Ethical question: What would you do if...

[Steve W]

Pay off debts.
10% to church
5% to each brother/sister & inlaw
Go back to work and continue on with a little less stress.

[JaneYoung]

Taxes?

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Jane

Taxes?

I believe you owe the federal government 27% of winnings, and from state to state it varies. In Connecticut its 4.5%, but I'd rather have $685,000 than a "FREE 20OZ COKE!"

[Andy A.]

One word-

Vegas!


In reality I would keep it. I have debt that I don't want to live with for the next 20 or 30 years, and if anyone argues ethics with me for taking the chance to pay it off now then I'll turn around and leave. I opened the bottle and I won. It's mine. Mine mine mine.

The rest? Probably would go into mutual funds and maybe a trust fund for future Andy Jr.'s. A million dollars is a lot of money, but I don't think it's enough to just up and retire. I'd enjoy the rest of college and maybe even stick around for a masters. After that, having some money to draw on would make post college life a whole lot easier until I can start making my own.

But that'll never happen. I only drink Root beer. Nobody wins millions drinking root beer.

-Andy A.

[Mike]

I found it, I should keep it. Lets say your using the team's build facility (at a public area, like a high school) and find a $100 bill on the ground. Should you give the $100 to the team?

I'd most likely buy the team our own facility (I'd probably do this if I didn't find it at the team meeting), splurge and spend about $50,000 and invest all the rest. Then I'd quit all my jobs and work solely on robotics stuff.

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Mike

I found it, I should keep it. Lets say you... find a $100 bill on the ground. Should you give the $100 to the team?

In most states finders-keepers is not in the lawbooks - if you find something that was apparently lost by accident you are obliged to report it one way or another.

The soda prize is different - the prize was not lost, it was purchased or given you to freely. Obviously the person who handed the bottle to you did not know it was worth a million dollars, but they may or may not have been aware of the contest/prize that was involved at the time.

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I would stare at it in shock. That's it. Really. I have no bloody idea what I would do afterwards.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

In most states finders-keepers is not in the lawbooks - if you find something that was apparently lost by accident you are obliged to report it one way or another.

The soda prize is different - the prize was not lost, it was purchased or given you to freely. Obviously the person who handed the bottle to you did not know it was worth a million dollars, but they may or may not have been aware of the contest/prize that was involved at the time.

Well the $100 bill example was a little different, because it caused a loss of $100 to someone. So if I found one, I'd ask some people if they lost any money. If they answer that it was a $100 bill I'd give it back to them.

With the soda cap, nobody else knows (yet) that they could've gained a million.

[Cynette]

This is a great question, the kind you can talk over with the family at dinner, or at the coffee shop with friends. It would make a great ice breaker at a team meeting with new kids, or as a team builder with the veteran students!

I like that there is really no wrong answer!

I think I would claim the prize first and then be very generous with the person that bought me the beverage in the first place. I know I would give a lot of it away - church, my favorite charities - and make some choices that could really make a difference in someone's life like scholarship donation that sort of thing. And pay for my kids education - well most of it since I feel they should help pay to understand the value of the education. And I'd take the family to DISNEY WORLD!

[Wetzel]

I'd go to a bank and get a safe deposit box and then call an accountant. After that I would call Coke to figure out how to get my money.

Wetzel

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by mocat1530

...I like that there is really no wrong answer!

I think I would claim the prize first and then be very generous with the person that bought me the beverage in the first place. ...

I think I connect with your answer the most. There are so many issues and potential problems with this type of situation.

I know of a family, the father was killed in a plane crash. The surviving wife and son received a little over a million dollars in the resulting lawsuit (this was quite a few years ago).

End of story, right? No. The man who died had several brothers and sisters, and they somehow got the impression that money should be shared with them, because they lost a brother.

But that money was all this young family would have to live on for the rest of the wife's life, and it would be the money that would fund the childs education. That extended family (brothers and sisters) was torn apart because they felt they were entitled to a good portion of the money.

So heres the thing, back to the bottle cap. If the other people in the room knew that you opened that bottle in their presence, depending on the circumstances they might feel they were entitled to part (or all) of the money. It could easily tear friends, co-workers and family apart forever.

Which is why I think this answer was the best. Dont say anything, turn in the cap and claim the prize for yourself, if anyone asks you bought it at a supermarket 5 days later...

and that way (if you pull off the stealth) you retain full control, you decide where the money should go, not someone else, not lawyers and a judge

and you have the best chance of keeping your relationship with those other people.

Thats my take.

BTW, a million dollars is not really a lot of money anymore. I have been an engineer for 22 years, and I have already earned over $1M in salary (dont ask me to explain where it all is now :^)

[Mike]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

BTW, a million dollars is not really a lot of money anymore. I have been an engineer for 22 years, and I have already earned over $1M in salary (dont ask me to explain where it all is now :^)

Maybe a million isn't enough to retire on at age 16, but I wouldn't mind taking a 20 year vacation.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Mike

Maybe a million isn't enough to retire on at age 16, but I wouldn't mind taking a 20 year vacation.

...or give your annual income a nice little $10,000-every-year-for-a-century boost, and that's assuming you use the money as mattress stuffing. Invest wisely, and it still might not be enough to purchase Dave's wardrobe and have Dean's choice in automobiles...but it certainly wouldn't hurt.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

I was just thinking about something similar the other night. My friend's mom bought me a powerball lotto ticket for my 18th b-day. I was thinking if I won I'd give her a small portion of it, because my winnings were directly linked to her.

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

I was just thinking about something similar the other night. My friend's mom bought me a powerball lotto ticket for my 18th b-day. I was thinking if I won I'd give her a small portion of it, because my winnings were directly linked to her.

a lottery ticket has to be the strangest thing to give to someone for a present, esp someone you are not closely related to. There are two possible outcomes:

1. The ticket is worthless. (You gave someone a worthless present) or

2. The ticket is worth tens of millions of dollars. You just gave someone tens of millions of dollars for a birthday present, more money than you will ever have in your entire life, and they are under no obligation to share it with you.

Either way its

BTW, if you received $1M when you were 16, it would be plenty to buy a nice house near a major university, put yourself all the way through college at a reasonable pace (taking a year off between degrees) and getting your Phd

and still having plently of capitol left to start off a professional career in style

that is, as long as nobody knows you have it - otherwise you would end up giving most of it away to friends and family