The Powerball Lottery jackpot has grown to $1.5 billion as of Jan. 12 and everyone's in a frenzy praying to be the owner of the winning ticket of the largest jackpot sum to date. But, as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for, because winning the record-breaking amount may not be the answer to your dreams. Sure, there are a lot of outrageous things you can buy in an instant but the cash-heavy door to your dream may actually be the entrance to your nightmare as well.
It's your typical windfall story: a person wins the huge jackpot on a lottery or given a huge inheritance and begin to spend like there's no tomorrow because they can and they don't see the cash pile going down. Fast forward a few months or years and you find them broke and regretful over their callous spending as they declare that "money is the root of all evil" and that winning the lottery was a curse.
To be honest, we have all been taught that money really is the root of all evil but we are sometimes also blinded by of all the amazing things money can buy that may bring temporary happiness. After all, most huge jackpot winner quit their jobs and prefer to live a life of luxury, somehow forgetting that "idle hands are the devil's plaything" and "idle minds are the devil's playground." It's not a question of religion because, we have to admit, people really come up with crazy ideas when bored.
"It's just upheaval that they're not ready for... It's the curse of the lottery because it made their lives worse instead of improving them," Financial Consultant Don McNay said. McNay has served as a consultant to lottery winners.
The Bad Side Of Winning
According to the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), about 70 percent of people who land sudden windfalls use up all the money and end up filing for bankruptcy. Another study by the Statistic Brain Research Institute (SBRI) indicates that 44 percent of lottery winners spent all the money they won within five years. Now you may think that the 26 percent difference between the two studies is too large, however, NEFE did not indicate the time frame it is using from the year of winning and filing for bankruptcy. Perhaps the remaining 26 percent use up the money between five and ten years. Whichever the case, all the money is gone and winners are back to square one.
Take, for instance, construction company owner Jack Whitaker who won $314.9 million lottery jackpot in 2002. He was already well off prior to winning but the sudden windfall caused him to file for bankruptcy only four years later. Why? He lost his daughter and granddaughter to drug overdose because of the access to so much money, he was robbed twice-one instance having been robbed of $545,000 he left sitting in his car parked outside a strip club, had people attempt to drug and steal from him and lost a lot of money to excessive gambling.
"My granddaughter is dead because of the money... I wish that we had torn the ticket up... I don't like what I've become," Whitaker said.
Of course, there are also instances wherein winning a huge amount of money would reveal people's intentions. Winners suddenly gain so many friends that they party with and sometimes even relatives start hanging around. Some even go as far as to ask, if not demand, share of the winnings.
Sandra Hayes, a winner of the Powerball jackpot amounting to $224 million who split the winning with her colleagues, said that winning a huge amount showed her people's greed. "I had to endure the greed and the need that people have... These are people who you've loved deep down, and they're turning into vampires trying to suck the life out of me," she said.
It all comes down to discipline and finding the right people who can advise you financially, as well as having good emotional support.
The Good Side To Winning
It's not all horror stories of rags to riches and back to rags again because there are people who are more careful about how they handle their money. Some even learn from people who won before them and make sure that they will not walk the same path. One of them is David Gehle who won the $365 million Powerball jackpot back in 2006. He hasn't run out of money yet because he was terrified of waking up one day to find that he spent everything. What he did is to hire accountants and lawyers who gave him sound advice with his finances.
"I never was the kind of guy who went for big, expensive cars or anything like that. I just want something that runs," Gehle said. Since he didn't let the money take over him, he is still living comfortably now.
Then there's Richard Lustig who capitalized on his win by writing the book, "Learn How to Increase Your Chances of Winning the Lottery." He observed past winners and noted that the reason why many became broke again is because most of the winners have never held such a big amount of money prior to their win and they end up going on a spending spree. He was also quick to differentiate himself.
"People, they just don't think. You have to secure your future... They just go through it like crazy. They think there's no tomorrow. Well, there is a tomorrow and eventually [the money] will run out," he said.
