Would You Inform Anyone if You Won the Lotto?

[ohlookitsadam]

At least a lotto win of a few million. Don’t worry, not talking about what you would do with it. For the purpose of this thread, lets assume you have plenty left over after a nice big spending spree.

Would you show it off in a thread on this forum? Would you show off to all your friends? I would only mention it to my very closest mates.

Anyone tell family members?

Would you keep it a secret?

Maybe some luck for us can be found here, I find the website interesting: http://www.moreaboutwinninglottery.com/.

[Voice of Reason]

I'd just tell my close family members.

I wouldn't go shouting it from the rooftops.

I'd keep it a secret from everyone else...I'm very disciplined like this.

[Dragon]

Allow me to offer a cynic's view on this: TRUST NO ONE, NOT EVEN FAMILY.

There was a news story I read a long time ago (that I can't seem to find a link for right now) about a Hispanic immigrant gentleman living the US who won a small fortune of 8 million(?) from a lottery. His world turned upside down when he won this small fortune. All of a sudden, normal family relationships became strained. Many people in his family started acting different towards him and hitting him up for money. It got so bad that he had to completely cut himself away from his family. He now lives alone, isolated from his family and feels miserable.

Sorry to say, but this is normal human behavior. I see it all the time in little tidbits. When I was driving with my friend one time, we passed by a very large and fancy mansion, which was unusual for the area we were driving in. I made a comment about the mansion being there and my friend (who has money troubles because he comes from a poor background) said "f**k rich people" in an angry tone. He's a good guy and meant no harm by it, but there's a distinct view and feeling that people have when they see others who have much more than them. Another example is when I was at school and an instructor in a certain class of mines announced that a particular student won a prestigious department scholarship. I noticed everyone (including me) was extremely jealous when the instructor announced it. More importantly, I noticed that when the other students interacted with the scholarship winner, they had a dismissive (though not openly hostile) tone towards him, even if they weren't aware of it themselves. Although things went back to normal soon after.

What I'm saying is that no matter how much you trust someone, money is a powerful thing. It will drive people to jealousy and towards behaviors they wouldn't otherwise do. Even your closest family members might start seeing you more as a wallet. It's not their fault. You might do the same thing if they were rich. Again, this is normal human behavior. No need to assign hate or blame to anyone. But understand this behavior and realize that you should NEVER trust anyone if you win the lotto. I would keep it a secret and house the money in good accounts and/or investments before anyone ever hears a peep about my change in financial status.

[Hero]

I wouldn't tell a soul. I think my very life would be in danger.

[C.J.]

I don't have to tell anyone! The media will do that job perfectly. Notice how people win the lottery, and even recluses get fully checked out and targeted for assassination.

With everything that happens, I'd rather NOT win the lotto.

[Ghost]

.

[buddy77]

Close family. And i would share a bit with them, help them pay off their debt, or whatever bills they have, give them a months long vacation too.

it would only run for a couple of thousand dollars. Then id retire to another country outside Femerica

[anamericaninbangkok]

After the money was squirreled away, then I'd tell people. But there would be a set amount I would give away, no more, and a set amount per person. More to family, less to friends.

[anamericaninbangkok]

After the money was squirreled away, then I'd tell people. But there would be a set amount I would give away, no more, and a set amount per person. More to family, less to friends.

[HouseMD]

Sharing information about your wealth is foolish. I think the best plan is to live simply, invest wisely, and basically forget the win ever happened. I would just use the yearly dividends from the winnings to live off of and keep to an otherwise normal life.

[S_Parc]

This one is easy. Don't tell anyone and don't sign the back of the winning ticket, since that gives the press your name.

What you do is make a copy of the ticket. Keep the primary ticket in a safety deposit box or fireproof safe. You then get a tax/estate attorney and give him a retainer of $1K minimum. Once you've signed your working agreement and have that in place, you have him create a trust for you and then, make the law office, the sole go between, between the trust and the lottery commission. By attorney-client confidentiality agreement, the law office cannot divulge your information without facing being disbarred. The lottery commission will only have the name, ABC trust, and the law offices of Billy, Bob, and Thorton, That information will go into the public website for the world to see. The press will only see your attorney at the lottery commission for the handling. Once the money is transferred over, pay the law office for all services rendered, probably some $10K to $20K, after everything is said and done.

Then, you make up a bogus story to your friends and family and tell 'em that you've re-located to the 'London Office'. Basically, you go to London to set up your global trading and/or managed accounts. Afterwards, you maintain your home base in the US for the remainder of the year but move to some tax haven as a permanent address. For that first year, you'll have to pay full US taxes on your winnings. Afterwards, you can claim exemption on additional cap gains or income up to $91K, for the rest of your life, as an ex-pat.

