Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I won over $55M in the lottery, but didn’t tell my friends or family

marketwatch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 262 posts

Re: I won over $55M in the lottery, but didn’t tell my friends or family

#21

Post by philwelch »

alecst wrote: post #14
philwelch wrote: post #2

Classic Reddit thread: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vzgl/you_just_... > Congratulations! You just won millions of dollars in the lottery! That's great. > Now you're fucked. > No really. > You are. > You're fucked. This guy did exactly the right thing.

It's such a low bar to pass. The guy in the article is 67, makes 1MM+ in interest a year, and won't even consider telling his friends or family? Or donating a penny of it? Is there not room for a middle ground here? What about: "Hey, I made a million bucks in the lottery/stocks/crypto. I heard you're having a tough time, take this -- you don't owe me anything. Wishing you well, -Dave."

Word gets around and eventually you're going to get harassed, conned, and maybe even robbed.

Re: I won over $55M in the lottery, but didn’t tell my friends or family

#22

Post by kiba »

alecst wrote: post #14
philwelch wrote: post #2

Classic Reddit thread: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vzgl/you_just_... > Congratulations! You just won millions of dollars in the lottery! That's great. > Now you're fucked. > No really. > You are. > You're fucked. This guy did exactly the right thing.

It's such a low bar to pass. The guy in the article is 67, makes 1MM+ in interest a year, and won't even consider telling his friends or family? Or donating a penny of it? Is there not room for a middle ground here? What about: "Hey, I made a million bucks in the lottery/stocks/crypto. I heard you're having a tough time, take this -- you don't owe me anything. Wishing you well, -Dave."

And attracts stalkers and desperate? It may not be his friends or families, but strangers.

Re: I won over $55M in the lottery, but didn’t tell my friends or family

#23

Post by _kmrr »

42069 wrote: post #5

I made ~50 million in crypto. By far the most satisfying part was buying a house each for my friends and family. Having a paid off house is really a massive stress reducer for most people which imho gives you the 90% of the financial freedom of being super wealthy.

Was that before taxes, or did you pay taxes on a CEX only? Not that I am accusing you or expect you to admit even pseudonymously to tax evasion (and not that I judge you or know what your country’s laws are)—more just curious how the crypto-wealthy typically handle this.

Re: I won over $55M in the lottery, but didn’t tell my friends or family

#24

Post by shocks »

alecst wrote: post #14
philwelch wrote: post #2

Classic Reddit thread: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vzgl/you_just_... > Congratulations! You just won millions of dollars in the lottery! That's great. > Now you're fucked. > No really. > You are. > You're fucked. This guy did exactly the right thing.

It's such a low bar to pass. The guy in the article is 67, makes 1MM+ in interest a year, and won't even consider telling his friends or family? Or donating a penny of it? Is there not room for a middle ground here? What about: "Hey, I made a million bucks in the lottery/stocks/crypto. I heard you're having a tough time, take this -- you don't owe me anything. Wishing you well, -Dave."

“Hi Dave,

Thanks for reaching out. You’re right that we were struggling and this generous gift really helped ease our minds.

Anyway, Auntie Venessa has come down with lung cancer and we’re finding it difficult to…”

etc

Re: I won over $55M in the lottery, but didn’t tell my friends or family

#25

Post by spuz »

42069 wrote: post #17
Reubend wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you, although I think it would be really easy to go overboard here. Did you have people come to you asking for houses? Maybe I'm being cynical, but I think that news would spread really quickly if someone in my friend group was buying houses for several people.

No, they kept it quiet. My close friend group is pretty distinct and tight so there wasn't really anyone on "the cusp".

That's probably a good clarification to make - some people have more friends than others so when you say you bought them each a house that could be just 4-5 people or 40-50. Good for you that you can share your good fortune with your friends without it affecting your relationship negatively.

Re: I won over $55M in the lottery, but didn’t tell my friends or family

#26

Post by jkereako »

thepasswordis wrote: post #9

Not that much, but I did make a ton of money in crypto. Similar thing: bought a house, also bought myself a nice car. I didn't tell any of my friends, but did mistakenly tell one of my parents, who then felt it necessary to share this information with the rest of my family. If you make a bunch of money: I would highly recommend not telling people. The will treat you differently (not in a good way).

I’ve wondered about this: when someone comes into a windfall and their loved ones see them differently, are they really different or is the person seeing them exactly as they are?

Re: I won over $55M in the lottery, but didn’t tell my friends or family

#27

Post by pclmulqdq »

alecst wrote: post #14
philwelch wrote: post #2

Classic Reddit thread: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vzgl/you_just_... > Congratulations! You just won millions of dollars in the lottery! That's great. > Now you're fucked. > No really. > You are. > You're fucked. This guy did exactly the right thing.

It's such a low bar to pass. The guy in the article is 67, makes 1MM+ in interest a year, and won't even consider telling his friends or family? Or donating a penny of it? Is there not room for a middle ground here? What about: "Hey, I made a million bucks in the lottery/stocks/crypto. I heard you're having a tough time, take this -- you don't owe me anything. Wishing you well, -Dave."

Psychologically, the middle ground turns out to be an unstable equilibrium. You can give them some money, but then they come back for more. If you say no, your family may find itself breaking apart unless you give up everything you got in the lottery

Re: I won over $55M in the lottery, but didn’t tell my friends or family

#29

Post by throwaway58483 »

~$11 million from a whistleblower reward.

Similar in some ways to winning the lottery, but there was no way to avoid some friends and family finding out. E.g. a friend and my dad helped edit my award claim submission.

I moved to a new city, kept it private, eventually told a couple new friends. Some people treat you the same, some people treat you differently (in a bad way, like another commenter mentioned). So it's useful as a filtering mechanism.

Re: I won over $55M in the lottery, but didn’t tell my friends or family

#30

Post by Animats »

alecst wrote: post #8

In contrast with the prototypical lottery winner who burns through all their money and ends up basically where they started, this guy didn't spend any significant amount of his money and ended up basically where he started.

Most people who suddenly make a lot of money blow through it in only seven years. (From "The Challenges of Wealth", 1988). This guy is doing the right thing.

Many of those people making at high salaries at FAANG companies need to be saving more of it, because they'll be over the hill in their 40s, with 40 years left to go.

Post reply on HN