If I Were a Rich Woman

The meme I did the other day got me thinking about what I would do if suddenly, millions (or billions) of dollars fell in my lap.

My list of five things I would do is pretty accurate. I think I would semi-retire from my job, and take a small slice of the money to use as a pension for myself and my dependents. I would probably not give any money to friends or family, or use it to buy myself a huge mansion, or anything like that. My friends and family are all capable of taking care of themselves, although should disaster strike them, I might reconsider. I wouldn't want to buy a huge mansion because we have a hard enough time keeping our 2800 square foot house clean. I might consider buying some acreage of land, but only to create a nature preserve or something like that.

The remainder of the money I would put into safe investments such as bonds, and fund projects that I like with the interest. Things that I would be interested in funding include (but are not limited to) providing high-risk K-12 students with opportunities for learning about STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics); building secular schools in indigent parts of the world, and funding programs that assure girls the opportunity to go to school; developing renewable energy sources; and influencing government policy to build a country that provides its citizens with the opportunity to live up to their full potential.

What would you do with millions (or billions) of dollars?