What it’s like to win the lottery.
Early Saturday morning I read that the Powerball was at a record 1.6-billion-dollar[1] jackpot. The lump sum payout, after federal taxes, is about $500,000,000. I read this news right before we went on a walk in the neighborhood, so I posed the question to my husband “What would you do with $500 million dollars?” We ended up coming back to this question throughout the day, fantasizing about how we would spend this kind money. Thinking about how we would use $500 million dollars was a fun thought experiment, and, surprisingly, turned into an interesting discussion about what it is we really value, whether we are living a lottery-winning type life right now, and what it would take to really live a lottery-winning type life.
For both my husband and I, a huge goal in life is to build a dream home. With our lottery winnings, this would be an easy decision to get started on. My husband would like to be a stay-at-home dad, read and write more, and travel. Providing a good education for our children topped the list, as did getting more help around the house and focusing on our health. With $500 million dollars, I’d be lying if we didn’t say we wanted some other things, too – new wardrobes, expensive cars, regular spa treatments, and lavish vacations. A more outlandish fantasy was the idea of owning a sports team ($500 million would not even be close enough for that dream[2]). We also found ourselves planning on who we would want to give to and thinking that most of the money would likely go towards others. Our list contained a lot of dream organizations we’d fund or businesses we’d want to ensure thrived.
I noticed as we were talking about this that we had some clear values present. Cultivating our home, spending time with our children, focusing on our health, creating experiences, and giving to others were all tremendously important to us both. I started thinking: if this is what our lottery-winning dream life is like, are we really that far off from it? Are we living it already? What would it take to get there?
The odds of winning the lottery are 1 in 292 million. Not great odds. So, without actually winning the lottery, I encourage you to do this thought experiment: If you won $500,000,000, what would you do with that money? Distilling from that, what is it that you value? Without any additional money right now, how can you live those same values? Are you living your values? Looking back on the past, have you lived in a way that you feel good about or does something need to change?
We’ve spent the last two years taking turns as stay-at-home parents for our young son. While my husband works outside the home, he chose a career that emphasizes a work-life balance, and he makes that a focus of his. We are not yet in our dream home, but we can rethink what is important to us in a home to make our current home fulfill those values. We can continue to save towards our goal of building our dream home. We can emphasize our health without spending any additional money – we can exercise regularly and eat well. We can prioritize experiences that fit within our budget and give to others. And, we can continue investing in a way that will allow us to increase the scale of all of these things we value over time. While our lifestyle might be different with millions of dollars, our life is already one where we feel like we’ve won the lottery.
Odds are, if you’re reading this email, you haven’t won $500,000,000. But you can look at what it is you value and make sure you’re living in a way that focuses on that - $500 million or not. Pay close attention to what is lifestyle and what is life and make sure that you feel good about the life you are living. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to enhance your lifestyle, just make sure you capture your values first to live a life you love.
Here’s an exercise: Get a journal and write out the answers to these questions. Don’t edit yourself as you go.
1. If you won $500,000,000, what would you do with that money?
2. Looking at the answer from question 1, what is it that you value?
3. Without any additional money right now, how can you live your values?
4. Are you living your values?
5. Looking back on the past few years or decade, have you lived your life in a way that represents your values?
If you’re not living your lottery-winning life already, I hope you begin to find small ways to do so starting today.
[1] Interestingly, this is the record highest jackpot if you take it as an annuity, because interest rates are so high right now. As an annuity, you would be paid about $53 million each year for 30 years. If you take it as a lump sum cash payout ($780 million, before taxes), there have been larger jackpots. Not to say that this isn’t a boatload of money either way.
[2] The least expensive baseball team is valued at $825 million.