this is a fun game to play. :)

we aren't in much debt, thankfully, but of course i'd first knock that out. after that, and then aside from all the real world stuff like investments and quitting my job (a given), and ignoring gift maximums...

1) set aside a vast quantity of it in trust for my son, who is disabled. 100 million seems like a nice healthy round number.

2) give my bff and her husband enough money for their own home, which is something they will likely not achieve in southern california otherwise (though i run the risk of her moving to oregon or some shit and living off the land, which is actually her dream - but hey, i'd have the money to visit whenever i wanted!); would pay their property taxes each year unless and until they could afford it on their own.

3) give one of my favorite coworkers, five years from retirement, the equivalent of what she and her husband would be able to put away over the next five years so they can retire right now

4) pay off my sister's house so she doesn't have to keep avoiding foreclosure every two or three months

5) put money in trust for all my great-nieces and nephews (unbeknownst to them)

6) buy houses for each of my nieces and nephews with an annual stipend for property taxes and maintenance

7) take my husband on his dream trip to europe

8) my in-laws have their own money, but i'd pay them back for everything they did for us in the early years of our relationship

9) hire the best contractor i can find, and have our house completely spruced up; all the little projects we don't have the time or money to deal with, i'd deal with. nothing fancy, just all the usual stuff that needs to be done to make our place look like it did when we bought it 12 years ago; with this kind of money it would be a mere drop in the bucket

10) start a foundation for disadvantaged youth ages birth to 26, everything from housing to education to career and financial guidance; this has been my dream for years, and would become my life's work.

11) start a scholarship fund for needy families in the area (i've actually been thinking of the criteria of said for years and years; same with #10).

and as fun footnotes:

i'd buy my f-type (british green, creme interior), and take my husband and son out to pick the fabulously impractical cars of their choice. finally visit iceland and costa rica, which are my bucket list vacations.

friend-couple #1 - would pay off their house and put X amount in trust for each of their two kids

friend-couple #2 - would buy them a house and same re X in trust for each of their two kids

friend-couple #3 - they already have money, but i would send them on a fabulous month-long trip of their choosing, and put money in trust for their twins

friend #4 - would pay off the condo she just purchased

friend #5 - would have her house remodeled (it desperately needs it) and gift X amount to each of her three adult children (all responsible with money), with X in trust for her minor daughter.

numbers 1 and 10 are my priorities, but all the rest would be lovely as well, and it wouldn't even take half of the cash out to do. not even a quarter of it.

sigh. it would be lovely.