Have you ever known someone who has experienced sudden wealth.

[NNadir]

Someone who sold a business, cashed out stock options or won a lot of money in the lottery?

I have known two such people. Mostly they became big time consumers. One was a cousin who sold a computer firm. He's been generous to his mother, but other than that goes through wives and girlfriends while jetsetting around the world. He doesn't seem to have a useful life.

Another is my wife's uncle. His whole life has been a discussion of what he just bought.

It seems almost like death on some level. I think everyone would like to feel secure (which is increasingly difficult) but what's the point of naked consumption?

[Deja Q]

1. Given how the concept of security, especially in America, is a farce,

maybe empty spending is all that's left?

Funny how the people want to be physically secure yet have no qualms voting for people who support those offshore their livelihoods, which in turn jeopardizes the economy AND national security...

[barb162]

27. Yeah, three people and none of them changed their habits

and moved into better digs or anything. They just stashed it to make more money

[Tom_Foolery]

2. Yeah, my uncle...

He invented bedliners for pick-up trucks 30 years ago. He and his partners sold their business in the mid 80s for a large amount. He's remained a down-to-earth person except he has a weakness for fancy cars.

He went from a guy with an eighth grade education working as an auto body repairman to a millionaire in about 5 years.

[mitchum]

3. In my early 20s, I helped a few people run through the sudden windfall...

of trust funds. It was an excellent way to combine my class warfare and hedonism.

[fishwax]

4. i knew someone who won the lottery and was hardly changed at all

she had raised five kids, mostly as a single mom, usually working two jobs and often running a daycare in addition. Her kids were grown and she was remarried when she won her million dollar prize. She quit one of her jobs and kept the other, and her big expenditure was to buy a (rather modest) house of her own.

She really didn't change at all, other than the fact that she didn't have to worry about money every minute of every damn day. She gave a good amount to charity, and made some investments including a couple of local businesses she purchased. Unfortunately, she's had a run of sour luck in more recent years. One of her businesses closed, her marriage dissolved, and she wound up having to sell her house and move somewhere a little smaller. I've heard people who know her comment about her being a victim of her own soft heart, because she couldn't turn her back on her grandkids, more than one of whom she wound up raising herself.

Some people saw that as a weakness, and made comments akin to: "no wonder she doesn't have any of the lottery money left," as if that kind of selflessness were a bad thing, or as if she should forsake her grandkids just because they have dysfunctional parents. Her sudden wealth has eroded over the last few decades, but she's still got a heart about as big as the rocky mountains, and I admire her a great deal.

I'm just guessing, but I think she's the exception to the rule, and examples of the sort you've experienced are probably (and unfortunately) more common.

[NNadir]

6. I know this is going to sound strange but a million bucks isn't that much.

Winning a million bucks in the lottery sounds like a lot, but, it's $50,000/yr over 20 years.

I have heard that many lottery winners don't get that concept.

She sounds like a good person though, one who is indeed rich no matter how much money she may have.

[Dangerously Amused]

7. Well, it isn't really even that, after taxes.

"Winning" a million bucks is actually winning, what... +/- $500,000. post-tax? But who's going to tune into a show called "Who Wants To Be A Five Hundred Thousandaire"? Or "Who Wants To Be A Half-Millionaire"?


Not to say that it isn't a lot of money, because it is... but it isn't really what they hype it to be, either.

[NNadir]

8. And the really difficult thing is the people fixated on the "one million"

figure.

People come to you all the time asking for money, thinking about your "one million." They probably are unwilling to hear about reality.

I think the best thing to do if you have money is to keep quiet and live modestly.

[fishwax]

10. hers was actually a lump sum

rather than being an annuity, as they are usually awarded. (I don't know whether that made the situation better or worse.) But even so, I agree that it doesn't stretch nearly as far as it might sound. Of course, this was twenty or so years ago, and so it was a bigger deal than it would be now. I was just a kid at the time (she was my aunt), and it sure seemed like a ton of money to me--but now that i'm older and paying my own bills, I see how quickly it could go--especially as generous as she is. And you're definitely right that she's rich no matter how much money she has :)

[NNadir]

11. Many people make millions over their lifetimes and struggle.

I think that people often don't recognize that.

It's the all at once aspect that is confusing I guess.

Congratulations on being a member of a family of wise people, by the way.

[serryjw]

23. You maybe missing the (republican) point

Half million AFTER taxes is about $50K a year AND you NEVER touch the principle

[bikebloke]

5. Me

In Holland, I was walking along and found about 20 guilders (pre-Euro era) on the ground. About 12 bucks US. At the time, I was a poor traveller, so it was wealth.

[undeterred]

9. I've known two people who got substantial inheritances

when they were in their twenties. They spent the money quickly and didn't share it with anyone. A year later their lives were no better than before.

[Roon]

12. My step brother invented bottled long island iced tea

It made him a multi-millionare. I remember when he couldn't afford his car payment.

[NNadir]

16. Did he manage his wealth well?

[Roon]

19. Yes, he did

He diversified and invested...he is now wealthier than ever.

[NNadir]

20. Well good for him. I hope he put some money overseas.

I'm guessing that a few years of Bush, the US dollar isn't going to be worth all that much.

[Roon]

21. He's invested in rentals in Mexico eom

[LeftyMom]

13. She spent through it fast.

Less than two years. Now she just has the nicest stuff of any broke person I know. Though she did pay off all of her debts and as far as I know hasn't accumulated any new ones.

[NNadir]

14. How did she come by this money?

[LeftyMom]

15. Legal settlement

There's more due, but it will never be collected. One of those "you can't get blood from a turnip" things.

[grace0418]

17. A college roommate of mine. Her family won $18 MIL in the

lottery a few years after she graduated. It definitely was NOT one of those situations where you feel like the family really deserved such good fortune. The whole family was really lazy and a bit nutty too. My roommate was the only one who went to college, but she didn't study much at all when she got there. Her brother still lived at home and wrote inane Star Trek scripts that never got published. Her two sisters were *EXACTLY* like Patty and Selma from the Simpsons. I think they even worked at the DMV. They came to visit once when we were college and they complained about absolutely everything.

I guess the good news is that the money hasn't changed them much from what I hear. They're still pretty loser-y.

[NNadir]

18. There is no justice in the world. You should have won the lottery.

Speaking of no justice, there is a certain sociopathic boy who has inherited the US Presidency and is squandering it.

He is pretty "loser-y" as well.

[grace0418]

22. Thanks. I guess I'd actually have to play though. LOL.

I sure as hell would do something more worthwhile with the money than that family has done. They've probably already spent it all on really stupid things.

[Kat45]

24. My cousin won a million in the lottery, back when that was

the biggest prize (and it was worth more than it is today, of course). Her husband quit his job and sterted his own business (I forget what kind.) The business failed, and now 30 years later, when they should be enjoying retirement, they have to work.

[AlCzervik]

25. my brother in law, he started a business and within 5 years

he was a millioniare, he bought a big house in Reading Ma. and then he got divorced, found God, gave a bunch of money to the church, sold the house and the Porsche, traded the Mercedes in for a "regular person car" and moved with his new wife to Colorado. He still has a bunch of money left but he lives way below his means, he's leaving all of his money to the Catholic church.

[trackfan]

26. My nephew became a millionaire a couple of years ago

, after his father-in-law died, and left a secret and unexpected fortune. He is still pretty much the beach-bum-pothead that he previously had been, except now he can go on more vacations, and his kids are set for college.