Winning the Lottery Can’t Buy a Lot of Things

The old saying goes that money can’t buy you happiness, and when you look at the “lottery curse, ” it almost seems to bear that out. There are many stories of winners who have made their rags to riches a round trip and an unverified estimate that as 1 percent of lottery winners each year file for bankruptcy. Additionally, it’s reported, though I can’t find a citation, that winning the lottery makes a divorce four times more likely than among the general population. If these anecdotes and apocrypha are supposed to scare people off the Powerball jackpot, it’s not working.

Jack Whittaker

Perhaps the biggest cautionary tale that’s trotted out is the tale of Jack Whittaker, the West Virginia contractor who took won the entire $314.9 million Powerball jackpot. What’s not widely reported was that Whittaker was already a multimillionaire, Bloomberg reports, having built a water and sewer pipe business from a childhood of dire rural poverty. He had some big plans for that money, giving to churches and charities, rehiring laid off employees, as well as giving himself and his family. However, that $314.9 million was chopped by taking it as a lump sum payout, leaving Whittaker with $93 million.

The disciplined man and loving grandfather soon became an obnoxious caricature of a moneyed yokel. He was arrested multiple times for drunken driving, patronized strip clubs where he alleged that he was drugged and robbed, and gambled. His wife filed for divorce, and his granddaughter, Brandy developed depression and multiple substance abuse habits and died of an overdose. His daughter died of a long-running battle with lymphoma. In one of his rare interviews, he said that he knows who Jack Whittaker is, and sometimes he doesn’t like who he is. He notes wistfully that life was easier before he won.

Life After Winning the Lottery

Many lottery winners feel that lottery money isn’t “real” money. Real money’s what pays the rent, buys the groceries, and gasses up the car. Even those who have built successful businesses, espouse strong faith and values can get lost in the “free money” that’s landed on them. It might seem weird to advise that you get therapy, but from the second that ticket hits, third-party professionals are going to be what you need to keep you sane and solvent.

• Investopedia recommends that winners consult not only a tax attorney, but a fee-only Certified Public Accountant/Certified Financial Adviser in order to figure out how to manage your finances.
• Consult with a specialist in wills, trusts, and estates to put together an estate plan, and keep your estate out of probate court and away from potentially dozens of feuding heirs.
• Make sure to have medical and legal powers of attorney drawn up in case you are incapacitated.
• Create a sustainable spending plan. The pressure to become everyone’s business partner or to live a baller or celebrity lifestyle is enormous and can run you out of riches and back to rags.

That being said, your chances of winning are vanishingly slim, and the money that many spend on the lottery would be more pleasurably spent taking yourself out to a nice dinner every once in a while, or some modest travel. Good luck!