I am just curious as to why you would leave the USA forever?

It would depend on how much money was involved, but I like to think I would:

1. Tithe
2. Split the proceeds with my mother & brother
3. Set up an account so I could live off of the interest
4. Move into a major condo (yes, I already know where)
5. Travel
6. Get a puppy
7. Write the Great American Novel
8. Repeat

1. Pay off my student loans
2. Pay off my car
3. Buy a house
4. Pay off my parents' house
5. Pad my nest egg
6. Travel
7. Donate to charities

1. Pay off student loans.
2. Pay off credit cards and personal loans.
3. Pay off parents' house and their debt.
4. Buy a house with a big yard.
5. Stash some away for retirement.
6. Stash some away for kid's education.
7. Give away to friends and family.
8. Give some to John!! :D

1. Pay off all of my debts.
2. Buy a nice, historic home in OKC. Set aside enough money to have it completely restored.
3. Make sure my brothers and family are well-situated financially
4. Donation to my undergrad school
5. A letter to my law school saying "Thanks, I gave at the office."
6. Set up an educational foundation for my chapter.
7. Set up a trust to purchase and manage a new house for my chapter.
8. Figure out what I want to do with the residue after putting together a good estate plan/financial plan.

1. Set up a good college fund for Baby WinniBug
2. Pay off Mr. WinniBug's student loans
3. Buy a nicer house
4. Donate to the building fund for the small Catholic school that I work at
5. Donate to the S. June Smith Center, my local chapter and whatever other charities/philanthropies we want
6. Buy better cars
7. Get Mr. WinniBug a boat
8. Invest the rest so we won't have to work
(I would help out my parents and my sister, but I don't think they'd need it)

minDyG's lottery novella
 

Wow, y'all are much less shallow than I am! :D The last mega millions jackpot billboard I spotted read $253 million, so with that in mind (and assuming we're in a utopia where there would be no taxes taken out), here is my dream list of crap I'd want (and oh yeah, I'd put the money in a savings account so it could be accruing interest while I took my time getting all of the purchases in order ;)):

-Pay off all debts (student loans mostly, some medical stuff, and the car)
-Pay to fix the repairs we need to resolve at our (rental) house
-Go back to school to finish my Bachelor's and also get my Master's and possibly a PhD
-Buy a house in Augusta or Aiken with 3-4 bedrooms and a big fenced in yard (preferably with a pool) to live in while we figured out things
-Buy a ton of crap to fill the house up with: 3 flatscreen t.v.'s (one for the living room, master bedroom, and finished basement), 3 sound systems with Blue Ray players, an amazing washer and dryer, all new kitchen appliances (fridge, oven/range, dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave, toaster, blender), ironing board and iron, FURNITURE galore (entertainment center, new bedroom suite for us (old bedroom suite would go to the guest bedroom), new bedroom suite and hope chest for Meredith, dining set, living room set, art pieces for the walls, lamps, benches, hat racks, room dividers, etc. etc. etc.)
-Two words: designer shoes. (And dresses, purses, shirts, pants, skirts, scarves, jewelry, perfume, et al.)
-Hire a nanny and a maid...the maid I would literally use every day (well 5 days a week), but the nanny would only be on an as-needed basis
-Hire a really high end agent and start going on auditions; for that matter, do whatever it takes to get my Equity card
-Buy a single engine airplane and get my pilot's lisence
-Buy several new cars: A Corvette for my husband, a black Mercedes convertible (a la Lauren Conrad's car) for me, and a couple of hybrid SUV's; one for off-roading and one for looking swank in the city

After satisfying all of my petty material needs, I would obviously make many large contributions to various organizations. I would probably donate something like $100,000 to each of the following: Delta Gamma Foundation, American Heart Association, the United Way of Aiken County, SC; the Democratic Party, New Hope Baptist Church in Thomson, GA, and getting a community theatre started up in Thomson, GA. Additionally, I would like to set up a scholarship endowment for theatre majors at UGA and for Delta Gammas at UGA.

