Guest Julius Quasar Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 I know that very few people win the Lottery, and many think that it's a waste of money or time. But not everyone thinks it, especially the winners. But, although some Lotto Winners have led very happy lives after winning, there are some who are [financially] ruined in a short time.Take for example, a 55 year old guy in the town of "Scott Depot" named Jack Whittaker. December 25, 2002, he won the $315 Powerball Prize and even after Uncle Scam, er, Uncle Sam, took the tax bite from his fortune, he still enjoyed $114 million (Lump Sum). Looking part Johnny Cash, part Jed Clampett, he did give $17 million in donations to the church, but his life went to hell. Unlike a traditional [smart] Lotto winner, who disappears from sight after the winfall, he strutted about, and wouldn't stay out of the local headlines. He was dumb enough to carry large sums of cash with him all over the place, forcing the local cops to track down thousands of dollars constantly getting stolen from his home, his office, and his SUV. In Summer of '03, he passed out at a strip club called the Pink Pony. He had $545,000 in cash in his briefcase when he was there, and it got stolen (big surprise). Cops recovered the cash and arrested the manager and a [former] stripper at the club for robbing Mr. Whittaker when he was passed out. Then Whittaker himself got into trouble with the law. In 2004, cops arrested Jack for assaulting a bar manager and threatening to kill said bar manager. He got 2 DWI's, and 3 women at the racetrack filed sexual harassment charges against him, claiming he had groped them while he was at the slot machines there. Jack denies all these charges.The worst part was, in September 2004, A friend of Jack's 17 year old granddaughter Brandi, was found dead in his house from a drug OD by the local cops after investigating a break in alarm while Jack was out of town. 11 days later, Brandi was found dead behind a van, her body wrapped in plastic and dumped by her panicky boyfriend. Jewel Whittaker said "I wish I had torn up that Lottery Ticket, I wish all this had never happened.". Jack's story/predicament is by no means typical for a lotto winner, but it is a cautionary tale.***A guy we'll call "Bugs", a 38 year old ex-field laborer, won the lotto by accidentally marking the wrong number. He got an $8.9 million Lump Sum. He got to quit his job, but then his family and [former] friends exploited him. "I'd loan them the money, and then I'd hear them say 'Why should I pay him back? He's a millionaire!'..." says Bugs. Financial entanglements, and failed investments led to destroyed friendships and strained relations. His phone rang so much, he ripped it out of the wall and didn't replace it. "Don't get me wrong, I love being able to help people, but I went too far and now I have more problems than I did before I won the money." he said. After he had won, his nasty bitch of an ex wife slithered her way back into his life like the malevolent poisonous cobra she is, wanting to reconcile, and to have children. But Bug's lawyers warned him not to, it would mean $40,000/year in child support payments (per child). So Bugs lives alone, in a single wide trailer, living off the remains of his fortune. He just wants to be happy, but he's scared to trust ANYBODY. He claims he wishes he had never won the money, despite still buying lotto tickets on a regular basis..."Well, it's something to do!" he says.***Billie Bob Harrell, a 47 year old stock clerk at Home Depot, in Harris Co., Texas, won a $31 million ticket on June 28, 1997. He had a wife, Barbara Jean, and 3 kids. He took the annuities of $1.2 million per year. He bought extravagant gifts for friends and family, much like Mr. Whittaker of Scott Depot had done, and he always helped the church out. But his spending exceeded his earning, and he got got constant demands from acquaintances and strangers alike, demanding money. The demands kept coming, and the phone calls flooded in, despite the fact he changed his [unlisted] number 7 times. Almost 1 year later, the family was in shambles. Barbara Jean divorced Billie Bob. Billie Bob got desperate, and tried to get his hands on more money, and got ripped off by the infamous Maryland-based Firm "Stone Street Capital", Billie Bob sold 10 years of future lotto winnings, worth upwards of $6 million to that Capital Firm for $2.25 million, despite warnings from his lawyers, family, and anyone who knew about this AND could grasp the concept that 6 is a bigger number than 2.25. As his life got crappier, Billie Bob got depressed, and lost 50 pounds. His wife refused to reconcile, despite his requests. She invited him over, however, for a family dinner at her house. Sat., May 22nd, 1999, Billie Bob arrived that afternoon to Barbara Jean's home, and realizes there's no one there yet, he's early. He was found by his children later that day, in the master bedroom, stripped naked, and dead from a shotgun wound to the chest, and surrounded by suicide notes. But the authorities suspected foul play, especially after learning of the whole situation. Also, the money, $2.25 million, from Stone Street Capital Firm, "mysteriously disappeared". Billy Bob's heirs couldn't afford to pay the estate taxes. Shortly before his death, Billy Bob Harrell confessed to a financial adviser "Winning the lotto is the worst thing that EVER happened to me.".According to one study, 70% of people who come into money end up blowing it within a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Think about it, you could live all your life, in a really comfortable way if you were to invest that money into the bank. Let's say you win 8 million (after taxes and all that crap), you can happily blow 3 million and then invest 5 million. With the interests, you can have a nice life, not like a rich dude, but like a well mid-high income person, without having the fancy job and all, and with lots and lots of free time. Now imagine if you win a really BIG price, now that would be interesting. It's just a matter of knowing what to do instead of getting whatever catches your eye. Another way to think about it, if you had 5 million dollars ( and you are stupid enough to keep them on cash and not in the bank), that means you can also divide it on , let's say, 50 years, and you would still have 100 grand to blow every year, which is a very, very nice amount of money for just sitting and not doing anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Julius Quasar Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 I'm not anti lotto, I agree with you there, Steve. But these people....they....just...."A fool and his money are soon parted", that's my 2 cents worth on all those stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Monroe Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 People are stupid and do stupid things.And the world continues to turn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Julius Quasar Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 People are stupid and do stupid things.And the world continues to turn.Yeah....and some of the stupid things they do are pretty damn interesting (and/or funny).If I had won the lotto, I'd hide the money properly, and [maybe] pretend I'm poor. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
