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

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

#91

Post by vymague »

throwaway58483 wrote: post #29

~$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…

Obvious question, the people you blew the whistle on didn't hire people to track and harass you? Or worse.

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

#92

Post by ineedasername »

bostonsre wrote: post #43
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?

You have to have a fairly healthy family dynamic to be able to give or loan a lot of money to each other and not have everything ruined. And chances are that if you had that family dynamic already, you'd be less hesitant revealing your financial status.

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

#93

Post by hanniabu »

dougmwne wrote: post #35
jnwatson wrote: post #3

Other than not donating any of it, he made the right call. The fact that the winner still has the money after 10 years is evidence he took the correct course.

I have worked in the nonprofit industry for 10 years. People with money have no moral obligation to give me money. The way the organizations I work with spend the money is about what you would expect for a business with no real economic incentive to be efficient or solve the advertised problem. Lots of politics, lots of waste, lots of egos. I will never steward your life savings to improve the world as well as you wo…

If someone wanted to donate, which are the top organizations you'd recommend and which are the top ones you'd avoid given your knowledge on efficiency and grifting?

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

#94

Post by yupper32 »

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.

That thread is really dumb. You can't just throw stuff out there like "You're 20x more likely to die of homicide!" and expect to be taken seriously.

1. The demographic that is likely to win lotteries might already be more likely to die of homicide (or become bankrupt, etc) than the general population.

2. Throwing large multiples out sounds flashy, but it doesn't mean much if the probability was already extremely low.

You're not fucked if you win the lottery... The amount you can afford with 100 million is incredible. Buy a huge lot and hire security. Hire great attorneys and financial firms to handle details. Don't spend more than you expect to make in interest yearly.

Boom, saved you from having to read a wall of Reddit lottery porn.

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

#95

Post by theandrewbailey »

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.

Debt is risk. You told the bank/lender that you would pay $x every month for n years. How do you do plan to meet that?

Pretend you lose your job in an economic recession. You can't make your mortgage payment anymore, and because recession, your investments aren't worth anything either. Lets pretend you have rental properties, too: there's an eviction moratorium, and small businesses are closing left and right, so almost no one's paying rent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_recession

OH F**K.

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

#96

Post by sonotathrowaway »

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."

“Three people can keep a secret if two are dead”

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

#97

Post by treesknees »

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.

There's a balancing act of saving vs spending. A lot of people pinch pennies and save for retirement, working 60-80 hr weeks, skipping vacations and family parties, buying the cheapest car, etc. When they get to be 65 their health prevents them from actually enjoying that money. Maybe they get to that age and they die and never get to spend any of it.

I do hope this guy is at least going on some trips and utilizing his gift while he can. Seems pretty pointless to hoard $50M to do nothing with it (yes, he collects the interest, but my point still stands.)

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

#98

Post by misiti3780 »

cf100clunk wrote: post #44

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…

In Israel apparently too:

https://youtu.be/9PK-netuhHA?t=351

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

#99

Post by vymague »

cf100clunk wrote: post #57
jnwatson wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bioethicist/philosopher Peter Singer disagrees. "if you are living comfortably while others are hungry or dying from easily preventable diseases, and you are doing nothing about it, there is something wrong with your behavior." [1] I'm inclined to agree with him. This is my current moral quandry, since my income is about to dramatically increase. I'm looking for a new car. I can pay in cash. I could pay $90K for a Po…

The donor's dilemma: to whom when so many are needy? I'd suggest donating to a reputable agreggator, such as the United Way or Red Cross.

And there's the usual claim that many charities are super corrupt. Yes, there are lists of "good" charities. But you know.

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

#100

Post by throw123123123 »

shocks wrote: post #24
alecst wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

"I never really liked Auntie Venessa"
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