The 2008 Monopoly game is back at McDonalds!  The game began in stores on October 7^th.  To win, all you have to do is collect game stamps.  The stamps will reveal that you have either won an instant prize (like a small fry or Big Mac) or the name of a location on the Monopoly game board (like St. James Place or the Reading Railroad). There are also guaranteed bonus stamps which offer discounts or mini shopping sprees at Foot Locker.  But… if you collect the right combination of stamps (Boardwalk and Park Place), you will win the grand Kahuna of the prizes… ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

Winning a large sum of money (such as a million dollars in a Monopoly game) is a one in a million chance.  (One in a million… get it?  Sometimes I just crack my self up. ~~ Alright maybe I am no comedian, but I thought it was funny.) Anyway on occasion, it has been known to happen.  Someone’s got to win the grand prize, right?

Sigh!  This is me exhaling as I fantasize about all the things I could do with a million dollars.  I have always wanted to vacation in Morocco and take cooking lessons in France.  A million dollars would sure help me live out those dreams.  If only I were so lucky as to been given a million dollars.

But the weird thing about winning it big… apparently it is not all that its cracked up to be.  I’ve heard stories about folks who won grandiose gifts, but are now destitute.  But how could that be?

Well it is simple.  We all know what money is… but we all don’t know what to do with it.  Take this analogy for example…  I know what an airplane looks like and what it is used for.  I have even been a passenger in one a time or two.  But just because I’ve flown in a plane… does not mean I know how to fly a plane.

Same principle applies with money.  We all know how to spend it.  But there is a lot more to money than spending it.  Winning a truckload of money can be useless, even harmful… unless you know what to do with it.

So what would I do if I won a million dollars?  Well fat chance that’ll ever happen because I am not the gambling type and I rarely play these sweeps-type games.  But just in case… if by some miracle a million dollars showed up at my front door… I figure I ought to have a plan.   I don’t have all the details hatched out just yet. But I sure know two things that I would not do.

1 - I would not quit my day job.

Although rolling off my tongue, a million sounds like a lot… in actuality, it is not much at all.  And plus, once Uncle Sam gets his take, I’d be fortunate to be left with $400,000.  But don’t get me wring, I am not complaining.  I’d still be very grateful… it is $400,000 more than I had yesterday.

2 - I would not tell my family or friends.

Bad as it may sound… sorry, nope, ain’t doing it.  I think discussing your personal financial situation with others leads to problems.  It can lead to envy and jealousy.  And it can lead to abuse… not physical abuse, but more psychological and financial abuse.  Every Tom, Dick and Harry will likely come with their sob story and ask for a hand out.  Now granted, you hadn’t seen Tom, Dick or Harry since kindergarten, but now they are the now your best friends.  When you have money, it is hard to know who to trust.

I am not saying that you should not be charitable, but do keep in mind that you are not a charity.  And you can’t save the world.  If you bailed everybody out of their financial woes, you yourself will soon be in financial woe of your own.