"User" Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 I've had a keen interest in business and investing since I was 14. I've always told myself that I'd invest large sums of money in the stock market :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Monroe Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Yeah....and some of the stupid things they do are pretty damn interesting (and/or funny).If I had won the lotto, I'd hide the money properly, and [maybe] pretend I'm poor. I'd use it to solve finnancial problems (bills ect), then probably donate the rest as I see fit to charities and shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asper Sarnoff Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 One thing that strikes me with all of those, is that they were... Oh, I don't know... stupid?If I won a hideously large sum in the lottery, I'd take it and spread them out between banks and mutual funds, as well as some of them in stocks I believed would be profitable in the long run. After having financially fortified myself enough to embark on a certain project, so much that I could abandon it if I wanted, and still live in relative luxury for the rest of my days, I'd live out a dream and become a high-performance car manufacturer. Exactly like one of my idols did it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_von_Koenigsegg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 There are guys who won the lottery twice in a row. Law of big numbers.To be honest, I'm one of those people who calls the lottery the idiot tax. Most people wont play a slot macine, but play the lottery despite the odds being worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Julius Quasar Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 I've heard of that, winning twice in that lotto. I play it for shits and giggles (not much to do for $1 nowadays, thanks to Indonesian-level inflation here in the states....)I have won some money playing it, like, $80.A friend of mine's teacher won the lotto, and then the next day, he peeled out of the school parking lot, and flipped the school administration the middle finger as he drove away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kursed Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Think about it, you could live all your life, in a really comfortable way if you were to invest that money into the bank. Let's say you win 8 million (after taxes and all that crap), you can happily blow 3 million and then invest 5 million. With the interests, you can have a nice life, not like a rich dude, but like a well mid-high income person, without having the fancy job and all, and with lots and lots of free time. Now imagine if you win a really BIG price, now that would be interesting. It's just a matter of knowing what to do instead of getting whatever catches your eye. Another way to think about it, if you had 5 million dollars ( and you are stupid enough to keep them on cash and not in the bank), that means you can also divide it on , let's say, 50 years, and you would still have 100 grand to blow every year, which is a very, very nice amount of money for just sitting and not doing anything.As the famous Dave Ramses said.. Children do what feels good Adults plan ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star Fox Runner Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 My dad and I have been doing this dance for years, he buys the tickets, I check the numbers on the internet to see if we got anything. Haven't won yet.Dad has a plan if by some cosmic chance we do win this, choose to get the money in yearly payments, pay off all of our debts before doing ANYTHING, then continue going as we are now, no splurging, at least not on anything big.Then again, seeing how it hasn't happened yet, we might get stupid and blow it all, partially why I hope it doesn't happen, but it wouldn't hurt to financially secure for years to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Julius Quasar Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 If you win the lotto, BE CAREFUL!No matter how hard you try to keep it a secret, today's crappy post modern society, being nosy as it is, this will get out.Consider moving, and changing all [cell] phone numbers. Leave no forwarding address. Consider a gated community to move to.Lawyer up, get a good Business/Real Estate/Tax attorney who can help you.DON'T let anyone wheedle or guilt you out of your money. Whether you take the lump sum or the annuities, be careful with them.If you get annuities, don't go to those advance pay firms, they rip you off. If you got $6 million remaining in annuities, don't let some capital firm buy that from you for an up front payment, especially $2.25 million.As for lump sum...as the old saying goes..."Don't spend it all in one place." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FoXXX Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 People let the money control them and they get stupid. It sickens me people waste their money when there are tons of people out there who need and would use the money honestly Oo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Julius Quasar Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 People let the money control them and they get stupid. It sickens me people waste their money when there are tons of people out there who need and would use the money honestly OoReminds me of that "Cartmanland" episode of South Park. xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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