What would I do with a billion bucks?

Short answer? Give it away.

Sure, I’d keep a couple of million to pay off mortgages and student loans for ourselves and our kids. Fully fund our granddaughter’s college education. Plan some really nice trips to places that have been outside our reach. And I’d bring the whole family along. And I’d pad the nest egg a bit.

But that leaves a whole bunch of millions on the table. That money could make a huge difference in someone’s life.

So, here’s the plan.

Set up an endowment or a foundation that would offer grants to local nonprofits serving the low-income, at-risk people in my community.

• Rent or down payment assistance for families.
• Food, clothes, and school supplies for kids.
• Fund field trips, PE, libraries, art, and music programs in schools.
• Support public libraries
• Soup kitchens, community gardens, and food banks.
• Housing for the homeless.
• Medical services, including mental and reproductive health.
• College and trade school tuition for teens and adults.

You get the idea.  

And I’d invest it in such a way that the money would last long after I’m gone. Maybe forever. That amount of money could have a huge impact on our community in both the short and long term. It would be a gift that keeps on giving.