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Assume you hit the power ball and over night you are set to receive several million dollars. While many people think winning the lottery is a dream come true, it’s also a curse with enormous responsibility that will require a great deal of courage and great professional advice to allow you to enjoy the winnings.The first place to go is a local bank, open a safety deposit box, if you don’t already have one, and store your winning ticket until it’s time to collect the winnings. There is no hurry. I probably can’t stress this point enough. Taking the time to formulate a plan for the money before a penny is collected is critical. The money you pay towards the professionals on the front end will be the best money you ever spent.In no certain order I’d contact an attorney, accountant, a good financial planner and a bank with a trust department. If you can withhold your excitement, have all of them in the same room at the same time and have a lengthy discussion of the winnings, your personal goals and immediate plans and discuss a long term strategy for handling the money. Without doing a deep dive you want to know one thing immediately. Will you accept the money as a lump sum or will you accept the payment as an annuity? There are pros and cons to both and you want to make an informed decision.Next you and your attorney and accountant are going to want to talk to the lottery commission to set up the mechanism for collecting the winnings. Only a fool would accept a check and drive home. The money needs to be direct deposited into a bank.With your attorney you will want to discuss whether its advisable to set up a corporation or business entity to hold the money, and whether you want to set up trusts for you and your family members and any number of other legal ways to divide the money and keep it safe and preserved. If you look at your attorney and ask him of his opinions on Alaskan Self Settled Trusts, and he doesn’t know what you are talking about, you might need another lawyer. You will also need to draft a Will the sooner the better.With your accountant, you want to know the tax ramifications of the winnings and the various tax strategies to limit or lower the taxes now and in the future because in the end, the vast majority of your winnings are going to paid to the government in the form of taxes.With your financial planner, you are going to want to know how to best invest the vast majority of your money, and assess both the risks and benefits of certain investments. The watch word here is diversification, you probably will end up with dozens of individual investments spread across a variety of areas, from rank and file bonds, to more sophisticated mutual funds, real estate and business investments.Statistically we know that the majority of lottery winners end up going bankrupt. The same is true of the majority of professional athletes who come into substantial wealth at a young age without sufficient training. The average person doesn’t know how to handle vast wealth because the average person doesn’t have and doesn’t know to have the necessary skills to transition from a person who spends nearly everything they make from pay check to pay check to a person who invests nearly everything and learns to live within an arbitrary budget.Living within an arbitrary budget is much more difficult than it sounds. Having a budget of 500 thousand to 1 million dollars a year sounds like a ton of money — and it is a ton of money — but your life style will evolve as you discover ways to spend 10 to 20 times your current income. A trip to Paris to go shoe shopping is within your grasp, buying a condo in the Greek Islands is something you can do. Hiring a staff of people to manage your new properties means you never have to cook or clean again. You can buy a private jet and hire a pilot. These life style choices are within your reach, and your life style starts to resemble what you do as a regular person. You spend what you make each year without paying attention to the consequences. Maybe you always wanted to go to Las Vegas — stay in the emperors suit at Caesar's Palace — and blow a million dollars playing in the high stakes room. That might be okay, if it was a one off — but next month you do the same thing. Maybe you want to help the underprivileged and decide to build wing to the hospital. It’s a 30 Million dollar project to start but with cost over runs and unforeseen delays, you’re up over 100 million and no way to back out. Point is this, there are a lot of temptations that come with having vast wealth, and you don’t know how these temptations will come at you — but rest assured — they will come — and all of those temptations have one goal — separating you from your money.Critical in the decision making process are a team of professionals who know advanced wealth planning strategies, advanced tax strategies and advanced wealth investment strategies.Since there seems to be some interest in this answer maybe a little more discussion is in order.Let’s assume I win 500 million in the next power ball. First I’d secure the ticket to make sure it isn’t lost, stolen, otherwise destroyed or defaced in a way that renders the ticket useless. Immediately open a safety deposit box. I believe the winner has at least 180 days to collect the winnings but the lottery rules need to be consulted. There is time to make solid plans before the winnings are collected. I’d use