Would winning a lottery change your life?

[sm808]

An interesting corollary to this question - how much of a "windfall" would it take for you to quit your job tomorrow? Some people say that they would keep working even if they won, for example, $100M lottery, but I feel like most people (who didn't squander the $) would invest it and try to live off of the income.

[jpg7n16]

What would you do if you won a lottery?

Tithe
Pay off family's debts (the folks CCs and house, sister's school).
Then invest about 1-2M in a good municipal bond fund (tax free income of roughly 50k-100k).
Then I'd start investing with the rest.
Give 13k a year to each of my folks, bro and sis.

Oh and not tell anyone except my close close family.

Then I'd start living on my muni bond income, but I'd still look for a job where I could help people with their finances. Make a budget and all that. I wouldn't really splurge or anything. My main thing I like to buy is stocks so, lucky me.

If I won $100M, I'd literally feel as though I just won about $90M more to add to my portfolio however I see fit.

An interesting corollary to this question - how much of a "windfall" would it take for you to quit your job tomorrow? Some people say that they would keep working even if they won, for example, $100M lottery, but I feel like most people (who didn't squander the $) would invest it and try to live off of the income.

Quit my current job? or quit working altogether?

I don't think there is any amount where I'd quit working altogether.

[disneysteve]

An interesting corollary to this question - how much of a "windfall" would it take for you to quit your job tomorrow?

I used to be of the opinion that if I won a large enough amount to make it possible, I would quit. Now, I'm not entirely sure. I think I would take advantage of the financial freedom to remold my job into something I would want to keep doing. I'm a physician and pretty over-worked. I could see myself reducing my office hours to 4 days/week and reducing my scheduling to 3 patients per hour, allowing me to spend more time with each patient. I would also eliminate certain types of patients from my practice and focus on the types of patients that I really enjoy treating.

Of course, I'd also take more vacation time.

How much would it take to do this? Since I'd still be working, I'd say $2 million ought to cover it.

[bjl584]

I really don't know. I think that I would park all of the money in a cash account or CD for about a year and get all my ducks in a row before i took further action.

[Ima saver]

It wouldn't change my lifestyle at all. I would invest most of the money but a large chunk which I would give to our local no kill animal shelter.

[scarlett]

It would change our lives. I would pay of the debts. Buy a new car. Invest the money and live off the interest. I would downsize the house and travel.

[mdcrim]

Oh, downsizing the house is actually a really good idea. Get a condo or no-maintenance residence in a gated community so you could leave at the drop of a hat. Hmmm... Now I just need to win the lottery!

[disneysteve]

I would downsize the house and travel.

Oh, downsizing the house is actually a really good idea. Get a condo or no-maintenance residence in a gated community so you could leave at the drop of a hat.

I can see the appeal of downsizing for the reason mdcrim mentioned, except I wouldn't be happy with a small place when we were living there and not traveling. Of course, our house isn't all that big to begin with.

To add to what I said earlier, I would buy a nice motor home and use that for a lot of our domestic travel.

[Broken Arrow]

It would be great if lottery winners could remain anonymous. I think that would solve a lot of problems that befall the winners. Unfortunately, when people know that you have millions, things change.

I hear the trick is to set up a blind trust in advance, or something along those lines. Where there's money, there's a way.

However, that would require paying for legal consultation and services to make sure it's done right. For more than $1 million, I would consider doing that. Less than that, I might go without it. All this is hypothetical for me anyways.

Also, by law, the North Carolina lottery will not publish the names of any winners with jackpots beyond $100k.

[RN2B]

*Pay off my mortgage
*Pay off my parents' and sister's debts
*Buy my parents a house anywhere they want
*Take my family on a really nice vacation
*Go to medical school (I've always said I'd love to get paid to be a student. lol)
*Donate to charities and non-profits, especially the children's hospital here - they are having financial difficulties, and they saved my daughter's life a few years ago

[Eric80]

I forget where I read it. According to a survey, most people who won huge lottery, their lives are changed, to the bad way. Most of them say, if possible, they wish they did not win it. it is interesting, isn't it?

[elessar78]

Like I said earlier, it's because they're not prepared for what happens next. Granted it's not their fault since the odds don't make winning a realistic scenario. So why really bother? But the moment you do, you better be prepared for how your life WILL change.

-You'll have new "relatives" coming out of the woodwork
-You'll hear a lot of tear jerker stories
-You got a target painted on your back

I think it's good, for any windfall not just the lottery (inheritance), to get some time between the event of receiving and the actual spending.

[scarlett]

Years ago a couple in a town close by won a really big lottery prize. Within a week of winning they had to leave town to get away from the harassment for a while. They ended up moving away altogether. I think it's hard to keep identities secret, particularly in smaller towns where everybody seems to know everybody.

I'm not greedy though, I'd just like to win it once!

[bjl584]

There was a gentleman close to me that won a huge jackpot several years ago. His life turned into a nightmare. People constantly harassed him, women made false claims of sexual abuse against him, people tried to sue him for a multitude of reasons to try to get his money, his grandaughter ended up dying of a drug overdose. It went on and on. I think that he may have died, but I don't remember how. His story was profiled on a tv show sometime back.

[mdcrim]

There was a gentleman close to me that won a huge jackpot several years ago. His life turned into a nightmare. People constantly harassed him, women made false claims of sexual abuse against him, people tried to sue him for a multitude of reasons to try to get his money, his grandaughter ended up dying of a drug overdose. It went on and on. I think that he may have died, but I don't remember how. His story was profiled on a tv show sometime back.

Was this the guy in West Virginia? His life went to he**. There are several stories out there about the "curse of the lottery". A lot of people end up with failed marriages and bankruptcy as a direct result of winning the lottery. What a waste of good lotto money...