Luck of the Draw
Posted at 5:20 AM on May 27, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(26 Comments)
My condolences to Radio Heartland listeners who thought they might get the nod from President Obama for the vacant Supreme Court seat. I know it's a huge disappointment to be passed over once again, but take heart! You still have an opportunity to win tickets to see Richie Havens at the Cedar Cultural Center tomorrow night! We'll take names until one o'clock this afternoon and then give away four pairs of tickets to the most accomplished and highly qualified (ie: randomly selected) entrants who no doubt will enjoy this sold out concert.
Good luck!
Or perhaps you're saving your luck for tonight's Powerball drawing. At 222 million dollars, the jackpot is the lottery's largest in years. But what could winning that much money really represent, other than tragedy, trouble and strife? Try googling "lottery winner regrets" sometime and you'll see what I mean. An instant cascade of wealth is not an easy thing for most people to manage.
But don't take my word for it. I contacted an old friend, former Personal Growth Coach and Real Estate Guru Fib Foster, who spent years exhorting hopeful workshop participants to 'open your heart to the fortune that is trying to find you' and 'embrace your inner tycoon'. Fib Foster was the guy you looked to for advice in climbing up the ladder of success through purchasing houses with other people's savings for no money down. He admits his business has fallen off a bit lately, but is optimistic for his latest venture, which happens to be a service to counsel people who unexpectedly come into large amounts of money.
"In this economy, it's getting to be something special again to be unbelievably rich," Fib Foster told me. "Just ten years ago, you could find a half dozen unbelievably rich people operating hot dog carts outside Bear Stearns' offices on Wall Street, but today those folks are bankrupt and the sort of rich person who remains is either Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, or one of the children of those guys, or they're a lottery winner with no clue what to do with all that cash.
And that last kind is the sort of person I want to help."
Fib says his new organization is called the "Sudden Income Preservation and Home Ownership Network", or S.I.P.H.O.N. "Basically, we invest the lottery winnings in distressed real estate," he said. "There's a lot of it out there for really cheap right now. I know we used to say it would only go up, but now the prices are so depressed ... up is the only way left for it to go."
What's more, Fib Foster says people with huge lottery windfalls are beset by friends, relatives and strangers looking for a handout. "Right after the winner's press conference they're there, waiting for you," he said. So his organization suggests that newly minted millionaires take steps to avoid being identified.
"Even before you reveal yourself as a winner," he counsels, "consider bringing the magic ticket to our offices so I can sign it on your behalf. That way, my company is the 'winner of record' and we can provide for you outside the glare of the public spotlight." And, he says, under this arrangement, the S.I.P.H.O.N. process for handling your winnings "really kicks into high gear."
"Sudden, unimaginable wealth can be very stressful," Fib Foster told me. "When you turn the money over to S.I.P.H.O.N., you will actually hear a soft sucking sound that represents all your cares and worries being whisked away."
I know if I win big tonight, I'll be talking to Fib Foster tomorrow for sure!
What would you do with the money?
Comments (26)
Well, you all know that I never win anything (Susan Lucci of drawings....) but that never stops me from thinking about how to spend the money. Chunk for my mom so she can have some luxuries, college fund for daughter, pay off my best friend's house. Oh, and new driveway and electrical for my house. Then after that, safari to South Africa!
Well, if you suddenly become fabulously rich, there are lots of people who would like a donation from you. You could donate to the Jim Advancement Fund or to Radio Heartland. I'm collecting donations as a fundraiser for the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota.
good morning! we don't buy lottery tickets, for different reasons. mine is that i don't want to be conspicuously rich. (inconspicuously, moderately well-financed would be ok :-) i'd have to give winnings of millions away because i'd feel too guilty. (what is that about?)
my Mom always promises huge cash gifts if she wins the lottery - we know not to hold our breath, since she never buys a ticket.
Donna - checked out the Conan O'Brien birdwatching clip - OMG - hilarious! thanks for the tip!
it will be a fun read seeing what folks think this morning.
So many wonderful possibilities for donations! High on my list: Nature Conservancy, Sustainable Harvest, Heifer Project. Then perhaps an electric replacement for our 14-year-old Toyotas! And (organic, shade-grown, fair-trade) chocolate for all Radio Heartland listeners.
Feetie pajamas-I would want to provide warm fuzzy footed jammies to kids served by places like Joseph's Coat as well as kids in shelters, orphanges, distressed families, etc. Fuzzy pajamas represent the protection and innocence we owe children. Too often the donated pre-worn pj's are pilling and the feet are hardened. With the lottery I could buy 10 million pairs this winter and another 10 million next winter.
Have a great day!
Warm Hands/Warm Hearts - provides new warm winter coats for kids in need.
Loaves & Fishes - meals for folks down on their luck
Simpson Homeless Shelter
Wayside House - temporary housing for families who are being re-connected
Crisis Nursery.
Got me going now. Maybe I SHOULD buy a lottery ticket, just in case!
Good morning, Heartlanders.
If I won the lottery millions, I would buy a condo near the Cedar Cultural Center (nearer than Hudson) so I could go to more concerts, more easily. I'd also buy a condo in downtown Mpls for my sister and brother-in-law. And places each for Sara, Kathy, and me in New Orleans. I'd donate a bunch of money to MPR, the Cedar, Voice of the Wetlands and other favorite causes. I'd hire a handyman, a gardener, a housekeeper, and a personal assistant. And I won't win, because I don't buy tickets, darn.
Lots of worthy places could use the money but I guess I'd get my own feetie jammies first!
My Ohio banker brother tells horror stories of the lottery winners he's seen, divorce, lost friends, lost jobs, total breakdowns etc. Count MN lucky with only a couple winners I guess.