the time wisely.My next step if I wasn’t an attorney would be to go to a bank with a trust department who will be able to put me in touch with capable attorneys, accountants and financial planners. I know of one locally, and I’d establish an account for the lottery proceeds.There is one immediate question that needs to be addressed —whether I’d take the money in a lump sum or allow the money to be paid out over a term of years. There are pros and cons to both approaches. A little internet research will advises me to take the lump sum because the investment potential exceeds the payoff potential through the lottery annuity fund. With that said, it’s not a decision to be taken lightly and deserves several hours of research and discussion before the ultimate decision is made. I will say this, for the ordinary citizen without the skill set to manage large amounts of money, taking the annuity and allowing the payout over a term of years is a solid choice because it denies access to vast majority of the wealth over a long term of years. Over that time I’d eventually learn how to manage money wisely. However everyone is different and has different goals and objectives. While everyone dreams of the day, they can be free of the normal day to day bills, mortgages, car payments, and credit card payments, those bills are a tiny fraction of the winnings to the extent they are practically a non-factor. Self control is hard.With the plans in place, it’s time to collect the winnings.Since I know that as soon as the winnings are collected, my name and face are going to out in the public, I know that a lot of people are going to come to me asking for money. I’m going to be an instant celebrity, and people I barely know, and good friends alike are going to approach me asking for money. If I give one person money, everyone will get in line to ask for their “perceived fair share.” This is where I have to be tough and smart. Tough because I’m going to say no to a lot of people and be criticized for those decisions. But I also have to be smart. Other than paying of my bills and other expenses, I will concentrate on dividing the money into trusts for the people that you want to protect. I’d set up a spend thrift trust for each person I care about with a bank as a trustee, and provide the corpus of the trust with enough money that 3–5% per year payout would add up to a nice check every year. Refer all calls from family to their trustee whose job it is to make the decisions regarding accessing some or all of the wealth in their individual trust.For example assume I made a spend thrift trust for crazy Uncle Ivan, who then decides he wants to invest a million dollars in Bitcoins. I want the trustee to deal with this situation. And ultimately I want the Trustee to say no. Uncle Ivan keeps his income stream and I maintain peace in the family.I’d also establish a couple of charitable trusts to funnel donations to worthy causes. Wealthy people call these foundations. Essentially an attorney helps set up a mechanism or a procedure where if someone is asking for a hand out, they are directed to the foundation or the charitable trust to assess whether they receive money and ultimately how much. I can pay a nice salary to people who willingly serve on your foundation’s board who will make these decisions for me. People who might criticize such an approach don’t understand the enormous pressure that can be applied by a handful of people who will not take no for an answer.I’m going to create layers and layers of professionals whose job it is to spend my money wisely, while also compartmentalizing the assets with only a tiny fraction of the money being at “risk.”The vast majority of the money, after taxes, is going to end up being invested, the financial planner becomes a crucial component to your professional team. I’m risk adverse, so I’d invest a very large percentage of the money in low yield/low risk investments like municipal bonds. I’m doing this for a few reasons. One, it’s a lot of money and I don’t need much return on my investment. Second, these sorts of investments are practically on auto-pilot so I’m not going to be worried day in and day out about whether I making money or losing money. Third, I don’t want anyone to have the ability to write a check and access the vast majority of the money. I want there to be steps. For example if I were interested in having access to one million dollars, I’d have to contact the financial planner and decide on which investment I’m accessing, talk to the accountant about the potential tax consequences, wait a day or two for the trade to come in, and wait for the money to be deposited in a discretionary spending account. At any point I can change my mind and reinvest the money.I’d diversify the remaining money across high end stocks (Dow Jones blue chip stocks) and real estate, depending on my interest in investing or “playing” with the money more or less as a hobby. I’d stay away from risky business ventures or start ups or anyone who comes to me trying to sell me on the next great idea. On the contrary, if I saw a business that I wanted to invest in, then I’d allocate money, (money I’m willing to lose) towards that investment. My goal is to have most of the money invested within 30–60 days, leaving me to enjoy my new found wealth. Once everything is put in place and I have reasonable checks and controls over the majority of the wealth, I’d find a couple of nice places to live and retire.

