Mega Millions

$540,000,000

Five hundred and forty million dollars

540 million

Half a billion dollars

No matter how you phrase it, that's a whole lot of cash.  A mind boggling amount of money.  A payday that would make me wealthier beyond my wildest dreams and expectations.

Craig and I played the "what if" game this morning while we were getting ready for school.  What would we do with that kind of money?

Here's the quick list that we came up with:

1. Establish Natalie's college fund.  This one was a no-brainer and the first thing that came out of my mouth.  Maybe $150,000 dollars or so?  And if on the slim chance that she received a college scholarship to play ball then we'd put that money in a trust so that when she graduated college she would have the money for a down payment on a home.

2. Buy land and build a house.  We wouldn't move far from where we live now because we do like the general area in which we live, but if you drive about 15 minutes west of our home there is a ton of open land and big lots available to purchase.  We would probably build a nice compound complete with a home (max of 5,000 sq. ft.), a swimming pool, and some sort of volleyball/basketball rec area.  The home itself would have a big chef's kitchen, a proper mancave, a big office for Craig's basketball tournament business and a spa-type bathroom in the master bedroom.

3. Purchase each of our dream cars.  For me, I would keep the Acadia that I drive now but I would buy myself a beautiful Ford Mustang.  Craig would upgrade his basic Tahoe to the top of the line one and buy a sporty little Audi A6.

My own personal list would also include:

4. College funds for each of my nephews.
5. A trip to Italy with my WHOLE family since neither of my brothers have ever been there (and I've gone twice!).
6. Obviously most of it would be put into some sort of savings that will collect major interest for Craig and I to live off of for the rest of our lives.
7. I would probably go on a pretty intense shopping trip.

And the real question is.........would we quit our teaching jobs?

I asked Craig this very question in the bathroom and he didn't have an immediate response.  And neither do I.  The fact of the matter is - we enjoy our careers.  We love working with kids and we both have pretty sweet gigs as PE teachers - no tests to worry about and we get ample amount of time outdoors to enjoy the beautiful weather during the spring and fall.  Sure the coaching time commitment is difficult at times but we both enjoy competition and watching our athletes be successful on the court or field.  And quite frankly, we enjoy being busy and on the go - by the end of the summer vacation we are both ready to get back into a routine and have something to fill up our days.  So I guess the answer would probably be.....at this point in our lives, NO - we wouldn't quit our jobs.  BUT we probably WOULD retire just a little bit earlier than most of our teaching friends!

What would YOU do if you won the Mega Millions jackpot?