But of course I'd take care of my family, too. These are the things I'd do for them:
-Pay off my parents' house and all their other debt
-Buy my sister a new car and give her enough money for a down payment on a house (and I'd likely finance her mortgage too but I wouldn't just buy a house for her outright unless we were just rolling in so much money we truly didn't know what to do with it)
-Establish $500,000 trust funds for each of my ten nieces and nephews and for Meredith for them to pay for college and then some
-Pay for my sister to finish college
-Pay for my other sister to finish college
-Give my brother a big chunk of change for whatever he wanted it for (he's pretty responsible, more or less)
-Pay for my sister-in-law to go to school to become an RN
-Buy my mother-in-law a house (she really deserves it)

Alright, I've been keeping track of the estimated costs for all of these things and I'm still sitting on $141,585,650. So to complete my fantasy, we'd keep our GA/SC home as a vacation home, move to either LA or NY where I'd pursue my acting career, and enroll Meredith in the best private school available. All this is while my remaining winnings sit pretty collecting interest, and my husband would probably want to start a grocery delivery business or something else to satisfy his need to be somebody's boss. :rolleyes:

Ahh, to live in a fantasy world!
But I suppose the adage is true...I have no hopes of winning the lottery if I never buy a ticket!

I always respond to these things, then I delete them because they become so personal. :)

I have a plan and have had one for quite awhile:
-pay off debts, mortgage, etc for myself, my dad and my brother and a few select friends who have worked their tails off their whole lives but will never be ahead
-set up trusts for my kids
-give my ex-husband an equal amount as I would keep for myself, before he bothered going to Friend of the Court for it in child support
-buy a house in Atlanta, a beach house somewhere on the Gulf, a houseboat at Dale Hollow Lake, sell my current house in Michigan and buy a different one
-buy an RV and start a one year, around the country trip spending one week in every state
-donate to the Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation in several ways including an endowed scholarship for my chapter of Initiation, one for Occupational Therapy students, and one for IT students, as well as a large donation to the general fund
-after my year of travel, I would start a charitable foundation

This is all I can think of off the top of my head.

-I'd donate money to cancer research, diabetes research, charities that supply remote villages with clean, drinkable water and food, local food banks, women's shelters and humane societies.
-I'd also buy that vacant, old hotel downtown, restore it and turn it into a homeless shelter.
-I'd get my family completely out of debt.
-I'd make both of my parents retire.

For Mom:
-A new house in the city, just a few minutes away from the beach.
-All new furniture, electronics and appliances to furnish aforementioned house.
-A new wardrobe.
-A weekly spa appointment.

For Dad:
-The best plumbers, electricians and contractors in the region to help him finish his renovations.
-Any Vintage Car(s) that he wants.
-All new furniture, appliances and electronics for his house.
-A new wardrobe

For Grandma:
-A beautiful cottage out in the country, with a huge yard for her pets and nice garden.
-That Truck she always wanted.

For Grandpa:
-Tickets to the World Series.
-Rinkside seats to the Gold Metal Hockey game in the 2010 Olympics.

For My Friends:
-A spa vacation every summer
-Shopping Spree!

For Me:
-Cancel my student loan application
-Put money aside to buy my dream house after university.
-A Hybrid
-A vintage Les Paul Goldtop guitar and guitar lessons.

Lol, I heard once from a Dane rescue worker that the size of the place really doesn't matter if you get them as puppies. By the time they've gotten big, they've learned how to navigate your things without knocking everything to pieces. It's the size of the yard that really matters. Meh, if it turns out that's not true, we'll up the ante on the size of the house. After all, I can do that in my fantasy. :)

-pay off my mortgage
-pay off the rest of my debt (student loans, car, credit cards, misc. bills)
-pay off my parents mortgage
-put money away for my "future" kids (because I will have them) college expenses
-give some money to my brothers
-donate to charity (Ronald McDonald House, Breast Cancer, AIDS)
-travel Europe
-definately put a huge chunk into a CD that I can't touch without massive penalties (mainly because I don't trush myself :), being honest)
-I'd then buy the car I actually want and buy a home closer to my new job.

I prefer living in the UK. It's a matter of lifestyle, pace of life, and overall enjoyment. Spending a few years there, then coming back to the US...I realized how much I don't like living here. It's got nothing to do with "hating America", it's got a lot to do with generally being happy in every day life. Plus the work I want to do is more widely supported, healthcare is good, and so is the fly fishing.

pay off my folks, my brother's, and my home
give some to God
invest a lot
my business expenses
buy some misc play things