Assuming I paid said tax and won:
- Zero out my mortgage
- Zero out my mother's mortgage
- Gift a small chunk of it to my mother so that she could actually, really, and truly retire. It'd be a one-shot deal though. If she didn't invest it properly so that she could live well on its interest, then she'd get no more.
- Spruce the home up a bit with some repairs and improvements. If this cost more than a hundred thousand or so, I've done something severely wrong.
- A car or two for my fleet.
- Ignore the rest.
First and foremost would be to get out of debt. My mortgage is the only debt I have at this point in my life, but I'd rather there be 0 debt. Mom would follow.
My passion is cars. I don't want one of everything, because that's silly and pointless. In fact, the one I have is phenomenal in and of itself, and I'd keep it. I'd replace my aging pick-up with a newer version when GM is ready to release them. I'd add in a Cadillac CTS-V when the new version appears (year or two?) But I'd keep my ZR1 until GM has released its successor... and who knows when that'll be.
After that, perhaps I toy with the idea of a mega-car of some sort. But I'm not really 100% sure of that one.
What I wouldn't do:
- Quit my job. I thoroughly enjoy what I do. In fact, it's sometimes hard to believe they pay me to do it.
- Invest in more real estate. I like where I live. It's a nice chunk of land with a reasonably well-built home sitting on it. All right, smack in the middle of Northern VA. I'm not really interested in owning any more, nor leaving this property in favor of some other place.
That all said: I don't pay said tax, so this isn't going to ever happen.
jas