What would you buy? Powerball jackpot reaches $600 million
Fill a pool with giant amounts of chocolate pudding.
Pay for the genetic engineering of a real-life unicorn.
Do something boring like pay off your debt, send your kids to college or start a charity that could, like, solve world hunger or something.
All of these things can (might?) be done if you win the now-all-time-high Powerball jackpot of $600 million, according to the Powerball website.
The next drawing is Saturday and the world waits with bated breath to see who will be the next mega-rich and mega-lucky winner.
Well, not that lucky — the Powerball website says the jackpot is only worth $376.9 million in cash — only.
The last drawing on Wednesday paid out almost $47,00,000 in non-jackpot prizes around the country and nearly 2.7 million people could count themselves as winners. However, no one claimed the biggest prize.
Michigan already has seen its share of luck so far in the latest lottery craze. A $1 million ticket was sold in tiny Blanchard, sending the locals into a lottery-fueled delirium, according to MLive.
Get creative and tell us what you'd buy with the money if you got the lucky numbers on Saturday in the comments.
Good luck, lottery-playing Ann Arborites. You’ll need it.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Matt Lang
Sun, May 19, 2013 : 11:15 a.m.
get a lifetime supply of pork rinds and beef jerky
Kyle Mattson
Sun, May 19, 2013 : 2:52 a.m.
We asked a similar question on the AnnArbor.com Facebook page earlier this week wondering what charity readers would donate to if they held the lucky ticket. Check out the responses: http://on.fb.me/11NNHel
Kai Petainen
Sun, May 19, 2013 : 4:12 a.m.
The #1 group that I'd donate to in Ann Arbor would be.... ... the Ann Arbor Fire Department. They need to be thanked.
Solitude
Sun, May 19, 2013 : 1:42 a.m.
Just think....if you had $376 mil in a lump sum, you could give a million dollars to every adult in the country, and still have more than $76 mil left over for yourself. Talk about good karma.
Kai Petainen
Sun, May 19, 2013 : 1:36 a.m.
When I won... and non-profits approached me... I ask for the 990 forms. If I didn't get them or I didn't get all of them. We don't do business. I'd ask the non-profit to tell me how my money would be spent. Then I'd compare that to the 990 form... if it didn't match... we don't do business.
Homeland Conspiracy
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 11:25 p.m.
I would buy Ann Arbor.... then All businessmen would have to wear clown suits within city limits. Then erect statues mayor John Hieftje all over town and allow the parks department to sell eggs and tomatoes with which people could pelt them. Hire out of job workers, to become pan handlers in wealthy neighborhoods. Legalize squatting in vacant, tax-delinquent buildings and require police officers to keep their jobs by running for election voted by the people of the neighborhoods they patrol. Oh 1 more thing, ban all bike lanes, bike fix it stands, & all bikes. Than get rid of the crosswalk law.
a2citizen
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 11:10 p.m.
I'd provide free condoms to the rich.
walker101
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 11:01 p.m.
Hire "Bernie" Madoff as a financial consultant and give it all to the government so the IRS wouldn't audit me.
DJBudSonic
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 7:40 p.m.
I would buy an under-enrolled and poorly administered elementary school on the Northside of Ann Arbor and turn it into a K-8 magnet school. I would cover the roof with solar panels, replace the HVAC with geothermal, and add a pool. Then I would fund an endowment that could only be used to maintain the property and quality of teaching.
mady
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 5:51 p.m.
I'd buy the really cool house on the corner of 3rd and William, the one with the huge boulders in the front yard and the widow's walk!
mady
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 6:06 p.m.
also tell the two-legged leeches that come out of the woodwork to take a hike.....Give half of it to my good friend Kip.......and enjoy some Blue Moon ice cream in a waffle cone from Kilwin's. Yum!
BhavanaJagat
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 5:46 p.m.
Whole Dude - Whole Freedom: Thomas Jefferson stated that the Declaration of Independence was intended to be an expression of the American mind. His commitment to its principles was profound and intense. He very correctly predicted that the Rulers would become corrupt and abuse the power, and the people "will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights." If I win this Lottery, the winnings are not enough to buy freedom for this country and its people. The national debt is too high and personal indebtedness is too deep and the money has no power to buy freedom.
jcj
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 3:54 p.m.
A private jet would be a must so we could resume traveling without using the sky pirates.
Tru2Blu76
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 3:49 p.m.
"the jackpot is only worth $376.9 million..." In cash payout. But even then, there're taxes to be paid. I've seen a few different ways of calculating the net amount, but none of them come anywhere near to the $600 million advertised amount.
Skyjockey43
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 9:51 p.m.
39.6% Federal tax plus 4.35% Michigan state tax still leaves $211.2 million. Not a bad payoff for a $2 investment.
squidlover
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 3:12 p.m.
Pay off bills, set up scholarship funds, large donation to Warm the Children, invest in AAPS Science programs... For me, buy some much needed golf lessons. If I had $5,000 leftover, buy a year's worth of pizza for the school board for their meetings, provided they can start operating within budget.
Kai Petainen
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 2:27 p.m.
