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[alterno69]

I would buy a bigger house, at least a couple of new cars, have my wife quit her job. I love being a photographer so i'd keep doing that but i'd raise my price a lot to only do the fanciest shit and get tons of new equipment.

Travel with my family for a while and give my parents and sisters a couple of millions each. I'd probably move to another country cause having that kind of money in Mexico is not a good idea.

 

[ChubbleDucks]

In IL the winners have to come forward publicly.

In the UK you have 2 options, either come forward publicly and they will provide support for cold callers and begging letters or be anonymous and you will have to deal with whatever is thrown at you by yourself when your winnings are found out.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Why would you be afraid to show your face? Do you feel as if you will be a target for criminals? Is there documented evidence that Lottery winners are targeted if they're revealed?

It's not so much about fear as it is avoiding the annoyance of every person you've ever met suddenly remembering you exist and trying to buddy up with you after they see you win a huge amount of money.

 

[ChrisD]

Why would you be afraid to show your face? Do you feel as if you will be a target for criminals? Is there documented evidence that Lottery winners are targeted if they're revealed?

YES

Lottery screws things up, even if you're a good person.

 

[TomShoe]

Why would you be afraid to show your face? Do you feel as if you will be a target for criminals? Is there documented evidence that Lottery winners are targeted if they're revealed?

Ooooh, you have no idea...

Nearly one third of multi-million dollar jackpot winners eventually declare bankruptcy. Some end up worse. To give you just a taste of the possibilities, consider the fates of:

Billie Bob Harrell, Jr.: $31 million. Texas, 1997. As of 1999: Committed suicide in the wake of incessant requests for money from friends and family. “Winning the lottery is the worst thing that ever happened to me.

William âBud❠Post: $16.2 million. Pennsylvania. 1988. In 1989: Brother hires a contract murderer to kill him and his sixth wife. Landlady sued for portion of the jackpot. Convicted of assault for firing a gun at a debt collector. Declared bankruptcy. Dead in 2006.

Evelyn Adams: $5.4 million (won TWICE 1985, 1986). As of 2001: Poor and living in a trailer gave away and gambled most of her fortune.

Suzanne Mullins: $4.2 million. Virginia. 1993. As of 2004: No assets left.

Shefik Tallmadge: $6.7 million. Arizona. 1988. As of 2005: Declared bankruptcy.

Thomas Strong: $3 million. Texas. 1993. As of 2006: Died in a shoot-out with police.

Victoria Zell: $11 million. 2001. Minnesota. As of 2006: Broke. Serving seven year sentence for vehicular manslaughter.

Karen Cohen: $1 million. Illinois. 1984. As of 2000: Filed for bankruptcy. As of 2006: Sentenced to 22 months for lying to federal bankruptcy court.

Jeffrey Dampier: $20 million. Illinois. 1996. As of 2006: Kidnapped and murdered by own sister-in-law.

Ed Gildein: $8.8 million. Texas. 1993. As of 2003: Dead. Wife saddled with his debts. As of 2005: Wife sued by her own daughter who claimed that she was taking money from a trust fund and squandering cash in Las Vegas.

Willie Hurt: $3.1 million. Michigan. 1989. As of 1991: Addicted to cocaine. Divorced. Broke. Indicted for murder.

Michael Klingebiel: $2 million. As of 1998 sued by own mother claiming he failed to share the jackpot with her.

Janite Lee: $18 million. 1993. Missouri. As of 2001: Filed for bankruptcy with $700 in assets.

There are no friends when it comes to money.

 

[Vyroxis]

Why would you be afraid to show your face? Do you feel as if you will be a target for criminals? Is there documented evidence that Lottery winners are targeted if they're revealed?

There was one in Florida that turned up dead after just a few months, so it has been known to happen. I think another one had her house broken into repeatedly for years afterwards.

Also, if everyone knew you just had a windfall like that and saw you, imagine how many friends you never knew you had are suddenly broke!

So yes, I would say that keeping yourself as low key as possible would be smart.

 

[Slacker]

Why would you be afraid to show your face? Do you feel as if you will be a target for criminals? Is there documented evidence that Lottery winners are targeted if they're revealed?

As others have said, it's a recipe for disaster. The documentary "Broke" sheds some light on the issue from the professional athlete angle. Once players start getting their big checks everyone comes out of the woodwork. Some asking for small favors like paying a cell phone bill (one player ended up paying cell bills for about everyone he knew, thousands of dollars per month). Others would ask for help investing in their dream restaurant/bar/club/whatever that would almost always fail.