From there-forth, you're a free man. Enjoy the world.

[E Irizarry R&B Singer]

This one is easy. Don't tell anyone and don't sign the back of the winning ticket, since that gives the press your name.

What you do is make a copy of the ticket. Keep the primary ticket in a safety deposit box or fireproof safe. You then get a tax/estate attorney and give him a retainer of $1K minimum. Once you've signed your working agreement and have that in place, you have him create a trust for you and then, make the law office, the sole go between, between the trust and the lottery commission. By attorney-client confidentiality agreement, the law office cannot divulge your information without facing being disbarred. The lottery commission will only have the name, ABC trust, and the law offices of Billy, Bob, and Thorton, That information will go into the public website for the world to see. The press will only see your attorney at the lottery commission for the handling. Once the money is transferred over, pay the law office for all services rendered, probably some $10K to $20K, after everything is said and done.

Then, you make up a bogus story to your friends and family and tell 'em that you've re-located to the 'London Office'. Basically, you go to London to set up your global trading and/or managed accounts. Afterwards, you maintain your home base in the US for the remainder of the year but move to some tax haven as a permanent address. For that first year, you'll have to pay full US taxes on your winnings. Afterwards, you can claim exemption on additional cap gains or income up to $91K, for the rest of your life, as an ex-pat.

From there-forth, you're a free man. Enjoy the world.

#I_CANNOT_BREATHE

[Halwick]

Allow me to offer a cynic's view on this: TRUST NO ONE, NOT EVEN FAMILY.

There was a news story I read a long time ago (that I can't seem to find a link for right now) about a Hispanic immigrant gentleman living the US who won a small fortune of 8 million(?) from a lottery. His world turned upside down when he won this small fortune. All of a sudden, normal family relationships became strained. Many people in his family started acting different towards him and hitting him up for money. It got so bad that he had to completely cut himself away from his family. He now lives alone, isolated from his family and feels miserable.

Sorry to say, but this is normal human behavior. I see it all the time in little tidbits. When I was driving with my friend one time, we passed by a very large and fancy mansion, which was unusual for the area we were driving in. I made a comment about the mansion being there and my friend (who has money troubles because he comes from a poor background) said "f**k rich people" in an angry tone. He's a good guy and meant no harm by it, but there's a distinct view and feeling that people have when they see others who have much more than them. Another example is when I was at school and an instructor in a certain class of mines announced that a particular student won a prestigious department scholarship. I noticed everyone (including me) was extremely jealous when the instructor announced it. More importantly, I noticed that when the other students interacted with the scholarship winner, they had a dismissive (though not openly hostile) tone towards him, even if they weren't aware of it themselves. Although things went back to normal soon after.

What I'm saying is that no matter how much you trust someone, money is a powerful thing. It will drive people to jealousy and towards behaviors they wouldn't otherwise do. Even your closest family members might start seeing you more as a wallet. It's not their fault. You might do the same thing if they were rich. Again, this is normal human behavior. No need to assign hate or blame to anyone. But understand this behavior and realize that you should NEVER trust anyone if you win the lotto. I would keep it a secret and house the money in good accounts and/or investments before anyone ever hears a peep about my change in financial status.

The jealous attitudes of those you described in reaction to wealth or a prestigious award is known as "crab mentality". Ever notice when one crab tries to climb his way out? There's always another crab trying to pull him down.

But you're right: Don't advertise the new-found wealth, even to your relatives and friends. Don't start spending extravagantly. But sooner or later someone will find out.

If you do win that megalottery, maybe it's just as well as you fake your death and resurface somewhere overseas under an assumed identity.

[celery2010]

Jeez, like there's a chance that would actually happen--

It's pretty hard to hide that fact that you have some money-- just don't be flashy and don't let people know how much exactly.

It would probably be hard to hide the fact that you have a lot of free time too--

The same rules apply if you ran into a lot of money-- people would just think you earn 200 or 300K a year---

Only your house would give it away-- as long as you don't buy a fancier car than a BMW, Mercedes or Porsche.

Just tell people you don't know that you own some real estate or something-- they'll just nod their head and go uh-huh....

[Jester]

Sharing information about your wealth is foolish. I think the best plan is to live simply, invest wisely, and basically forget the win ever happened. I would just use the yearly dividends from the winnings to live off of and keep to an otherwise normal life.

Wisdom.