Famous Lottery Winners Who Ran Out Of Money And Luck
Winning a grand lottery jackpot seems like a dream come true — unless you splurge it all and run yourself into financial ruin. Winning the lottery can suddenly provide you with a fortune and future that you have been seeking out for a very long time. But for a bunch of unlucky players, the lottery winnings may turn into a curse. The list of those who have misspent their prize money while suffering a major heartache is long, and some even regret winning today. But why did this happen? — They head into the situation without planning on the attained wealth and probably react feeling too overwhelmed. The sudden flush of millions of dollars can put you in a situation where you may not handle your winnings well and end up running out of luck and money. Here are some famous lottery winners who found out that winning a lottery was ultimately a losing proposition.
A Real-Life “Beverly Hills” Story
A winner named William “Bud” Post worked at carnivals and spent time in jail. He actually seemed aimless with no hopes of making money ever to live well. But in his 40’s with just a few dollars to his name, the man won more than $16 million in the Pennsylvania Lottery. But Post was under a debt of $500,000 within three months of his win, because he bought a twin-engine airplane (though he did not have a pilot’s license). The situation got worse when his brother was convicted of planning his murder. His annual after-tax deduction prize payment of $500,000 was spent with little thought of the future, and he filed for bankruptcy. And soon he died of respiratory failure.
Striking It Rich Twice!
Evelyn Marie Adams, the New Jersey convenience store clerk won a seven-figure prize not once, but actually twice. Adam defied the huge odds and bagged $3.9 million from her state’s Pick-6 lottery game in October 1985, and kept playing. And soon after that, she bagged $1.4 million. She faced many requests for financial help. And soon ended up losing a large chunk of her fortune in Atlantic City casinos, leaving her broke, making her work for two jobs. Do you want to hear her advice,
“go to your lawyer and accountant first!”
Millionaire Who Bagged A Million Dollar Jackpot
It may seem hard to believe but a man who was already a millionaire won a $315 million lottery jackpot. Andrew “Jack” Whittaker, a resident of Hurricane, West Virginia captured a record-breaking Powerball Prize on Christmas in 2002 and chose to take a lump-sum payout of $170.5 million. The grand millionaire lottery winner planned to donate a large portion of his winnings. But soon landed into trouble. He divorced his wife, his granddaughter who appeared with him on national TV shows after the win, was found dead in mysterious circumstances. After these sudden mishappenings, he started drinking heavily. He was robbed quite often and reported that he has been battling more than 400 legal complaints at one time. And what is his biggest regret of all times,
“I wish I had torn than ticket”.
Santa Claus For The Poor
Winning a $31 million Texas Lottery jackpot looked to be a boon for Billie Bob Harrell Jr.’s financial problems. Taking $1.2 million as annual payments, he paid his bills, purchased new cars, and homes for family, and bought nearly 500 turkeys for the poor. “He played Santa Claus for them,” said his mother to People magazine. But the endless pressure of strangers asking him for money took a toll on him. He was forced to change his numbers multiple times. Even he and his wife separated. Just less than two years after he had hit the jackpot, Harrell took his own life.
Winning a lottery can still be easy if you bet on the right lottery numbers, choosing them rather mindfully with the help of The Lottery Lab, than depending completely on your luck. But what comes after winning actually shapes your life. The win is worth only when you value the newfound wealth. Winnings can turn into quite a disaster if you don’t plan it quite well. After you win the lottery, one of the first things to do is put together a list of people you trust and make one of them a responsible one, hire a lawyer that takes care of your money, and knows where to invest and how to protect your wealth so that you do not fall for scams, because you now have a target on your wallet.
Rember, money saved is money earned, so spend wisely.
