What Would You Do If You Won The Powerball?

Its been a while since a lottery jackpot has gotten up as high as this week's Powerball jackpot of $550 Million! (Not since last October's Billion dollar Mega Millions jackpot.) It seems kind of fitting, as we celebrate the first day of Spring, that people everywhere are daydreaming about what they would do with a jackpot that large! Imagine how many home-improvement projects that would fund. Or just a plain old tropical vacation away from the melting snow, mud and potholes.

I asked the question "What would you do with the money if you won the jackpot?" via our free Z107.3 App, which you can download here (click me to get the app!) and got some very sweet responses. I've known, from past experiences doing fundraisers and such, that Mainers are super generous, so it didn't come as a surprise that a vast majority of responses were like that of Tracie from Stonington, who said she'd help out friends and family. "If I won Powerball, I’d donate money to our local schools for required renovations/updates. My mom would never have to worry about anything again and I’d be able to follow my kids with their college endeavors!" App user Jwlisi went so far as to name the amount she would give away "I would make sure all my immediate friends and family had a million right off. I would set up education and trust funds for my kids, then invest a quarter of the winnings into stocks and bonds then keep the rest for fun and taxes."

With the odds of winning at something like one to 270 million, its fun to dream, as that's likely all it will amount to. But what I like about these dreams, mine included, is that they all involve helping.

Myself, after I made sure my family was debt-free, and my kids were set up for life, I'd buy a neighborhood of super-sweet newly built houses, adjoining some land or body of water, and move all my friends there, so my kids and theirs could grow up playing together. I'd set up some scholarships for kids. I'd donate to CMN and local organizations that help kids in need. I'd donate to organizations that help single parents. I'd pay back every person who's ever helped me, and then pay it forward to the people of the community who are always helping those in need.

I might finally get a haircut, more than once a year. And finally learn to play the drums/guitar/piano.

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