5 ms·

Good. So many of these ‘winners’ lives are ruined almost purely from disclosure.

SlowBro 9y ago
That was my first thought. Suddenly everyone is knocking on your door and you may even get threats to your life.
supergarfield 9y ago
This (fairly famous) Reddit post is a really interesting read about this: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vo34/whats_the_happiest_5word_sentence_you_could_hear/chb4v05/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vo34/whats_the...
- internetman55 9y ago
  Sounds like this guy made the mistake in being really rich in a place that isn't "for" rich people. The rapper Lil Boosie has an interview on YouTube where he talks about this. Once you reach a certain level of wealth and status and start to stand out a little too much, you simply can't be around "normal" people without many of them becoming enraged and wanting to hurt, rob, or kill you. You need to go to a rich-people-friendly area (basically some really nice areas of the major metros) or that kind of stuff will just continue.
John_KZ 9y ago
Yeah, $264M after taxes. What a disaster. I bet your life would be ruined if you won the lottery.
- m3kw9 9y ago
  Lol, yes don’t underestimate what people expects and want out of you. It’s human nature in pure raw form. You can say no, and they don’t have to take it nicely maybe not even in a perfect world.
- icelancer 9y ago
  Yeah, it probably would be. For many - most, even - their lives become a living hell.
  - msie 9y ago
    Well, both of you are speculating. As some people’s lives are ruined, there are people who won non-anonymously and are doing just fine.
    - Bluestrike2 9y ago
      Sure, but the sheer number of horror stories is pretty remarkable. As is the sheer stupidity of how they end. There's also varying degrees of ruined lives. You can avoid kidnapping by some random lunatic, getting killed off by a greedy sibling courtesy with a ridiculously stupid scheme, burying your kid, spiraling into a life of crime, or any of the other examples and still wind up with a life in tatters. Money can distort friendships and families. That's a given. But lottery money? It just seems like a ticket (ha!) to a world-class shit show. People hear the word jackpot, and act as though because you didn't earn the money--after all, it was just a moment of luck--that they're somehow entitled to it as well. Random people coming up to you at a restaurant, or harassing you by phone or knocking on your bloody door? It's the financial equivalent of the full moon. People take it as an excuse to act nuts, and they apparently get very, very angry when lottery winnings aren't shared with them. Winning the lottery and avoiding that kind of nightmarish drama appears to require a constant vigilance for the rest of your life. Let it slip, and you're screwed. If you're lucky, you'll just get peppered with money requests that treat you if you're Santa Clause. Only real. Want to help people? You'll need to sort through the scams and the lies, first; honestly, you'd probably have more of an impact if you just cut annual checks to majority charities instead of trying to directly help people financially yourself. If you're unlucky, you get kidnapped and murdered as part of a harebrained scheme that never had a chance of actually succeeding. Which is just adding insult to injury. There are lottery jackpot winners who avoid these kinds of twisted outcomes. But claiming your prize publicly is a great way to stack the deck against you, all but inviting the worst kind of human behavior to target you for the rest of your life. Ruthlessly maintaining your anonymity doesn't guarantee anything, but it would at least give you a decent start.
- matheusmoreira 9y ago
  Have you ever seen relatives fighting over inheritance? It's quite ugly. I consider myself lucky to be an only child. Winning the lottery is even worse. I'm glad that woman managed to protect her identity.
googlryas 9y ago
Perhaps, but perhaps it is just because you're almost guaranteed that you are giving basically unlimited money to a previously very poor person who has bad money management skills(the demographic that spends the most money on the lottery).
- DaiPlusPlus 9y ago
  I know many lotteries issue winnings as annuities (often with a lump-sum alternative, I know). But I’m surprised they don’t switch entirely to annuities simply because it avoids all the bad PR the lottery gets from people who mismanage the money. It’s probably better for the economy too as it’s harder to irresponsibly spend $20k every month for the rest of their lives than a $10m one-off payment: thus maximising utility of money.
  - pfarnsworth 9y ago
    It's trivial to convert an annuity into a one-time lump sum payment, it's basic finance. Plus they would probably rip off the annuity holder as well by giving a much lower amount.

