What Would You Do If You Won the Lottery? A Fun Planning Exercise (Backed by Happiness Research)
It's one of the most popular daydreams in the world. Waiting in line, stuck in traffic, or watching a jackpot climb, almost everyone has quietly planned how they'd spend a fortune. The question "what would you do if you won the lottery?" is fun — and, it turns out, surprisingly revealing.
Your Lottery Daydream Is a Better Values Test Than Most Quizzes
A lottery fantasy seems frivolous. But when money is no longer a constraint, your choices show what you actually care about. Would you quit your job or change careers? Move near family or far away? Give most of it away or buy a boat?
We call this the unlimited-budget mirror: the way imagining a huge windfall removes practical limits and reveals your real priorities. You don't need to win the lottery to learn something from the answer.
Step 1: Pick Your Imaginary Jackpot
For this exercise, choose a realistic number. A $500 million advertised jackpot might have a cash value of around half that, and after taxes a U.S. winner could keep considerably less.
To keep things simple, let's say you've got $100 million to spend after taxes.
If you want to see how taxes and payouts change a jackpot, read How Lottery Taxes Work and How Lottery Payouts Work.
Step 2: Build Your Dream Budget
Divide your $100 million into categories. Be honest — nobody's watching.
| Category | Your amount |
|---|---|
| Home(s) | $ |
| Travel and experiences | $ |
| Family and friends | $ |
| Charity and causes | $ |
| Business or creative projects | $ |
| Investments and long-term security | $ |
| Pure fun (cars, collections, hobbies) | $ |
| Total | $100,000,000 |
We call the category with the biggest share your anchor dream: the thing that quietly matters most to you.
Step 3: The Five Big Questions
Answer these in a sentence each:
- Would you keep working? If yes, at what? If no, how would you spend your days?
- Where would you live? Would you move, and who would you want nearby?
- Who would you help first?
- What would you do that you've never done before?
- What would you not change?
That last question is often the most revealing. The parts of your life you'd keep even with unlimited money are the parts you already value.
Step 4: Check Your Plan Against Happiness Research
Psychology research offers useful guidance for a dream budget.
Experiences often beat things
Research on consumer happiness has suggested that spending on experiences — travel, events, time with others — tends to bring more lasting happiness than spending on material goods, partly because experiences become memories and stories.
Giving boosts happiness
In a 2008 study, psychologists Elizabeth Dunn, Lara Aknin, and Michael Norton found that people who spent money on others reported greater happiness than those who spent it on themselves.
More money can mean more happiness — up to a point that's higher than once thought
In 2010, economists Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton reported that emotional well-being in the U.S. rose with income until about $75,000 a year, then leveled off. Later work, including a 2023 collaboration between Kahneman, Matthew Killingsworth, and Barbara Mellers, found that for most people, well-being continues to rise with income, with a plateau appearing mainly among the least happy.
Real winners often do report higher satisfaction
A long-term study of Swedish lottery winners, published in 2020, found that large winners reported higher life satisfaction for years afterward.
We call these findings the happy-spending rules: prioritize experiences, generosity, time, and security over a long list of possessions.
Step 5: Compare Your Plan With Real Winners
Real winners' choices often include:
- Paying off debts and mortgages
- Helping family members
- Buying a home or upgrading one
- Traveling
- Setting up long-term investments
- Giving to charities or community causes
Some winners also make headlines with unusual purchases. Read The Most Unusual Things People Bought After Winning the Lottery and Lottery Winners Who Gave Everything Away.
Fun Variations to Try With Friends
- The $1 million version: How does your plan change with a smaller prize?
- The one-rule version: You must give away half. What do you keep?
- The swap: Trade dream budgets with a friend and guess their anchor dream.
- The random challenge: Spin a wheel to choose a mandatory category you must spend 10% on.
- The superpower twist: Generate a random superpower and decide whether you'd trade the jackpot for it.
What Your Answers Might Say About You
| If your biggest category is... | You might value... |
|---|---|
| Family and friends | Connection and security for others |
| Travel and experiences | Freedom and novelty |
| Charity and causes | Purpose and impact |
| Business or creative projects | Achievement and self-expression |
| Investments and security | Stability and peace of mind |
| Pure fun | Enjoyment and play |
The best part: many of these values can be pursued in small ways without winning anything.
Key Takeaways
- Imagining a lottery win removes financial limits and reveals what you truly value.
- A simple dream budget shows your "anchor dream" — the category that matters most.
- Research suggests spending on experiences and other people tends to bring more lasting happiness than buying more things.
- Newer research finds well-being keeps rising with income for most people, rather than leveling off at $75,000.
- A long-term Swedish study found large lottery winners reported higher life satisfaction for years.
- Many of the values behind your dream budget can be pursued in small ways without winning anything.
Quick Answers
What do most people say they would do if they won the lottery?
Common answers include paying off debt, buying a home, helping family, traveling, quitting or changing jobs, investing for security, and donating to causes. Real lottery winners often make similar early choices, especially paying off debts, supporting family, and improving housing.
Does winning the lottery make you happier?
Research suggests it often does. A 2020 study of Swedish lottery winners found that large winners reported higher life satisfaction for many years. Winning doesn't prevent problems, and how the money is used matters, but evidence doesn't support the popular idea that most winners become unhappy.
How should you spend lottery winnings to be happy?
Happiness research suggests prioritizing experiences, time with others, generosity, and long-term security rather than a long list of possessions. Studies have found that spending money on other people can boost happiness, and paying off debt and building financial stability can reduce stress.
Where the Lottery Daydream Is Heading
As more people use budgeting apps and financial planning tools, the classic lottery daydream is becoming a practical planning exercise. Our prediction: "if I won the lottery" scenarios will increasingly show up in financial wellness programs and coaching as a way to help people identify what they value — because the answers are surprisingly useful even for people who never buy a ticket.