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

41–50 of 262 posts

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

#41

Post by bcrosby95 »

Reubend wrote: post #12
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.

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.

Maybe I just have good friends but I feel like this fear is overblown.

I made a decent amount of money from a startup (enough to pay for a wedding + eventual retirement at a standard age). As part of this windfall I paid for a vacation for me and my close friends.

No one ever came asking for money. No one asked if we could do it again. Friends that didn't go have never asked for me to pay for their vacations. And if they did I would just say no.

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

#42

Post by whycombagator »

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).

How much is a ton? (ballpark)

And what car did you buy?

I suppose having everyone treat you differently is a downside, but surely having the money is better than not?

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

#43

Post by bostonsre »

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).

What if they are struggling with money issues and you want to help them? Or what if they are struggling with money issues in silence and you don't know about it?

Also... what if they find out about it later and you never told them? Wouldn't they think that you are a selfish doosh?

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

#44

Post by cf100clunk »

This would never fly in Canada, where lottery winners must present themselves in person for wins, with publicity and all. Full names are given to the press, complete with home town and smiling face. Some winners have tried to skirt or directly challenge those regulations, to no avail. A winner cannot disappear behind an LLC or other apparatus. Frankly I'd be greatly worried about collecting a huge win from a Canadian lottery unless I departed the ceremony directly to a private plane for any of the well known tax havens in the Caribbean.

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

#45

Post by MattGaiser »

ghaff wrote: post #19
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).

It probably depends where you are in life, how much money, your relationship to family, how comfortable they are, etc. Certainly seemed like the right call in this case. On the other hand, if your family is comfortable, this happens to you when you're 35 and want to retire and travel the world at least for a while, it's probably hard to deny that you had some sort of real financial windfall.

Say you became a consultant.

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

#46

Post by alberto-m »

Probably a fake. I visit MarketWatch a couple of times a week and they always feature on the front page a letter of someone in a unusual financial situation who has taken, or is planning, questionable decisions about their money. The ghost writer behind this is quite good, I have to admit.

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

#47

Post by celticninja »

technothrasher wrote: post #39
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.

At my current ~2% mortgage interest rate, why do I want to pay off my house? I make more putting that money into investments returning me much better than that. I don't think the super wealthy keep their money needlessly tied up in real estate like that.

Because you are in a position to get a low interest mortgage, not everyone is. Then you have to consider that giving someone ₱250k to buy a house is different to buying someone a ₱250k house.

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

#48

Post by garmaine »

ghaff wrote: post #19
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).

It probably depends where you are in life, how much money, your relationship to family, how comfortable they are, etc. Certainly seemed like the right call in this case. On the other hand, if your family is comfortable, this happens to you when you're 35 and want to retire and travel the world at least for a while, it's probably hard to deny that you had some sort of real financial windfall.

Sure, but you still don’t say anything.

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

#49

Post by lucasmullens »

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.

> By far the most satisfying part was buying a house each for my friends and family.

How did you decide who made the cut-off of being a "friend"? Seems like every acquaintance you ever had would suddenly become a fake friend if you were giving away free houses, no? Genuinely curious what that was like.

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

#50

Post by hanniabu »

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.

If you don't mind, how much were the houses on average and how many did you buy for friends? Are you still invested in crypto?
Post reply on HN