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

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

#71

Post by bsanr2 » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 5:37 PM UTC

I feel kind of dirty gossiping, but I also feel like Low-Key's story is a bit fishy. He's "the good child" who didn't tell his parents about lottery winnings that certainly would have been enough to, at the very least, give back to the people who raised him; however, he DID go out of his way to convince them to write his sister out of their will (we have no idea if the "horrible things" she supposedly did reasonably justified being disowned).

It's his money to do with what he wants, of course, but it feels as if we're hearing only one side, and that of a party who feels guilty and is looking for extrinsic support for their behavior. I'm trying to understand why someone who felt no qualms would post this publicly.

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

#72

Post by throwaway210222 » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 5:37 PM UTC

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.

> why do I want to pay off my house?

Because its the poor-man's version of F-You money.

It instantly and dramatically lowers the monthly takings to have to make to keep your household going, and noticeably shifts the balance of power in all financial negotiations in your favour.

Try it. Trust me.

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

#73

Post by huntermeyer » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 5:37 PM UTC

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.

Did you have to pay a gift tax for each friend?

Did each friend have to pay income tax on the money/property you gave them?

How was the house actually paid for, did you give the friends cash or did you buy the house for them and somehow gift it to them?

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

#74

Post by alecst » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 5:37 PM UTC

andi999 wrote: post #64

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."

How much do you donate annually? 10 Million people donating 100$ per year is substantially more than he could ever donate.

Therefore he should not donate any? I don't see where to go from this position.

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

#75

Post by MattGaiser » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 5:38 PM UTC

I have a thing where I made a "bunch" (not a lot for Westerners, but people in other countries can do it too) of money online and a couple blogs publicized it. It is not something I could hide as it is very public if you look correctly.

I get an absurd number of scam attempts, some of them very customized. Someone tried to fake a family stamp collection (I collect stamps). Also, random people who looked me up would introduce me when I met them with other people as "the guy who [did $thing to get $amount). Even people in North America. And we are talking about 30K ish here.

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

#76

Post by DonHopkins » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 5:38 PM UTC

post_break wrote: post #7

This is the right thing to do if you want to keep it and stay sane. If I won I'd delete all social networking, change my phone number, set up an LLC and make purchases through that. The quote of "I know that my parents would not have asked for a thing, but my sister would have told me to donate half to her church" makes my stomach turn.

He should help his sister out by willing all his money to a religious cult deprogramming organization like Cult Awareness Network.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deprogramming

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_Awareness_Network

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

#77

Post by daniel-thompson » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 5:38 PM UTC

Jxl180 wrote: post #31

post_break wrote: post #7

This is the right thing to do if you want to keep it and stay sane. If I won I'd delete all social networking, change my phone number, set up an LLC and make purchases through that. The quote of "I know that my parents would not have asked for a thing, but my sister would have told me to donate half to her church" makes my stomach turn.

Setting up an LLC to be used as your personal incognito identity is definitely illegal. LLCs are meant to be for operating a legitimate business, not a second personal identity.

Definitely consult a lawyer, but it is legal in some circumstances in some states to (for example) anonymously claim lottery winnings or buy real estate. See https://www.natlawreview.com/article/using-llc-or-trust-to-r... for more information.

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

#78

Post by MattGaiser » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 5:38 PM UTC

Hamuko wrote: post #69

MattGaiser wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Say you became a consultant.

"I'm an outside consultant to beach resorts and other interesting places."

I work on globally scalable and extremely complex systems.

Specifically, the ecosystem. I test it for enjoyment purposes.

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

#79

Post by TeMPOraL » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 5:39 PM UTC

> You no doubt realize that money doesn’t change who you are. It can, however, change others’ perceptions of you. People project their own needs, resentments, insecurities and ambitions onto others. Compare and despair is an often unavoidable human trait.

This, so much. It doesn't even take that much money for some people to recategorize you in their head, once they figure out you have more than them.

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

#80

Post by jessaustin » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 5:39 PM UTC

spoonjim wrote: post #34

The point of this letter is to brag when the OP clearly cannot brag to the people he actually wants to.

Why not just vacation to a place where shallow people congregate (say... Las Vegas?) and stay in a ridiculously opulent hotel while renting a ridiculously fancy automobile? Stay a couple of weeks, eat fancy meals, receive the various plaudits of those who admire wealth, and when it all gets sickening one can just fly home. One would have to spend the extra money it takes to keep one's true identity confidential, but that's one of the many perks of wealth.