Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Challenge: When I Win The Lottery...

For the last two years, I've been taking part in the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge over at Long and Short Reviews. The first link will take you to the list of topics; the second one goes to the homepage, where you can find a post with everyone's responses each week. Feel free to join in! 

Today's prompt is, "If I won a large lottery jackpot, I would..."

Well. Naturally that depends a bit on just how large the jackpot was. $500,000 (U.S.) is a lot of money for most of us, but I could put both boys through college (and possibly grad school) and only have a little bit of that left over to put by for retirement. (Which, under the circumstances, is what I would do.)

Now, if I were to win a Powerball jackpot -- something which could easily run into hundreds of millions of dollars -- well... turns out it's still surprisingly easy to burn through that, if you decide to make all your dreams come true. But I'm older, and more cautious, and so there's definitely a very slim chance that I might actually behave responsibly with that much money. 

After I got my castle, of course, and rounded out the sword collection. Okay, not really a full-fledged castle, but it would need to have stone walls, at least one tower with crenelations, and at least one secret passage hidden behind a bookshelf. (Additional secret passages would, of course, be welcome.) 

(It goes without saying that it would need a really, really big library.)

The thing that I'd want to do with money, though, isn't really buying things (as much fun as that can be). It's buying back my time. I'd want to put the money where it would hopefully do some good (maybe in micro-loans?) and then basically be able to set my own schedule with no obligations except the ones I choose for myself. I'd get back into martial arts, maybe add some dance lessons, spend time on writing and reading. Yes, I'd buy a few toys; but mostly I'd set a budget so I could own my own time.

How about you?

13 comments:

  1. Micro-loans are a great idea!

    And a castle? So neat. I'd want to come see it if you were cool with that. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In my youth, I wanted a big castle where all my friends could come and live -- everybody gets their own tower! -- but at this point everybody's so scattered that I could get away with just having a guest-house for people to stay in.

      Delete
  2. I follow a kid on TikTok who owns a castle (he rents it as an AirBNB, lol). I love the idea of owning one, but it must have its own ghost...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, ghosts need homes too. A ghost who's a decent beta reader would be more than welcome.

      Delete
    2. I'm glad you realize that time is the most precious commodity on earth. I kind of like the castle.

      Delete
  3. I really like how you frame it - buying back time. And I hear you on college costs. My daughter starts in the fall, and I would love to have more money than I have to support her.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ohhhh, yes. We've got a couple of years yet, but that's not much...

      Delete
  4. The Goddess Fish-mobile would definitely come visit the mini-castle! Want to help host a meet'n'greet? :-) Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  5. And that's one of the reasons I don't have kids - education is expensive!

    ReplyDelete

Feel free to leave comments; it lets me know that people are actually reading my blog. Interesting tangents and topic drift just add flavor. Linking to your own stuff is fine, as long as it's at least loosely relevant. Be civil, and have fun!