If you won $20m

what would you do with it? It is an interesting question most of us might have contemplated at some point.

Apparently someone in this state has just won that amount of money on a lottery ticket of some sort. The winner has not yet contacted the place which deals with this sort of thing. The state newspaper wants them to "come forward". No doubt they would very much like the winner to identify themselves so they can "share" the story.

Mmm...if I was the winner I think I would be keeping very, very quiet about it. I certainly would not be rushing off to collect my winnings and I would not want my name splashed all over the media. It seems to me that such things would be positively dangerous. Your "friends" would start to appear out of nowhere. People you had long since forgotten would be in touch. People you did not know would be approaching you for donations to support their cause. Scammers would be even more determined to fleece you.

Then there is the question of what you would actually do with that amount of money. That is where the associated article in the paper puzzled me. It made a range of suggestions for spending part of it in celebration of the win. I looked at this list. It involved things like spending the winning night in a luxury hotel, going to expensive wineries and having a very expensive meal out and buying expensive chocolates. Then you would head off for a two night stay in a luxury holiday spot with more fine food and drink - along with the inevitable massage and facial. The experience would be a mere $204,000. You would come back to the luxury car you have bought - and no doubt move into a new house with all the essential "mod-cons". 

There is nothing in the article about conserving the money or putting it to use for good.  Every suggestion is simply self indulgent. I am not sure I could live with that. No, I know I could not. 

It seems all this wealth would be wasted on me. I do not want to do any of the things they recommend. I would want to keep very, very quiet about it. I can imagine doing one thing. I would send an email to the financial advisers the Senior Cat and I have used for years. I know them and trust them. It would be a simple email which said, "I need some advice."