Living Simple and Winning The Lottery Changed My Life
You have constantly read about people winning the lottery in large jackpots and going broke in less than five years. These people all say that winning the lottery changed their lives for the worse.
Would people who consider themselves Living Simple Minimalists suffer the same fate at similar rates? You would think not. We will assess the likelihood of this outcome for Living Simple Minimalists and explain why it should not occur.
Winning The Lottery Changed My Life
In his article “Why Winning the Powerball Will Make You Broke and Miserable,” Nathan Wellman provides numerous examples of how lottery winners ruined their lives. They all say winning the lottery changed my life for the worse.
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“The National Endowment for Financial Education approximates that 70 percent of big lottery winners lose the money within the first few years”
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How can that be possible? How do 70 percent of big lottery winners lose money in the first few years? Lose? Maybe they just misplaced the money 😉 Where does it go?
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The 2009 paper “The Ticket to Easy Street? The Financial Consequences of Winning the Lottery” found that while winners of the medium-level prizes of $50,000-$150,000 were 50% less likely to file for bankruptcy than small winners for the first two years…. ” they are equally likely to file (for bankruptcy) three to five years afterward.”
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These statistics are alarming, and no one believes this can happen to them, let alone a Living Simple Minimalist. We lead a life of less is more. Eliminating the clutter in life.
Filling our lives with what adds value and what is essential to our happiness, family, friends, and great experiences, not stuff. Nathan Wellman documents people losing it all after winning the lottery. I hope you don’t see yourself in the following examples.
There was David Lee Edwards, of Ashland, Kentucky, who died at age 58, broke and penniless after winning $27 million. I don’t know whether his conviction as a felon led to his destructive behavior, but he spent $12 million in his first year and even brought a private jet, a mansion, and dozens of expensive cars.
Edwards and his wife contracted hepatitis from drug use and moved into a storage unit to live. Eventually, Edwards’ wife left him and remarried. That is a sad story. Could this happen to you?
What would you do with $27 million? Here are 19 more tragic examples of people’s lives going sideways after winning the lottery.
Winning The Lottery Will Destroy Relationships
Living simply as a Minimalist cherishes relationships, family, and friends. Relationships should add value to life. Great relationships are what decluttering and editing useless possessions, and Living Simply, the Minimalists work towards.
Winning the lottery should not affect that, but you can not control what other people will do. You can only control yourself.
Here are some examples of how people may react to you winning the lottery. Not everyone will be happy for you, and some you may not even know may have a bad reaction to you winning the lottery. These are other reasons many say winning the lottery changed my life for the worse.
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Andrew Jackson Whitaker, of West Virginia, won over $170 million in a Powerball draw. On two separate occasions, Whitaker was victimized by burglars who stole nearly a million dollars he stashed in his car. All of his money was gone within 4 years.
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The dark side of winning the lottery includes becoming a target. Even your loved ones could become targets and even suffer harm. Will winning the lottery be worth it if that happens?
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There’s also the story of Marie Holmes, the 26-year-old single mom who won a $270 million powerball jackpot and had $88 million after taxes, and ended up spending $9 million of her winnings to bail her boyfriend out of jail twice, who was caught with 8,000 bags of heroin.
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Many people had social problems before winning the lottery, and winning the lottery just amplified them. Surely you can’t blame those pre-existing problems on winning the lottery.
Is it possible (some say likely) to win the lottery and lose it all within five years? Being a Living Simple Minimalist should give you an advantage and help you avoid the financial and social pitfalls that some lottery winners face.
Avoid Allowing Winning The Lottery To Ruin Your Life
In “10 Things To Do When You Win The Lottery“. Deborah L. Jacobs speaks to what some would call a common-sense approach to managing your winnings. Some of her tips align with many Living Simple Minimalist principles, including owning possessions, Friends and family, and experiences.
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- Remain anonymous if your state rules permit it.
- See a tax pro before you cash the ticket.
- Avoid sudden lifestyle changes.
- Pay off all your debts.
- Assemble a team of legal and financial advisers.
- Invest prudently.
- Live within a budget.
- Take steps to protect assets.
- Plan charitable gifts.
- Review your estate plan.
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It needs to be said: winning the lottery is not the problem. You can’t control how others would react to your sudden wealth, but you do have control over how you react. How you live and your philosophy of life now will determine whether winning the lottery ruins your life.
Avoid ever having to say winning the lottery changed my life for the worse.
In my opinion, a Living Simple Minimalist lives with the most necessary things. Everything in a Minimalist life serves a purpose and adds value. There will be minimal excess, redundancy, or clutter.
Minimalists are more focused on enjoying life and avoiding excessive time spent accumulating unnecessary possessions.
This is why I believe that a person who lives by these values will not have a problem with winning the lottery or ruining their life. I think it will enhance the great experiences this person has with family and friends.
I believe a person living the Living Simple Minimalist lifestyle would address problems that could ruin their life as they arise. Why do you think? Would winning the lottery cause problems in your life that would be problematic for you to correct?
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