Peaceful_Warrior
Full time employment: Posting here.
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The lottery is a tax for people who are bad at math. 
If you won the lottery, would you tell anyone?
- Thread starter simple girl
- Start date
I'm sorry for your loss. Early on in the California lottery I realized that this could happen, so I vowed to only buy "quick picks", thereby not being a slave to "my" numbers and potentially subject to this kind of "loss."
I would definitely tell as few people as possible about a big win. When I occasionally play for the big jackpots, I have a plan to sell 10% of my winning ticket before I claim the prize to each of my brothers, my sister, and SIL. That way I can share the winnings but avoid (can I?) the gift tax. May not even be necessary, but that's the way my mind has organized the big win in its daydreams.
Early on in the California lottery I realized that this could happen, so I vowed to only buy "quick picks", thereby not being a slave to "my" numbers and potentially subject to this kind of "loss."I would definitely tell as few people as possible about a big win. When I occasionally play for the big jackpots, I have a plan to sell 10% of my winning ticket before I claim the prize to each of my brothers, my sister, and SIL. That way I can share the winnings but avoid (can I?) the gift tax. May not even be necessary, but that's the way my mind has organized the big win in its daydreams.
bssc
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I think though that relatives think that they are more entitled to "won" money than earned money. I also think that relatives have no clue that you could save and invest that kind of money.TromboneAl said:
kaudrey
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
If it was $1K a week, I would tell my family, but they are all doing fine themselves and don't need money from me. I don't think I'd bother telling my friends, because $1k a week, although very nice, wouldn't be life-changing for me right now.
I couldn't really FIRE on $1k a week; I'm 37 and live in DC and still have a good-sized mortgage. But it would help push up my FIRE date because I could save more, and I would probably take more vacations along the way too.
I would also donate more to charity and do some work on my townhouse that I've been wanting to do.
If I won a huge jackpot, my life would change and I'm sure my friends would notice, so I'd have to tell them something (I envision quitting my job and volunteering for a few charity organizations, philanthropy, and traveling the world). And I'd want to take some friends with me on my trips. They would know something was up!
Karen
I couldn't really FIRE on $1k a week; I'm 37 and live in DC and still have a good-sized mortgage. But it would help push up my FIRE date because I could save more, and I would probably take more vacations along the way too.
I would also donate more to charity and do some work on my townhouse that I've been wanting to do.
If I won a huge jackpot, my life would change and I'm sure my friends would notice, so I'd have to tell them something (I envision quitting my job and volunteering for a few charity organizations, philanthropy, and traveling the world). And I'd want to take some friends with me on my trips. They would know something was up!
Karen
Spouse used to work with an XO who was very, well, intense.
Single and in her low 40s, she routinely put in 10-12 hour days and worked both Saturday & Sundays. Not every one and not every week but often enough to make the troops edgy. (The command maintained a 24/7 watchbill.) She wasn't one of those bosses who had to have company while she was working but she thought nothing of calling you up any time of the day/night/weekend and getting publicly grumpy the next day if you weren't immediately available for a discussion. She pestered spouse during a leave period (before even reporting to the command) so frequently that spouse decided that it was just easier to cancel the leave and report for duty.
She was so stream-of-consciousness preoccupied with the job and the To-Do list that when a group was on travel they'd actually take turns accompanying her. She never caught on that no one would sit beside her for more than two hours. She was just supremely (yet narrowly) focused on optimizing that command and her job and becoming the fleet admiral, no matter how many lives she sucked into her own hard-working vortex. The Navy wasn't the biggest thing in her life-- it was the only thing.
One day this XO's father died and put her in charge of the family's charitable foundation. It's at least eight figures and apparently it's not just a Fidelity fund. She presumably got a salary or an expense account for having to take care of the thing. It was her personal equivalent of winning the lottery... eligible for a military retirement plus a big family allowance and a corporate credit card for life.
Her Go-Navy attitude completely turned around and she disappeared almost overnight. Her retirement request was processed so quickly (less than 60 days) that she must have told the CO and the admiral that she was going to burn all her leave and would never come back to work. Her desk was empty by the end of that week and she was flying on international fact-finding trips that weekend-- no one could reach her. She showed up once at the command (on the way to the airport) in expensive tailored civilian corporate business attire, dropped off her badges & paperwork, and she never showed up at the command again. She didn't even bother to turn over with the officer who relieved her. Although she'd been keenly focused on that XO job while she had it, once something better came along she changed her focus just like flipping a switch.
I sometimes wonder if I'm going to see her on Charley Rose's show sitting next to Bill & Melinda Gates...
Single and in her low 40s, she routinely put in 10-12 hour days and worked both Saturday & Sundays. Not every one and not every week but often enough to make the troops edgy. (The command maintained a 24/7 watchbill.) She wasn't one of those bosses who had to have company while she was working but she thought nothing of calling you up any time of the day/night/weekend and getting publicly grumpy the next day if you weren't immediately available for a discussion. She pestered spouse during a leave period (before even reporting to the command) so frequently that spouse decided that it was just easier to cancel the leave and report for duty.
She was so stream-of-consciousness preoccupied with the job and the To-Do list that when a group was on travel they'd actually take turns accompanying her. She never caught on that no one would sit beside her for more than two hours. She was just supremely (yet narrowly) focused on optimizing that command and her job and becoming the fleet admiral, no matter how many lives she sucked into her own hard-working vortex. The Navy wasn't the biggest thing in her life-- it was the only thing.
One day this XO's father died and put her in charge of the family's charitable foundation. It's at least eight figures and apparently it's not just a Fidelity fund. She presumably got a salary or an expense account for having to take care of the thing. It was her personal equivalent of winning the lottery... eligible for a military retirement plus a big family allowance and a corporate credit card for life.
Her Go-Navy attitude completely turned around and she disappeared almost overnight. Her retirement request was processed so quickly (less than 60 days) that she must have told the CO and the admiral that she was going to burn all her leave and would never come back to work. Her desk was empty by the end of that week and she was flying on international fact-finding trips that weekend-- no one could reach her. She showed up once at the command (on the way to the airport) in expensive tailored civilian corporate business attire, dropped off her badges & paperwork, and she never showed up at the command again. She didn't even bother to turn over with the officer who relieved her. Although she'd been keenly focused on that XO job while she had it, once something better came along she changed her focus just like flipping a switch.
I sometimes wonder if I'm going to see her on Charley Rose's show sitting next to Bill & Melinda Gates...
I think family and friends are not the big issue, but it is the random people that I don't want to know about the winnings. From what I have heard from all the cases of people blowing it, there is a huge amount of pressure from religious and other charites for donations. So I would like to keep them out of the picture.
Even though all lotteries want to advertise the name of the winner, I think if you get a lawyer and work through him you might be able to retain some anonymity. Also a $2M lottery is not enough to live the high life but enough to make a lot of people jealous and mad at you for not just giving them gifts. So better keep the anonymity and see where you can go with that.
-h
Even though all lotteries want to advertise the name of the winner, I think if you get a lawyer and work through him you might be able to retain some anonymity. Also a $2M lottery is not enough to live the high life but enough to make a lot of people jealous and mad at you for not just giving them gifts. So better keep the anonymity and see where you can go with that.
-h
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