Winning Lotto numbers not always the ticket to dreams, success

[bluestateguy]

Winning the lottery is a very bad thing for people who have a habit of making bad decisions in life.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/oct/01/winning-lotto-numbers-not-always-ticket-dreams-suc/

By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 1, 2009

TAMPA - One person's blessing is another person's curse.

Most of us dream of winning the lottery; of days spent leisurely on the new boat, or jetting to sun-splashed beaches in southern France. For some, that sudden wealth is a burden; a constant struggle of having to say no to family and friends and yes, take what you want, to the government.

In all the cases, the sudden, life-changing wealth changes them. Whether the change is for the better depends on the person. While some relish never having to worry about how much a car or house costs, others find the newfound wealth too much to handle.

Some have stories about dreams fulfilled, about investments that ensure wealth for generations to come. Others talk about making an effort not to change at all; of continuing to work; of driving the same car, living in the same house.

And others tell of a plague of problems and of sieges of beggars; family, friends and strangers; of lawsuits between relatives and of being dragged to court by the government; and in one case, prison on tax fraud charges.

Many, contacted for this story, just didn't want to talk about it. Here are a few who did:

more...

[virgogal]

1. I'd still like to give it a try,though. :-)

[aquart]

4. Yes. I have it all planned. Every damn time.

[MiniMe]

5. I totally agree. I want to check the details of this claim out myself.

[Skip Intro]

2. Oh, I think I'd be just fine.

So would my family.

[Orrex]

3. If any lottery winners are burdened by their winnings, I'll be happy to assist

Funnel a few million my way, and I promise those evil greenbacks will never trouble you again!

[BeyondGeography]

6. Money doesn't make you happy because it's not something you ever wanted as a child

It's not an infantile wish - Freud.

There's something to that.

[sandnsea]

8. I have since I was 5 years old

Where did you think groceries and clothes and vacations and music lessons and books and bikes came from?

[BeyondGeography]

9. Well, think "tons of wealth"

Play along a little.

[EFerrari]

10. Freud wasn't very well acquainted with poverty. n/t

[AnneD]

19. Or the female mind....

for that matter.

[Orrex]

15. In itself, money doesn't make anyone happy for long, but...

it can be very good at eliminating a great many factors that make people unhappy.

[BeyondGeography]

17. That quote always helped me understand why so many rich people are miserable in this country

There are basic things we all need, whether we understand it or not. Money is on the list, but it's not at the top.

[Boojatta]

18. "Money doesn't make you happy because it's not something you ever wanted as a child"

What would happen if you discovered a candy store that would let you have candy in exchange for money?

[BeyondGeography]

20. You need to win the lottery to buy candy?

[Boojatta]

36. Why do you ask?

Do you have spare candy?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

7. True story.....

Someone I encountered in my work won the lottery. He was a poor man, worked as a laborer, had a wife and son whom he was very happy with.

Anyhow, one day, overnight, he became a very rich man.

Here's what happened to him after that:

He bought a gigantic home in a luxury area
Filled it with his wife and family
Brought in drug dealers (who also lived with them)
He took on more wives and had more children
He moved in some prostitutes
He was running through the money wildly
He failed to pay the association fees for the classy neighborhood he lived in

When I encountered this person, he had squandered most of the money, he had been diagnosed with AIDS, he sought out legal help to retain his home on the day the sheriff arrived.

He lost the home.

His wives disappeared and took off with the kids

[leeroysphitz]

16. Sounds like a Chick Tract...

[Sarah Ibarruri]

32. Is that like a chick movie? nt

[Maru Kitteh]

11. It's a chance I'm willing to take. Lay it on me.

[Selatius]

12. The only real problem is dealing with grifters and con artists who may know you.

I guarantee if anything brings you down that isn't from your own irresponsible actions, it's gonna be those people.

If you win, the first step is to get a lawyer. Second step, seek financial counseling. Third step, run like hell.

Because the word that you won is going to get out quickly. You need to sequester yourself from the possibility that you are going to be taken by friends or even neighbors. People who have won have found their homes burglarized.

[BeyondGeography]

14. Especially when they're related to you

Which causes a whole other set of problems.

[safeinOhio]

21. I'd make a great winner, no friends or relatives.

[morillon]

23. Yeah, I'd have to leave the country.

Most of my relatives and step-relatives are decent people who would basically just be happy for us. But there are some real scumbags in the mix, too, and we already have to be careful not to let them know where we live or that we make decent salaries. The only time my mother's house was ever robbed was by a step-niece who broke in with her druggie friends and took everything they could get their hands on.

[Selatius]

27. Me, I'd have to disappear for a while. Some of the people I'm acquainted with, well, ....

let's just say it wouldn't be a good idea to let them know of the winnings.