I'd buy power. Power dominates in Ann Arbor. Power to solve unsolved crimes and offer awards. Power to build where you want.
Kai Petainen
Mon, May 20, 2013 : 2 a.m.
Solitude. I agree with you and voted you up. But... money can buy the resources to spend time investigating and asking questions... Not to mention lobbying for change.
Solitude
Sun, May 19, 2013 : 1:39 a.m.
Kai, money can't buy truth. All it buys are people who will say anything for money.
Kai Petainen
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 2:53 p.m.
I'd buy 'Authority'. I'd buy 'Incubators'. I'd buy one of the largest non-profit chamber of commerces in the country. I'd buy the power to use 'Emminent Domain'. I'd buy the opinion of the MDEQ. I'd donate handsomely to various organizations and then have them look the other way when I did something bad -- or have them help me on my journey. btw... don't take me seriously. But, I would certainly create a large cash award and hire the best and the brightest to solve the unsolved spill in the Huron River. In other-words, I'd use the money to buy the truth.
Tru2Blu76
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 2:21 p.m.
I would find the most effective quit-smoking program and fund it in perpetuity for my fellow Michiganians. (Which is what the Michigan government should have done long ago, but hasn't.) Beyond that: I'd give a chunk to everyone who's ever done me a favor or shown courtesy. And then, there's my personal Bucket List. I'd do a couple of things I've wanted to do all my life buy couldn't afford to do.
music to my ear
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 2:07 p.m.
I just do not know ,but I bet I will have fun finding out.guaranteed!!!!!!!!!!
Boo Radley
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 1:17 p.m.
I would buy Kyle Feldscher a new house and car.
Ladysteak
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 12:55 p.m.
Pay for college for some needy young people.
Arieswoman
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 12:44 p.m.
First item on the agenda is to get an unlisted phone number!
JRW
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 8:21 p.m.
And a great lawyer!
clownfish
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 12:16 p.m.
I would do what other wealthy people do, buy a congressman or three.
Tom
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 12:03 p.m.
All these lotteries are is a tax on people that are no good in math.
Brad
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 3:38 p.m.
When the jackpot is this high it's because it was pumped up by the bad math people.
snark12
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 1:33 p.m.
Actually, when the jackpot is this high the math works out to a positive expectation. It's in your interest to buy in these situations. http://tinyurl.com/6otha3h
Sarah
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 12:01 p.m.
We've been trying to figure out what kind of a trip we can fit into a budget for our 15th anniversary (a few years off). We'd certainly be able to fit nearly anything we wanted to do. Lots of practical stuff, too, but I think I'd get a lot of traveling in.
jcj
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 3:51 p.m.
You will never regret traveling.
Gorc
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 11:43 a.m.
I told my son if I won the lottery, I would do nothing and enjoy my time off. He responded..."Dad you don't need to be rich to do nothing, you can do that now".
Elaine F. Owsley
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 11:12 a.m.
Divide it by 13, the number of people in our immediate family and let them decide what to do with their shares.
A2comments
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 11:10 a.m.
I would buy spell check software for annarbor.com. I would then buy annarbor.com and make sure all stories were listed at least 3 times. I would build a 200 story building in town, next to the mayor's house. I would buy Dave Brandon some students for football game days. I would then relax.
JRW
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 8:20 p.m.
I like the 3rd one in particular...building a 200 story building next to the mayor's house. Hahaha. Hopefully he won't be mayor after the next election. I think the 413 Huron decision will spell the end of his career. Powerball? Buy an island in the Pacific ocean!
Paula Gardner
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 5:22 p.m.
Thanks for thinking of us in your lottery fantasy!
Sweet Life
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 11:02 a.m.
Winning that much money is more a curse than a blessing. Lose your privacy, gain lots of questionable friends while you lose your real ones, etc.
djm12652
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 4:06 p.m.
being a mean old woman, I wouldn't worry about any new friends...or old ones for that matter...
Boo Radley
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 1:15 p.m.
That's when you find out your "real friends" were really not.
jcj
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 11:35 a.m.
I would be willing to put up with that to give my kids and grand kids security. I suspect that most of the winners that have gone broke or crazy could not manage $50 let alone any jackpot over $100,000.
jcj
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 10:41 a.m.
House on the Oregon coast, house in Alaska, house on Maine coast. The key would be that if my neighbors did not mow their grass I would plant trees so that all I could see was the ocean. Or maybe I would just pay for lawn service for my lazy neighbors!
katmando
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 10:26 a.m.
invest 15% for retirement, payoff debt, help my university, charities cancer-animal shelter-elderly- wounded-others, family (a little) not millions, local community, k-12 schools, travel some, trust fund to sponsor causes after I am gone "scholarships"" non-profits".
Anthony Clark
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 11:46 p.m.
Really, people? You're seriously going to vote this person down? A little too kind for you? Too much altruism? Enlightenment?
Matt Lang
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 10:12 a.m.
think of all the lottery tickets you could buy with that money
music to my ear
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 2:05 p.m.
usually that is what happens
metrichead
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 10:34 a.m.
I had to vote that one up.