WHAT $1 TRILLIONWOULD BUY

$1 Trillion Would Buy... 41,999,160 NEW CARS

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$1 trillion would let you buy a Prius for about 40% of all American families

Next: Median-priced American homes

$1 Trillion Would Buy...5.6 MILLION HOMES

According to the latest figures from the National Association of Realtors, the national median price for existing single-family homes in the third quarter of 2010 was $177,900. There are about 80 million detached, single-family homes in the U.S., according to the NAR and the Census Bureau.

Next: Hours of minimum-wage labor

$1 Trillion Would Buy...140 BILLION HOURS OF WORK

That’s calculated at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Still hard to get your mind around? How about this: One trillion dollars is enough to hire all 2.8 million residents of the state of Kansas -- men, women and children -- in full-time, minimum-wage jobs for the next 23 years.

Next: Teachers

$1 Trillion Would Pay...18 MILLIONTEACHERS' SALARIES

According to the National Education Association, the average elementary school teacher salary in the U.S. is about $55,300. NEA estimates that there are about 2 million elementary school teachers, so $1 trillion would cover their salaries for about 9 years.

Next: Members of Congress

$1 Trillion Would Pay...CONGRESS FORTHE NEXT 10,742 YEARS

The current salary for rank-and-file members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate is $174,000. That's 535 lawmakers --not counting their staffs or the extras paid to congressional leaders.

Next: NBA superstars

$1 Trillion Would Buy...LEBRON JAMESFOR THE NEXT 50,000 YEARS

A lot of numbers are being thrown around about just how much the basketball superstar will be paid for playing for the Miami Heat. But let’s say it’s just $20 million a year. At that rate, $1 trillion would cover the tab for King James for the next 50 millennia. Heck, King Tut was born less than four millennia ago.

Next: Chocolate

$1 Trillion Would Buy...1.33 TRILLION CHOCOLATE BARS

Got a hankering for something sweet? A sweet $1 trillion will buy you that many 1.55-ounce Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars at 75 cents apiece. That’s 64 million tons of chocolate, equivalent to the weight of more than 150,000 Boeing 747-400s.

Next: Celebrity divorce settlements

$1 Trillion Would Buy...4,000 CELEBRITY BREAKUPS

It’s been widely reported that Tiger Woods paid anywhere from $100 million to $750 million to settle the divorce from his wife, Elin Nordegren. Let’s assume it cost Tiger $250 million. At that rate, a trillion dollars would cover plenty more tabloid breakups.

Next: Lifetime income

$1 Trillion Would Generate...$6.2 BILLION A MONTHGUARANTEED FOR LIFE

With the demise of the company pension plan -- and its wonderful promise of regular checks in retirement -- immediate-payout annuities are garnering more attention. These investments let you trade a lump sum for a guaranteed stream of income for the rest of your life. For example, a 65-year-old man with a sweet quarter of a million nest egg to invest could buy an annuity that will pay him $1,549 a month.

Even at today’s record-low interest rates (the lower the interest rate, the more expensive it is to buy future income), $1 trillion earns its way -- and then some. The $6.2 billion monthly income figure is for men; because women live longer, on average, $1 trillion would buy a 65-year-old woman a little less. But having $5.8 billion a month to fall back on would still cover some bills.

Next: Interest on a one-year certificate of deposit

$1 Trillion Would Earn...$12.9 BILLION INTERESTON A ONE-YEAR CD

Everyone knows that interest rates on bank accounts, money-market funds and certificates of deposit are ludicrously low. But even at just 1.29% -- the best rate we could find recently -- $1 trillion socked away in a one-year CD would still yield a handsome return.

Next: U.S. Army privates

$1 Trillion Would Pay...56.8 MILLIONARMY PRIVATES

Annual basic pay for an active-duty U.S. Army private with less than two years of experience is $17,611 a year. So $1 trillion goes a mighty long way, even by military spending standards. To put that in perspective, 56.8 million is more than 100 times the total number of active-duty soldiers in the Army today.

Next: Family incomes

$1 Trillion Would Cover...19.2 MILLION FAMILY INCOMES

Next: Estate taxes

$1 Trillion Would Pay... ESTATE TAXES FOR 2,222 BILLIONAIRES

$1 Trillion Would Buy$1 MILLION A DAYFOR NEARLY 3000 YEARS

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