[pipi_k]

35. Now, I count myself as fortunate...

There are people I know who would hate me no matter how much money I had...


:7

[shireen]

13. oh, i know what to do with the money ....

all i need is a chance to prove it. :D

[bigwillq]

22. The paper I work for

printed the wrong numbers the other day. Idiots. :rofl:

[DaveinJapan]

24. The trick is; tell noone, EVER.

Seriously. Get a lawyer and a financial guy is also sound advice, but the most important thing is to tell noone. Don't collect the money yourself, have the lawyer collect it for your trust, don't release your name and don't tell a soul that you don't have to (yes, that includes family aside from your spouse whom you must also swear to secrecy).

If you're feeling generous and want to share the wealth, go for it, but don't tell them you won the lottery (just tell em you made some great investments and had a great year or something).

That's my plan, anyway. :evilgrin:

[A HERETIC I AM]

25. I've read that 3 out of 5 big money lottery winners declare bankruptcy within 5 years.

By "big money" I mean in excess of $1.0 Mil.

One important key thing is to NOT COLLECT THE MONEY YOURSELF. Stay as anonymous as possible. Take a few weeks before you collect and set up either a trust or an LLC and send your attorney to collect the check and have his picture taken. You don't want your name appearing in connection with the winnings in any way if at all possible.

Second, as suggested by someone above, GET THE FUCK OUTTA DODGE.

Leave town. Go on vacation. Stay away for at least 6 months. Go visit Australia - somewhere - anywhere. For a while.

Third, DON'T TELL ANYONE. The only family members to tell are the ones closest to you and even then, one has to be careful. If your mother is the type that can't keep her mouth shut and will call every relative you never knew you had, don't even tell her until a financial plan is in place.

Fourth, throw away your phone and go get a new one with an unlisted number. (That perhaps should be number one!)

Fifth, learn to say "NO". As in "No, I'm sorry, but I can not help you." One of the biggest reasons for lottery winners blowing through large sums is they succumb to pressure from relatives and friends for financial help. Helping some is perfectly fine, but unless you want it all to be gone in short order, say No. You can not solve the problems of the entire world.

The Powerball for tomorrow (10/02) is $193 million. The cash option is $99.6. Take another 35% off the top for the IRS and you would get $64.74 million, less any state taxes. Put a million of it in your checking account and take a vacation. If you can keep from spending more than $2740 per day while traveling, the first mill will last you 12 months. (Imagine spending a million dollars on a 12 month vacation!)

On edit to say Dave in Japan and I were obviously typing at the same time and said many of the same things. Jinx, Dave!

[DaveinJapan]

30. lol..yup. great minds and all that stuff. nt

[AnneD]

26. That whole "they won the lottery and were miserable ever after"....

is just a rationalization that is suppose to make us feel better about our poor miserable lives.

A friend of mine, her Grandmother won the lottery. It was set up in a trust for the children and grandchildren (she was a grandchild). It paid for her education and purchased her house. That enabled her to save what would have been a mortgage for her daughters' education. Now that the girls are educated-they save money for retirement and the house is already paid for and they have 15-20 years of work if they want to. I haven't seen the down side yet.

[greenbriar]

28. I would like the chance to see for myself

thank you

[Shandris]

29. If it were me

I think I would have to disappear. And look heavily into Genetic Recombination so that the 'winner' of the lotto vanished on a cellular level. Why? I wouldn't want to deal with the number of 'friends' I would suddenly have, despite not having more than I can count on half a hand in the lifetime before that. Now THATS what a call a 'fresh start' lol. :)

[Mariana]

31. It happens. My husband's sister and her husband

won about $3mil. I don't know what the cash option was, but after taxes and all it was maybe in the range of $1mil to $1.25mil. Not huge bucks, but enough to make life one hell of a lot easier forever, if they weren't stupid.

But they were stupid. No one can figure out where the money went - they didn't "share" with family and friends and they didn't spend crazily. It's possible they got scammed out of it somehow, or perhaps one of them gambled it away over time. At any rate, five years later they were bankrupt and divorced.

[pipi_k]

33. There's something to be said about wanting things we can't have

For me, anyway.

Gives me something to dream about. I think that if I could have literally anything I wanted, I would probably be a very miserable person.


But that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to have a bit more money, mainly so I could make sure my kids and stepkids were comfortable. Pay off their homes and cars, put some money away for themselves. Oh, and my mom, definitely...Social Security doesn't pay much.

And of course, I'd make sure Mr Pip and I were covered as well. :)


I don't want much...just to be comfortable and not have to worry about paying my bills.

[WeDidIt]

34. A buck is a pretty small price to pay for hope. n/t

[SoxFan]

37. Try me

[TwilightGardener]

38. My heart bleeds. Really.