What would you do with $650,000,000?
The Powerball lottery is up to $650 million. The drawing is Wednesday night. What would you do if you won the whole thing? Here are some suggestions on how to spend those winnings...
For the automobile enthusiast, if price were no object, why not buy the most expensive car on the planet? The Swedish-manufactured Keonigsegg CCXR Trevita is just a cool $4.8 million. Why does this car cost so much? It is literally coated with diamonds. The exterior finish coats carbon fibers with a diamond-dust impregnated resin.
Other than that, the car features a 4.8-liter, dual-supercharged V-8 engine with a total output of 1,004 horsepower and 797 pound-feet of torque (that means it’s really zippy on the freeway). Only three of these cars have been made.
Still thinking out of this world? Why not book a ride to the far side of the moon? Space Adventures is a travel agency that arranges trips into space for private citizens. A Cirmumlunar Mission would travel into space, brushing past the surface of the Moon and venture a bit deeper into space before looping back to Earth — a mere 300,000 to 400,000 miles (do you get travel points with this?).
The cost of $175 million per seat (limit two) includes a professional cosmonaut. www.spaceadventures.com
Gamecock fans! Want to spend time with 85,000 of your closest friends? Your $650 million can go to purchase 20 years of USC football at the Gamecock Club level ($365 per ticket) and leave you with $29,500,000 for a “donation” ensuring a tailgate parking spot somewhere near Williams-Brice.
Feeling philanthropic? You could put the money to good use. According to the ratified version of the 2017-2018 State Budget, you could buy some buses for schools for $8,777,299 or pay for Abbeville Equity School Districts Capital Improvements, $4,828,859, cover the budget for the Governors School for Science and Math for $13,279,577 or First Steps for $29,336,227
Don’t forget you’ll have to pay Uncle Sam. In South Carolina, that’s 7% tax. Money magazine breaks down what you get, after taxes: An annuity would be taxed $1,633,333. Average net pay per year, equal payments for 30 years, $15,866,667 for a total of $476,000,010. Taken as a lump sum, the tax is $31,031,000 for a net payout of $301,444,000.
This story was originally published August 22, 2017 at 4:21 PM with the headline "What would you do with $650,000,000?."