And you don't have to buy a ticket to be entertained dreaming of how you'd spend it!
I didn't have to think for even a second what I would do. I would quit working a job in an industry where the workforce is less than 10% female, would stay home with my children, and would spend the rest of my time making photos. I'd also buy the intellectual rights to Polaroid's instant film types and make sure they got into the hands of someone who would use them to make the good stuff.
Dale & Mike -- if we're having a frog-theme this hour, how about my fav... Hot Frogs?!
I'm wondering how many "pledge free" days of MPR programming $222 million would buy. Same for TPT2. Seriously though, we're into simplifying our life these days; all that money would be too stressful. But, good luck to Heartlanders everywhere: May you get scads of feetie pajamas for yourselves and everyone in need.
P.S. Perhaps Billie Holiday singing "What a Little Moonlight Can Do"?
Greetings Heartlanders! I can't tell you how often I think and dream about winning millions and what I'd do with the money. Cash gifts to my large family, pay off nieces and nephews student loans and give money to local school system for starters. Then I'd probably start a foundation to give money to food shelves, homeless shelters, definitely Heifer International.
Of course, I'd do trust funds for my kids, pay off our humongous debts, get some hybrid new cars, get solar and wind power for our house, money to RH, take a real vacation, etc., etc. We would both quit our crappy jobs so fast it would make your head swim. Ah, it's fun to dream ...
First: Thanks for the songs for Darling Daughter! Now she'll know what the actual words are (besides the ones I remember) for Swing on a Star. And then she got to dance. Yeah!
Second: If I won the lottery, I'd start by paying off the household debt. Then I'd set up a foundation so I could invest some and use the dividends to donate for perpetuity (to places like Radio Heartland, the local library foundation, literacy programs, etc.). And I'd probably buy myself a 60s vintage Mustang - with luck, I could even find a convertible in good condition.
Dale, Thanks for the Miles Davis "Summertime". My largest cat decided to listen this morning, and he thinks that it is a great song to listen to when you are draped on a computer.
Elinor,
I think I'd suddenly become very popular with my family if I won a ton of money. It would be nice to contribute to Radio Heartland (of course..not that I'm kissing up to anyone), medical care for everyone and now that I think of it, homes for everyone would be nice, too.
Oh well, I'll go back to dreaming of my garden of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
I'd fix up the house a bit, make sure close friends and close relatives are out of debt, donate to favorite charities, and then get a little RV and spend half the year (guess which half) visiting the grandbabies, et al. who are spread all across the country. And when we're here, in situ, fly them all in for visits.
How about Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere", tho' I realize this is a bit late in the morning...
Dale and Mike - Loved that song, Moon of Tunis!
If I ever, by some bizaar chance, win the lottery, I would pay off my brothers' loans as well as my own. Being debt free would be wonderful! Then I'd probably buy a couple houses on Lake Superior (one for me and one for my parents). I would then set up college funds for nieces, nephews, kids, grandkids, haha. That way, they wouldn't have to worry about the cost of college. Only after they were all taken care of would I give it away :)
If moon songs are still going how about Affected by the Moon, Dale?
And Hey, don't lottery proceeds go to the environment? I may just buy one!
If I won I would, of course, give most of the money to Radio Heartland (and The Spendid Table).
For "moon songs" How about the classic, Blue Moon?
Hey, Heartlanders! I've been out of touch for a while - recovering from a knee replacement. Eight weeks today, and I'm getting around fairly well, and glad to be able to be back in the world.
If I won the lottery tonight (let's see - rough calculation here - $222mm - divide in half to take cash = $111 mm. Take 40% for taxes = $66,600,000).
I'd take probably 10mm to invest and to live off of the for the rest of my life (me, my parents and their families, my sisters and their families, my brothers and their dog). Then about 2mm to build my dream house on the Island of Hawaii (above Kona), as well as a house here in the Cities (you can't take the girl out of Minnesota completely). Oh, and probably 1mm in a travel account to start my trip around the world. And of course tuition for finishing my degree! And helping out some friends.
Then comes the really fun part - spending about $50mm - giving the money away. Ronald McDonald House would get a chunk (the concept didn't exist when I need it 24 years ago, and I think it is terrific). My daughter's surgeons' would find their clinics would have great new equipment. KIVA would get some terrific funding of their loans to small businesses in developing countries. The USO would be very happy.
I think there also would be some scholarships and other things set up.
Oh, the good works I would do, without having to deprive myself of fun and the comforts that this money can provide for me and mine.
Lavender -- we missed you. Glad to hear you're hobbling around a bit now! Hope you invite me to your dream house in Kona. Big Island has always been my favorite as well!
Oh, what fun! First I would pay off all my bills, and those of family. Secondly, I would hire a good financial advisor and lawyer and change my phone number. Thirdly, I would buy cars for friends and family who need one, including ME!! I would set up an account so that I could live off the interest and have a tidy sum for retirement. I would go on several vacations---the UK, Italy, Hawaii, and some cruises. AND, of course, I would give to my church, the International Heifer Project, Radio Heartland, TPT2. I'd pay off my older daughter's college loans and set aside money for my younger daughter's fund. I'd give money to my parents, my brother and sister, my uncle, and a few deserving friends. Then I'd go out and have fun---buy dinner for unsuspecting patrons, a clothing spree, and some jewelry. I'd remodel the rest of my house and put it up on the market! Oh, the fun I could have... Then I'd retire to seclusion!
yep, i'd quit my job and be out of here pretty fast, too!
money to provide fro family, to fund my move to utah, endowing animal sanctuary and other worthy causes....maybe spend more time writing, hiking, hanging out with the critters---and yes, travel!
i've never been to Paris, and I'd like to go :-)
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