I was involved in curriculum design in high schools for forty years. While I can't answer for all schools, of course, I can respond about the ones that I know about. My experience is only in independent (private) high schools.I was the school leader at one school, the assistant head in charge of (among other things) academics, the science/math department chair, and a teacher in two schools that were quite new. I was also a department chair in two schools that were quite old, one more than 100 years old and one more than 200 years old.I found that curriculum design was a continuing process. It is not designed once and then left alone.In the new schools, before the school was actually established, there was a great deal of discussion among school leaders, the founding board of trustees, and parents about what would be expected to be taught in the various departments and how those courses would fit into the school's mission. They often set up the initial goals they wanted the classes to meet. However, it was not until department chairs and teachers were hired that the details of the curriculum were set in place. Every year for the first several years, the curriculum was evaluated (were the school teaching what it should/wanted to/needed to teach?). Changes were made when necessary.In all of these schools, both new and old, formal curriculum assessments were set up approximately every 3 to 5 years. The individual departments discussed the current curriculum and how it might be improved. Did it meet the needs of the students? Did it meet departmental goals? Did it meet the school's goals? How should it be updated with changing times, technology, knowledge, and so on? The departments usually made any changes necessary to meet the overarching goal of the department and to address the individual courses' focus, topics, and to find the important questions to guide the teaching. Meeting the needs of the students was foremost. Teachers of the individual courses (or groups of teachers who taught the same course) selected the learning materials and decided how they would go about teaching. At times, if the department wanted to re-focus the goals that the school had set, the department chair would meet with the school leaders to discuss this. Usually the school understood the needs and accepted the changes.Individual teachers reflected on curriculum on their own and often changed what and how they taught a particular course from year to year. Usually they discussed the changes with the department chair, but if the tweaks were small, there was no need to do this.

I had written the following Answer with regard to the question, “ How do you feel about the country you live in?”, which seems to have disapeared.MartinI live in Canada.I don't have one feeling about Canada. I do not see it as a country that lends itself to some type of holistic assessment. An obvious restraint is that in Canada, country does not equal culture. There are two official language cultures.In fact, one observation, more than a feeling, that I have about Canada, is that I am never sure whether a unit known as English-speaking Canada, exists. I use the term “English-speaking”, rather than “English”, because “English” is redolent of “British”. A large part of the population of English-speaking Canada, is people with no British ancestry at all. What can we say about this amorphous population?My fall back is, “How do you feel about the province you live in”, and “How do you feel about the municipality you live in”. Maybe that gets us closer to something you can meaningfully talk about.I guess that is one thing I feel about Canada. It is a country where talking about the whole country is like trying to grab jelly with both hands.Municipal and Provincial CanadaOne thing I feel about Canada is that it is a country where municipal-level issues really, really matter. And, there is resistance to this. Originally, Canada was meant to be a rural country, with urban life as a kind of exception. This has flipped, but, even among progressive movements with well-educated commentators, there seems to be a reluctance to get it. It is nice to talk about the ecological evil of suburbs, better services for immigrants, adjustments to the social safety net that provide comfort to poor people, or help those who cannot work. However there are a lot of pronouncements about what should happen at the federal level. That is not where most of the attention needs to be. You have to go municipality by municipality, if you want to attempt to be effective. You need to talk about municipal bylaws, school board budgets, municipal grants to community service agencies. This will in some cases take you back to the provinces as well.Having been a visa officer all my life, and having worked on immigration policy in a modest sort of way, perhaps I could offer you an example that has always irritated me. That is, demanding that the federal government “do something” about professional licencing for professions, and the recognition of non-Canadian credentials. The federal government only controls licencing standards for a relatively small number of professionals. It is at the provincial level where most licencing power is. And, the provinces not infrequently assign their responsibility to professional organizations within the province. I feel that, delivering a passionate speech at some national conference is very exciting and satisfying. However, if you really wanted to help people you would be better off to talk to a succession of municipal school trustees, city councillors, volunteer organisations, ethnocultural groups, etc.I should make it clear that rural municipalities are important too. How much attention do they get from Canada's national reformers and commentators?The Vancouver-Toronto NightmareCall my feelings negative, but I have a sad feeling about the current and future states of these two metropolitan areas. The crazy increase in housing prices is causing a really serious decline in the living standards of several million Canadians. Commuting can be miserably hard, as people struggle into work from slightly cheaper housing in the outer suburbs.And my feeling is that, nothing will be done.I remember the golden 1950's to 1970's days of the federal Royal Commissions. They cost a lot and didn't necessarily do much of anything. However, I would almost like it if there was some sort of Royal Commission with a sexy title like “The Royal Commission Regarding Certain Issues