That was my first thought. Suddenly everyone is knocking on your door and you may even get threats to your life.

This (fairly famous) Reddit post is a really interesting read about this: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vo34/whats_the_happiest_5word_sentence_you_could_hear/chb4v05/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vo34/whats_the...

internetman55 9y ago
Sounds like this guy made the mistake in being really rich in a place that isn't "for" rich people. The rapper Lil Boosie has an interview on YouTube where he talks about this. Once you reach a certain level of wealth and status and start to stand out a little too much, you simply can't be around "normal" people without many of them becoming enraged and wanting to hurt, rob, or kill you. You need to go to a rich-people-friendly area (basically some really nice areas of the major metros) or that kind of stuff will just continue.

John_KZ 9y ago

Yeah, $264M after taxes. What a disaster. I bet your life would be ruined if you won the lottery.

m3kw9 9y ago
Lol, yes don’t underestimate what people expects and want out of you. It’s human nature in pure raw form. You can say no, and they don’t have to take it nicely maybe not even in a perfect world.
icelancer 9y ago
Yeah, it probably would be. For many - most, even - their lives become a living hell.
- msie 9y ago
  Well, both of you are speculating. As some people’s lives are ruined, there are people who won non-anonymously and are doing just fine.
  - Bluestrike2 9y ago
    Sure, but the sheer number of horror stories is pretty remarkable. As is the sheer stupidity of how they end. There's also varying degrees of ruined lives. You can avoid kidnapping by some random lunatic, getting killed off by a greedy sibling courtesy with a ridiculously stupid scheme, burying your kid, spiraling into a life of crime, or any of the other examples and still wind up with a life in tatters. Money can distort friendships and families. That's a given. But lottery money? It just seems like a ticket (ha!) to a world-class shit show. People hear the word jackpot, and act as though because you didn't earn the money--after all, it was just a moment of luck--that they're somehow entitled to it as well. Random people coming up to you at a restaurant, or harassing you by phone or knocking on your bloody door? It's the financial equivalent of the full moon. People take it as an excuse to act nuts, and they apparently get very, very angry when lottery winnings aren't shared with them. Winning the lottery and avoiding that kind of nightmarish drama appears to require a constant vigilance for the rest of your life. Let it slip, and you're screwed. If you're lucky, you'll just get peppered with money requests that treat you if you're Santa Clause. Only real. Want to help people? You'll need to sort through the scams and the lies, first; honestly, you'd probably have more of an impact if you just cut annual checks to majority charities instead of trying to directly help people financially yourself. If you're unlucky, you get kidnapped and murdered as part of a harebrained scheme that never had a chance of actually succeeding. Which is just adding insult to injury. There are lottery jackpot winners who avoid these kinds of twisted outcomes. But claiming your prize publicly is a great way to stack the deck against you, all but inviting the worst kind of human behavior to target you for the rest of your life. Ruthlessly maintaining your anonymity doesn't guarantee anything, but it would at least give you a decent start.
matheusmoreira 9y ago
Have you ever seen relatives fighting over inheritance? It's quite ugly. I consider myself lucky to be an only child. Winning the lottery is even worse. I'm glad that woman managed to protect her identity.

googlryas 9y ago

Perhaps, but perhaps it is just because you're almost guaranteed that you are giving basically unlimited money to a previously very poor person who has bad money management skills(the demographic that spends the most money on the lottery).

DaiPlusPlus 9y ago
I know many lotteries issue winnings as annuities (often with a lump-sum alternative, I know). But I’m surprised they don’t switch entirely to annuities simply because it avoids all the bad PR the lottery gets from people who mismanage the money. It’s probably better for the economy too as it’s harder to irresponsibly spend $20k every month for the rest of their lives than a $10m one-off payment: thus maximising utility of money.
- pfarnsworth 9y ago
  It's trivial to convert an annuity into a one-time lump sum payment, it's basic finance. Plus they would probably rip off the annuity holder as well by giving a much lower amount.