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What would you do with FOUR POINT FIVE BILLION DOLLARS!?

Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 6:22 pm
by LanDroid
Forbes says Donald John Trump is worth not 10, but merely $4.5 Billion USD. Would you invest that wealth better than The Donald?
Vote in the poll (3 votes allowed) and please give details below, especially with something new.
Hey, it's all in fun - a bit of fantasy...
:bananadance: :omg4: :gettowork:

Re: What would you do with FOUR POINT FIVE BILLION DOLLARS!?

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2016 9:02 pm
by Cattleman
Though the poll is over, I am compelled to add my personal thoughts on the matter. No specific dollar amounts are being given, I have not real idea how I would divy up the money quantity-wise. First, I would set aside a fair amout for myself for maintenance, health care, and yes, fun. I would establish trusts for my grandchildren and great nieces and nephews for ther education. I would make selected gifts to family members, donate some to my alma maters for scholarsips, and help some local charities. Finally, I would (on a smaller scale), set up something like "Shark Tank" where I would try to help individuals achieve success is business or professionalism. There would be 'strings' attached, and there would also be a provision that, if successful, the individual or group would have to 'pay it forward,' helping others as they were helped. Utopian? manybe, but I think I would have fun.

Re: What would you do with FOUR POINT FIVE BILLION DOLLARS!?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 6:41 am
by LanDroid
Thanks Cattleman, finally someone played along! :lol:
I'd probably donate $1 billion to a single charity that could make a major difference. Doctors Without Borders might be one candidate, they seem to be helping out in all the worst places on earth. Heh, perhaps they could use the money to install anti-aircraft missiles in the hospitals they work in to defend themselves. :lol: (They seem to get bombed routinely by America and others.)

Re: What would you do with FOUR POINT FIVE BILLION DOLLARS!?

Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 4:06 pm
by LanDroid
After the latest mass shooting incident (no need to name it, there will be another shortly if you're reading this in the future) I'm reminded that Congress has prohibited any Federal dollars to be used in researching gun violence. So I would fund a major private research project to get at the facts. Don't know what that would require, perhaps $100 million?

Here's an important article on a different topic explaining the critical need for accurate information.
First they came for the facts, and I said nothing …
One way to kill the facts is to defund the statistical agencies that collect them.

...What’s really going on here is not just a disregard for facts, but an effort to undermine them at their data-collection source. If nobody has accurate numbers, then nobody can disprove the demagogues’ stories.

...So we mustn’t let the know-nothings have their way. When they come for the facts, we must do everything we can to block them.

Jared Bernstein
6/17/16
https://www.washingtonpost.com/postever ... epage/card
That leaves about $3.4 BILLION left for me to spend; The Quest continues. :lol:

Re: What would you do with FOUR POINT FIVE BILLION DOLLARS!?

Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 9:59 pm
by Cattleman
Just a quick back up to your post. I comes from Robert A. Heinlein's "The Notebooks of Lazarus Long:

What are the facts? Again and again and again-what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what “the stars foretell,” avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable “verdict of history”--what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!

Re: What would you do with FOUR POINT FIVE BILLION DOLLARS!?

Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 10:52 pm
by Chris OConnor
I'd launch a massive tolerance and awareness campaign for atheism.

Re: What would you do with FOUR POINT FIVE BILLION DOLLARS!?

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:50 pm
by Murmur
If my name is public as the owner of that money, I'd first publicly state "If you ask me for money, you get nothing." Then, I'd give out the majority of that money, not to charity, not to some single or several grand projects, but to many individuals.

Re: What would you do with FOUR POINT FIVE BILLION DOLLARS!?

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 10:28 am
by Gail
I would put aside a few million for overhead, then take the rest to buy some property where I would establish an alternative sustainable community, and I would invite others to come live for free in efficient small houses that I would provide. I would pay all taxes and buy otherwise unavailable "essentials". We would provide all other necessities through our own labor. We would have time to invent energy sources, create music, learn whatever we want, enjoy our children, and enjoy personal relationships with our neighbors. Children would be part of a child-driven education, that has been proven to work better than our schools. No member of the community would bring any money or depend on it. This would be an anti-capitalism community where we would attempt to show America, like other communities have shown their countries, that there is a better way to establish our communities. This would not be a cult, as formal religions, or Biblical God believers, will not be invited to participate. Learning whatever we can will be paramount, so open minds required.

Re: What would you do with FOUR POINT FIVE BILLION DOLLARS!?

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 11:16 pm
by LanDroid
...The campaign that encouraged millions of people to dump buckets of ice-cold water over their heads raised enough money to help make an important research breakthrough, the ALS Association announced Monday.
...In just eight weeks, $115 million was donated to the ALS Association, 67% of which was dedicated to advancing research for treatments and a cure, the non-profit reports.
...This is the third ALS-related gene researchers have discovered using money from the Ice Bucket Challenge, the organization says. The discovery is unique in that the project that found the gene is led by someone who has ALS.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/27/health/al ... akthrough/
With that success rate, I would match the amount of money raised by that project. Still leaves me about 3.3 Billion to spend! :hmm:

Re: What would you do with FOUR POINT FIVE BILLION DOLLARS!?

Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 7:56 am
by IBstudentMoksu
I know the last message was from 2016, but I still want to answer this question.
1) invest my money (dividend stocks, index funds, real estate) and create multiple passive income streams that would enrich me.
2) Hire someone to keep my finances in check and to give me monthly reports from my investments and income flows
3) Buy 5-8 million euro mansion (from my home country Finland) with enough room for my engineering laboratory and non-fiction library
4) Buy a nice car. Maybe Ferrari or Bugatti
5) Continue working with studying more about science, researching and lastly writing my non-fiction book series.
6) Buy rare books and top technology research devises (fun fact: those are very, very expensive)