I'm not familiar with the specific laws that forbid anonymity, but I bet a good lawyer could get around them for you. It would absolutely be worth the expense to do so.

 

[Alucrid]

This isn't a knock on him, but why does everyone go lump sum? I always said that I'd go the 20 year option because, even split up 20 ways, it's still an obscene amount of money. And the best part is, you could screw it up and go broke like most lotto winners do, but you get a second (and third, and fourth, and fifth) chance when the new year rolls around.

because if you're not an idiot you can invest the full amount instead of investing 1/20 of the amount every year

 

[Annubis]

I wonder how effective it would be to go claim it wearing a wig and a goalie mask (the old kind, think horror movie).
Especially if you have a somewhat common name.

P.S. I'm in Quebec, wearing a hockey jersey and a goalie mask could pass as fashion.

 

[snacknuts]

I wonder how effective it would be to go claim it wearing a wig and a goalie mask (the old kind, think horror movie).
Especially if you have a somewhat common name.

In addition to doing this, get your name legally changed before claiming the jackpot, get your money, then get it changed back.

 

[Friend of Sonic]

because if you're not an idiot you can invest the full amount instead of investing 1/20 of the amount every year

That is one way of viewing it, but investments aren't promised. I mean, if you diversify and made wise choices, you'd probably be fine. But honestly if I had 3-5 million coming in each year I wouldn't care. I know that's not the American way, but I'm a pretty simple guy.

But, obviously you have a valid point to consider. It's just disturbing how many lotto winners go broke. I wonder how many went in with good intentions like investing or what not, and came out the other end broke.

 

[Skiptastic]

This isn't a knock on him, but why does everyone go lump sum? I always said that I'd go the 20 year option because, even split up 20 ways, it's still an obscene amount of money. And the best part is, you could screw it up and go broke like most lotto winners do, but you get a second (and third, and fourth, and fifth) chance when the new year rolls around.

I think there is a theory that you could grow your money better than the annuity assumption. Like, if you could "guarantee" a rate of return of 5%, your money would grow to be larger than the annuity.

It would definitely be EASIER to simply take the annuity, but you could die in five years and then who knows what happens to that money? Take the money now!

 

[Annubis]

But, obviously you have a valid point to consider. It's just disturbing how many lotto winners go broke. I wonder how many went in with good intentions like investing or what not, and came out the other end broke.

If you 'partner' up with an investing group and make a safe profile, it is almost impossible to go broke.
Going broke on a safe profile would mean that the entire world's economy just went down the toilet.

 

[adj_noun]

Do you ever play the lottery?

I sim played Powerball for 500 years once.

Won a hundred bucks a few times.

 

[InfiniteBento]

Pls don't blow it on dumb shit

 

[adj_noun]

I wonder how effective it would be to go claim it wearing a wig and a goalie mask (the old kind, think horror movie).
Especially if you have a somewhat common name.

The Chinese have turned this into an art form.

 

[Trey]

Ooooh, you have no idea...



There are no friends when it comes to money.

I wonder what the other two thirds are doing.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

And now everyone in Chicago knows his face.

To quote James Gregory:

"You know when those people win the lottery and they're all 'I'm not quitting my job'? That bullcrap. You'd think I'd be up here telling jokes to you, driving all over the country in that late-model Caddy? No offense, but hell no! The last you'd see of me is one holding up that giant check going 'I'd like to thank my wife, for sticking with me for 25 years, God for this blessing, and now, the following list of people can kiss my ass."

The Chinese have turned this into an art form.

Perfect.

 

[jmdajr]

Hope it doesn't ruin his life.

 

[Friend of Sonic]

I think there is a theory that you could grow your money better than the annuity assumption. Like, if you could "guarantee" a rate of return of 5%, your money would grow to be larger than the annuity.

It would definitely be EASIER to simply take the annuity, but you could die in five years and then who knows what happens to that money? Take the money now!

I definitely agree with that, and I am sure that the people going broke weren't doing wise things with the money.

If you 'partner' up with an investing group and make a safe profile, it is almost impossible to go broke.
Going broke on a safe profile would mean that the entire world's economy just went down the toilet.

Fair enough. I am far from an investing expert.

 

[DBT85]

I do not get why someone would want their name and face put in every paper and news outlet when they've just won this money.

You get it in th eUK all the time, someone wins and they appear in all the papers and are named.

I'd take the money and tell about 5 people, leave my job in a quiet a way as possible and go from there.

 

[snacknuts]

I sim played Powerball for 500 years once.

Won a hundred bucks a few times.

