with a brand new idea from scratch, but you'll be contributing actually useful code that will keep being used, and then you can actually apply to the company that oversees that code, with proof that you know what they're doing, you know how to contribute, and you can start right away. Actually one of my guys was hired like that too, and straight into a senior position.

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It's said that for every Computer Science graduate in the UK right now, there are 6 jobs available.

I don't know if this is said there too, but programming doesn't require you to be anywhere physically, and you are actually competing with employees from the whole world. So even if 6 jobs are available, 5 or 6 of those can be filled with people not actually in UK. E.g. my company is based in Cyprus, but our people are from US, Canada, Chile, UK, Germany, Austria, and Russia. And some of them work for much less than what the typically promised salary is, since they live in much lower cost of living areas.

But, yes, software developers are still in HUGE demand. Just set your expectations appropriately.

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I can safely say that the career path I go down will make me happy because I get to choose what it is.

Programming is so wide though! You may end up being stuck developing some boring project that doesn't do much or doesn't go anywhere. You may get stuck working in a field you have no overall interest in (e.g. some statistical analysis for social studies or something really mundane). You may get stuck doing what you want, but working for a total asshole. Point is, you might get stuck. Especially if it's a high paying job where you become dependent on the income (don't get stuck having to pay too high of rent or mortgage, or getting too deep in bad debt!), or depend on job benefits, or you're limiting yourself to physical presence jobs, and are stuck in an area with too little work. So, I do hope you'll find something you'll be happy with, but it's still best to be more entrepreneurial about it, working for startups, focusing on developing your own reputation and skills in the field OVER focusing just being loyal to one company, and developing other skills on the side that will allow you to diversify your income.

Quote

EDIT: Shit sorry, this started out as a thread about winning the lottery. If it's of any relevance, if I won the lottery I'd still very much want to do all this stuff. Because it would make me knowledgeable, capable and feel more fulfilled.

Yeah, sorry for the derail too. I like giving advice, especially when it's actually in the field I'm in already. And this whole thing does kind of fit into the OP.

Most people learn studdy hard, get a degree, get a good paying job. That's the full extent of their financial education. So when they win a lottery, all they know is that they don't need to have a good job to make money, since now they have lots of money. Which also means they no longer need to study hard.

But the problem is that having lots of money is itself a job, and requires a lot of study to learn about finances and business, so they can manage that money properly. That's why there's such a thing as the lottery curse. People win millions, and a few years later find themselves in worse situation and worse debt than before they won.

We even had a thread on this on FAF, about what people would do if they hypothetically won the lottery, and most people had no really good answers, mostly saying they'd pay off debts, or spend it on houses, cars, and other usually wasteful depreciating assets, which only exhausts their money and settles them with more problems. And that's what worries me about whoever wins this one.

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Vallium Newbie

Vallium

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On 1/11/2016 at 4:09 AM, Sidewalk Surfboard said:

If I had one billion, I would buy my mom and sister whatever house they wanted. Then, I would donate a bit to a few charities of my choice. Third, I'd fly to Florida and take a tour of Creative Engineering, and give Aaron Fechter some of it, because he needs it. I'm not sure what I would do with the rest. I guess I'd be able to buy a lot of shit :V

Thats in Florida? And all this time I didnt know an animatronics company from the 80's was based in my state. Huh.

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Pignog Newbie

Pignog

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i have no idea. i guess id quit my job and focus full-time on drawing comics and animation? gather all my art friends together to work in an animation studio and create good shit?

it's such an absurd amount of money for one individual to have i guess id figure out what i needed to live how im living now til like 100, then figure out the best way to have the rest do the most good.

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AlastairSnowpaw Newbie

AlastairSnowpaw

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7 hours ago, Sarcastic Coffeecup said:

'tis a lousy bonus until you suddenly win something.

And even if you wouldn't get the entire pot money to yourself it's still a whole lot of cold hard dosh

Yea it was pretty weak. even though one time i won $100 and another time won $200 and a whole bunch of other small 10 dollar winnings and stuff. I would have still most likely spent more than I won if i had to buy each of those tickets i got.

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NotSuspicious_ Newbie

NotSuspicious_

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I know exactly what I'd do:

Put it all in a savings account. Even if it's only 0.05% interest, It'll still accumulate 500,000,000 dollars a year, which is more than enough to live off of (Unless my rudimentary knowledge of savings accounts is incorrect)

Then enjoy my life of not working and focus on things like drawing/ playing music

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