What would you do with a billion bucks?

I’ve been following (somewhat peripherally) the Mega Millions lottery, featuring the third-largest prize in U.S. history: $1.34 billion (with a “b”). What would you do with a billion bucks?

The winning ticket was sold to a single person, who has been transformed overnight from an anonymous schmuck into one of the nation’s wealthiest people. Oof.

The lottery history is scattered with the cast-aside corpses of winners. Sudden wealth, especially if it comes with a “b” in front of it, is frankly a horrifying thought. Why? Because the lottery is the epitome of how money can’t buy happiness. Many lottery winners try to “buy” happiness, and it doesn’t work.

I remember many years ago, when we lived in Oregon, we heard about a local older couple who won a modest lottery (something on the order of $5 million). In an interview, they seemed like eminently sensible people. They had no plans to move, but they did pay off their mortgage (and beef up the security system around their home). They put legacies aside for their children and grandchildren, set up an account for charitable donations, and let the answering machine handle the spurt of calls from long-lost “relatives.” But they didn’t let any of it go to their head. The most decadent thing they planned to do, apparently, was to take a two-week vacation. I say, good for them.

But endless others don’t have this restraint. Many winners are broke within a few years. Many lose spouses and children – often because of conflict, sometimes because of deaths (murder, drug overdoses, etc.). And of course, friendships are strained by the sudden inequity, and all future friendships must be weighed on whether the interest is genuine or mercenary.

But what about us, the Lewis family? In our case, wealth would be utterly wasted. We have no interest in the latest whiz-bang anything (fashion, electronics, jewelry, cars, whatever), so what would we buy? (A reeeeally nice Jersey cow, perhaps…..)

I quizzed Don on his thoughts about winning the lottery. He said that after putting aside an amount that would make us comfortable (and for us, “comfortable” is pretty durned modest) for the rest of our lives, he would probably give the rest of it away. He would set up charitable foundations for issues dear to his heart. We would probably move – we would probably have to – in which case we’d purchase a similar-sized home on larger acreage. (He always wanted to have a small home at the bottom of a valley next to a creek, and own everything up to forty feet over the tops of the hills. In other words, solitude.)

This is because Don has no envy. “I’ve thought it through so many times,” he says. “And nope, I have no envy. It’s just not one of my deadly sins, so more money wouldn’t change that.”

Envy is pernicious and leads to all kinds of horrible things. A kernel of envy can grow until it drives you mad. Nope, not going there.

Money, especially unearned money, also takes away the motivation to earn a living, which is a cruel thing. It ruins people, it ruins their children, and it ruins their grandchildren. Rather than the need for money, it becomes a love of money … and we know what the Bible says about that:

“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” – 1 Timothy 6:9-10

Far better to have “godliness with contentment.” Or, as Proverbs 17:1 puts it, “Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.“

That said, there is an indulgence we would probably grant ourselves, should we ever become wealthy. We’d probably rent (not buy; rent) an RV and tour this fair land for a year, seeing the sights (blogging as we go, of course).

Then we would come home, resume our interrupted homesteading activities, and live happily ever after. What more do we need beyond that?

So now it’s your turn. What would you do with a billion bucks?