Because of this comment, I have had a couple Powerball simulations running in the background for a good portion of today. One of them is using quick picks, and has simmed a little over 1,200 years. I've won $100 21 times, but never anything more than that. The other one is using numbers I gave it. After 620 years, I have won $100 on three occasions, but nothing more.

 

[Beerman462]

The Chinese have turned this into an art form.

That's awesome. I'd wear a Reagan mask and tell everone to wait for my winnings to trickle down.

 

[Slacker]

That's awesome. I'd wear a Reagan mask and tell everone to wait for my winnings to trickle down.

I'd pay 5 bucks to see that. Damn! The rich get richer!

 

[hidys]

That's awesome. I'd wear a Reagan mask and tell everone to wait for my winnings to trickle down.

This makes me want you to win the lottery at some point.

 

[Cragvis]

Damn, he bought the winning ticket at the store I go to every day....

 

[Blackstarhat]

It's not so much about fear as it is avoiding the annoyance of every person you've ever met suddenly remembering you exist and trying to buddy up with you after they see you win a huge amount of money.

that and lawsuits

 

[Rest]

Well damn, that's a good retirement right there.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Davila moved to the United States at the age of 6, according to a statement from the Lottery.

Since when is Puerto Rico not in the United States?

 

[TxdoHawk]

As I've said before: If I won, it's a wrap. Collect/deposit my winnings, tell my landlord I'm moving out, fly to Florida, drop off a nice chunk of change for my parents, smash my phone, throw it in a dumpster, book a one-way ticket to a nice tropical island, and take a three-month vacation while I figure out my next move.

 

[JesseZao]

Well damn, that's a good retirement right there.


Since when is Puerto Rico not in the United States?

It's not a state? (Yet)

 

[God Enel]

its kinda funny. always some old ass guys are winning the lottery. here in germany it's the same shit.

 

[nel e nel]

Well damn, that's a good retirement right there.


Since when is Puerto Rico not in the United States?

It's a territory, not a state.

Also, people asking why this guy would get photographed? It's required in the United States.

EDIT: checking out a couple of state lottery FAQs, it looks like it varies from state to state, but it does look like because state lotteries are run by public institutions (the state), at the very least your name, city of residence, amount won and where you got the ticket are matters of public record.

 

[Rest]

It's a territory, not a state.

Also, people asking why this guy would get photographed? It's required in the United States.

Would you say that someone moved from the District of Columbia to the States? It's part of the country.

 

[Majmun]

Why not give 1mln to 127 people instead?

 

[nel e nel]

Would you say that someone moved from the District of Columbia to the States? It's part of the country.

A capital district is different from a territory.

Also, no one would say "District of Columbia" they would say Washington or DC.

 

[DurielBlack]

Wouldn't be too bad for me. No problem telling people to fuck off. I'd give my two sisters a million bucks each and tell them to never contact me again. Give my parents some money. Buy myself a small house somewhere and change my name. Quit my job and live on dividends from investments for the rest of my life. Depending on just how much money we are talking about, probably give a bunch to charity or set up some sort of charity fund or whatever it is rich people do.

 

[TxdoHawk]

Why not give 1mln to 127 people instead?

Lotteries have tried, numerous times, to do smaller jackpots with more winners (and/or massively better odds), and there isn't enough interest to maintain them.

My state (NJ) has done a raffle a couple of times: $20 tickets with a million-dollar top prize (and other smaller prizes), but there was a limited number of tickets (200,000 I think) and it was raffle-style so there were guaranteed winners. They didn't even sell all of the tickets for the last one they did, so they stopped doing it.

 

[TxdoHawk]

If I was 70 I'd take the lump sum too but yeah, I've always said this. No way to screw up your winnings through idiotic purchases and giving half to your dumb family if you only have a chunk of it a year. There is no way to purely fuck it up at once; you'll keep getting chances to get it right, and learn to manage that kind of money well over years instead of one horrible binge.

I'm in agreement, although I think if you were really bad at money management you could still screw yourself over massively taking on debt you can't afford.

The other thing about taking the annuity is that I think it would make you somewhat less attractive to scammers and money-grubbers, although I have no way of proving this.

 

[Slacker]

Just to satisfy my own curiosity I looked up whether a person can claim a lottery anonymously here in Texas. I figure I buy one or two tickets a year, I should probably plan ahead for when I win.

Here in TX apparently the winner has to be publically named, but it doesn't have to be a person. A lawyer can set up a trust (I'll call mine GAF GOLD INCORPORATED) and accept the prize on your behalf. I'm sure the lawyer will charge a pretty penny for that, but it would definitely be worth the cost.

 

[Newt]

Jesus, he's lucky.