A billion dollars is a lot of money – perhaps that's the understatement of the year. It’s such a lot of money that most of us would have a difficult time even imagining what a stack of bills that equal $1.6 billion -- the current Mega Millions jackpot -- would look like.
>> Jackpots surge: Powerball prize climbs to $620M after Mega Millions hits $1.6 billion
With the Mega Millions lottery jackpot sitting at a cool $1.6 billion, there’s a chance – a real longshot of a chance, but a chance, nonetheless – that someone could get their hands on a billion dollars.
Note we said hands on, not around because that would take some doing. Here are a few visuals for those among us who can’t imagine what a billion bucks would actually look like.
In height
Take one billion $1 dollar bills and put them in a stack (we’ll wait) after about 30 years of stacking, your pile would measure 358,510 feet or 67.9 miles high.
In area
One billion $1 bills would cover a 4-square mile area, or the equivalent of 2,555 acres.
In length
If you laid the $1 bills end to end, the trail would measure 96,900 miles.
In weight
One billion $1 bills would weigh around 10 tons. If you want your winnings in quarters, it will weigh 22,680 tons. If you took the quarters and put them into quart jars, you’d have 4,353,379.17 of them. Melt those quarters down, and the molten metal would equal 3,419,136 quarts – that would fill an Olympic size swimming pool one-and-a-half times.
How fast can you go through that money?
If you were really dedicated, and could spend $20 per second, you could spend $1 billion dollars in 578 days (1 year, 214 days). You're gonna need some caffeine, but you can afford it, so go for it.
Looking at gross domestic production around the globe, where would you sit?
If you won the $1.6 billion jackpot, before taking a lump sum or paying taxes – using that $1.6 billion figure as a measure of your wealth – you would have more money than a slew of countries can produce in a year (in gross domestic products).
Who you would be ahead of:
Antigua and Barbuda – $1,220,976,011
Comoros -- in Sub-Saharan Africa -- $623,751,050
Dominica – in the Caribbean -- $524,074,074
Tonga -- in the South Pacific -- $434,380,117
Who wants to save to become a billionaire?
Ok, you don't win the lottery and decide to get the money the old-fashion way – you are going to save it. How long would it take for you to become a billionaire? Start saving now, because if you could save $100 a day, it would take you 10 million days to save up 1 billion dollars. That’s 27,387.26 years.
What can you buy?
Here’s the fun part, spending the money. Here’s a list of things you could pick up with a billion dollars:
6.7 F35A fighters jets: If you are in the market for an air force, you can take your winnings and get a few of the newest jets in the U.S. arsenal of weapons.
1 National Football League team: The NFL's 32 teams are worth, on average, $1.17 billion each.
'A little work' done: The average cost of liposuction ranges from $2,000 to $3,500 per treatment not including the cost of anesthesia and other fees. Going with the high-end cost of each surgery, you could get "tucked" the butt, tummy, upper arms and thighs of every person (and a lot of their friends) who will attend the Florida-Georgia football game on Saturday -- more than 61,000 people.
That doggy in the (big) window: If you are a dog lover, you'd be set for some serious fur. A Tibetan Mastiff puppy reportedly sold for almost $2 million in China a year or so ago, making it likely the priciest dog ever purchased. With $1 billion, you could have 500 of the 160-pound dogs that resemble a lion.
Buckingham Palace: If Queen Elizabeth were to put it on the market, it's cost would be an estimated 1.4 billion. If you don't want to blow all your money on a palace, Balmoral Castle, if it were for sale, would set you back around $140 million.
The White House: If you are thinking domestic, you could go with the White House. Zillow, the real estate listings web company says it's worth around $398 million. Of course, there is already a tenant in there.
The drawing for the $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot will be held Tuesday.
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