What would you do if you won the lottery?

This is such an age old question. Yet, how we respond says a lot about our priorities. With that being said, this is this dreamer’s list:

Hire a financial advisor. For obvious reasons. According to the National Endowment for Financial Education, 70% of lottery winners go bankrupt within a few years. Obtaining more money often leads to careless spending and the desire to get more money, and the greed can be destructive to the lives of winners and their families.

Debt is something that weighs on my mind. I would pay off not only my debt but kids & grandkids too. When money works for you, it’s a blessing but when one has debt it’s like the weight of a curse.

Start a living trust for my kids and grandkids so that they would have their best financial start in life.

Start an education fund for my kids and grandkids. It wouldn’t have to be for college necessarily but anything that helps them pursue their “what I want to be when I grow up” aspirations. It could even be start up money for a business.

Build two homes on the water, with a pool, 4 guest houses on the property, one for each of my kids and their families. One in Oxford, Michigan, the other in St. Augustine, FL. I want to take the financial burden off of our families in trying to be together.

Give 10% of the winnings to both of my churches in Michigan and Florida.

Publish the rest of my books

Buy my husband his new boat

Buy me a pontoon boat and jet skis

Go back to school to get my masters and doctorate degrees.

Set up one family cruise per year

Open a West Highland Terrier Kennel Club, doggie daycare and training center for my favorite breed of dog.

Open a retreat house and camp ground with cabins.

Pay the debt of all local school lunches for the kids and fill their lunch accounts for a school year in our districts in both Michigan and Florida.

What ever is left be dispersed in incremental amounts equal to accommodating the cost of living comfortably on a weekly basis.