Concerning Housing. Public Transport And Land Use In Some Of Canada's More Populous Metropolitan Areas”. (With a just as exciting a title in French.) However, I don't think this would fool the governments of British Columbia and Ontario. We would see the B.C. government insist that it is all revenge for being difficult about the Transmountain Pipeline and Rob Ford, pretending hysteria, and insisting the whole thing is a media fake news personal plot to hurt him and bring him down.There is a saying in Yiddish the translates as, “Sometimes, nothing helps”. I think we don't need to ask whether we are there yet.Patronizing And Ruralizing Canada's Indigenous Peoples Is Not A Progressive StanceI greatly respect the right of Canada's indigenous peoples to their sovereignty over at least some of their heritage lands. However, what about their lands and lives in Winnipeg and Regina?I feel that a patronizing game is being played on Canada's indigenous peoples, perhaps with the collusion of some native leaders. Talking about reserve rights, nation to nation and hereditary title makes an ego rush for those who like to wheel and deal at the federal level. However, it would be nice to see some serious talk with Winnipeg City Council, the indigenous urban people of Winnipeg and plain, run of the mill Winnipegers, about just what nation to nation means in North End Winnipeg. Of course this dialogue might not be a national media pleaser. A talk with the city councillors who represent those parts of Winnipeg, or indigenous people who have to live in a shelter, might be a talk about sad and ugly things.But, I feel that, if that talk doesn't occur, it is probably beyond ignorance and neglect. I see it as an attempt to ignore the problems facing Canada's indigenous peoples, by boxing them into a rural image, traditional life on an isolated reserve.I do feel some hope about this issue. We are getting into a large first, second and even third, very large generation of urban indigenous people. I think they will force attention on themselves. Were there a Royal Commission Concerning The Urban Issues Of Indigenous Canadians, I would like to see it happen at a motor hotel in North Winnipeg, not a conference centre in Ottawa. I feel it would be helpful if that commission did a walk around some local streets, on a brisk night in January.The Canadian Debt HellApparently, on a personal level, Canadians are among the most indebted people in the world. This is mortgage debt, but also running up your credit cards and your lines of credit. To its credit, the federal government has issued one warning after another. But, the word does not seem to be getting though.It is not just humongous mortgages in Vancouver and Toronto. Canadians (At least those who can get themselves a credit rating.) have become “want stuff” people. It is no coincidence that the Canadian self-storage industry is doing so well.Although it almost feels like treason to myself, I feel that, in a whole lot of ways, Canada is a big Alberta. It has happened repeatedly. The latest boom will go on forever, so the young people thought. We can make the payments on that big new suburban house, that cottage, that camper, two weeks in the Dominican Republic, that monster SUV.And then, Alberta crashes down, and the people in it. The market price for oil and natural gas collapses. The jobs end. The mortgage payments can't get paid and not the SUV payments either. Even if the Trumpian administration doesn't give us one, another recession is going to come sooner or later. And, so many Canadians are out on the credit limb, that the whole country is going to look like suburban Edmonton in the worst of times.I don't feel that anything can be done about it. Individual Canadians will have to dodge the consequences on their own. So, make your next car a low-end one, or keep the one you have got. Treat your house as a place to live, not an investment. If you have a investment portfolio, and a broker, have a really good talk about risk adverse strategies, before it is too late.The Canadian Social Safety Net, MaxedI am grateful every day for the Canadian social safety net that lets me sleep at night. But, my feeling, is that Canada has gone about as far as it can go.As I said before, and in other Answers, it is not about “Canada”. The federal government is not the main governmental service provider in this country. It is the provinces and the municipalities. I respect when Canadian progressives advocate for national pharmacare, and some other enhanced social services. However, I haven't heard of any province that isn't in serious debt, and they, not the federal government would have to provide the programmes, or authorize and fund the municipalities to do it. They are wallowing somewhat themselves.As much as I really would like to believe otherwise, I think we have gone as far as we can go. Much more tax pressure on the middle class, which provides much of Canada's income tax revenue, and they are going to think the Republican Party looks smart.I feel that now, the duty of Canadian progressives is to hold the line against back sliding and erosion of the social safety net, or a reversion to blaming the poor for being poor. I feel that also, they can bolster this stance by making something as explicit as it can possibly be, and reminding Canadians that the social safety net isn't just about being kind and nice.I have said it in other Answers, I believe that there is 5% to 10% of the adult Canadian population that can't get much better. These are people with physical and mental disabilities, people who suffered serious childhood abuse, people with addictions, people with parents who didn't care about getting them educated, and some others. They can only be supported.The progressive people of Canada should be saying, “That is the way it is.” Of course there is the humanitarian argument but, there is one that may be powerful with that consuming, self-centred people. “What do you think will happen if we don't keep supporting these people. They won't stay quiet. They will cause problems that we really don't want to have.”Would Someone Please Talk About Reality?However, I feel that there is a dearth of social honesty in modern Canada. As I said above, it is better to prance on the national stage, instead of talking to that street person in Edmonton. I don't feel at all confident that Canada will get realistic, non self-interested leadership, on some of the most important issues.Martin Levine