What would you do with your billion?

Oh to dream but honestly what would you do with a billion dollars?  According to the Powerball web site, the jackpot for tonight is 1.5 billion dollars with a cash value of $930 million.  Not too shabby. The chances of winning are 1 in 292 million which means you have a better chance of being hit by lightning.  Why not tempt fate…seriously, imagine a billion.  You would be swimming with the big boys like Mark Cuban or Laurie Grenier.

For me, I would find it a bit excessive to win that kind of cash and I know that long lost relatives would suddenly emerge with sob stories about why they deserve a million or three.

So here is what I would do:

I would immediately head to the airport with my closest family and friends that are family.  I would charter a plane and head to a remote island like Necker Island.  Yes Richard Branson’s Necker Island because I could.  Maybe I would even buy Necker Island if Branson was selling. I would spend at least a month there so that all the media attention would die down.

Upon my return, I would pay off my mortgage and any debts, sock away a healthy university fund for my kids and I would do the same for our retirement (my husband and I).  But wait I second, I just won a billion – I am retired.  I would do the same for family and closest of friends – that’s a given.

I would hire the best investment planner and tax planner in the world.  Maybe I would buy part of the Stock Exchange because I could.

Next, I would set aside a large amount aside for philanthropy.  I would invest in research and hospitals as a priority.

I would definitely hire a full time sleep consultant or hypnotist to make my kids sleep and I wouldn’t care how much it cost. Maybe I would bathe in wads of cash but wait a second, money is one of the dirtiest things.

See honestly, it’s just too much. Like Uncle Ben said to Peter Parker (aka Spiderman) “with Power comes great responsibility”.  Now how responsible are you? And what would you do?