Dreams Do Come True... and Then You Die

Dec 04, 2022

We all have dreams, sometimes big dreams. Achieving those dreams is usually a wonderful event. But sometimes, things go wrong… terribly wrong.

My previous story about the odds of being eaten by a shark (Shark Num-Nums) as more likely than winning the lottery reminded me that I had an interesting tale about murder, suicide, and despair waiting in the wings to be written.

I know, sounds like a lot of fun, doesn’t it?

Do We Dare to Dream?

Of course! Where would we be if we didn’t dream of bigger things? What if no one ever dreamed of going to the moon? What if no one ever dreamed of a computing machine? What if we never dreamed of living a better life?

Where would we be?

Life without dreams would certainly be a lot less interesting. One of the most common dreams we have as a society is winning the Lottery. You can’t walk into a grocery store, convenience store, or gas station, without a lottery machine getting in your face and demanding attention…

“I can change your life! Really! Just feed me two bucks and fame and fortune are yours. C’mon, man! You can afford two bucks.”

Yes, but is it a change you would want? That is what we’ll explore here.

One of the most recent big lotteries was a massive, unimaginable win of $2.04 BILLION dollars - awarded to ONE ticket in California. The holder(s) of that ticket don’t get to take home $2.04 Billion dollars, but it’s still quite a hefty haul.

Let’s have a little fun with some insane numbers first.

Winnings = $2.04 Billion
- Cash payout = +$997.6 million (most take the cash rather than the annuity)
- IRS withholding (24%) = -$239.4 million (initial tax withholding only)
- Fed tax due April 15th (another 13%) = -$129.7 million (balance of taxes due)1
- California state tax = $0! (CA state tax is 13%, but exempts lottery winnings)
Take Home Cash Lump Sum= +$628.5 million

What a windfall… for the government. But I think I could still live on $628.5 million cash in hand. If I were to keep $1.5 million for pocket money (minus the chiropractic work to correct the resultant wallet bulge) and invest the remaining $627 million in a safe, but really crappy, horrible, worst ever investment vehicle earning only 1% annually, I could still cash out roughly $6.27 million every year - without ever touching the principle.

Makes your head spin, doesn’t it? But let’s get even crazier.

If I manage a decent 5% return, my cash out increases to $31.35 million every year. WITHOUT ever touching the principle! If I still had any common sense remaining, I could compound most of that and make things really insane. I didn’t figure out all those compounding numbers because it’s too much thinking for my limited math capabilities (besides, if I had won that lottery, I’d hire someone else to figure out all the stupid numbers I want to know - and then someone else to understand it for me).

All I know is that it would be a lot of work to spend over $25 million dollars (after capital gains taxes) every year. I didn’t spend my hard-earned $2 dollars so I could work more.

Even so, not bad for a $2 dollar investment.
(Excuse me for a few minutes, I gotta run down to the convenience store for no particular reason.)

Circumstances vs. Consequences.

Okay, I admit, I jumped down a labyrinth of a rabbit hole playing with those crazy numbers, but it was fun, and I didn’t break a leg.

No lottery wins are not anywhere near as big as this one and the point of our rollercoaster tale today focuses on much smaller wins.

I would normally go into the Unintended Consequences of events that led to buying those life-changing lottery tickets. There are thousands of stories about how a person came into possession of THAT winning ticket.

They found a ticket in/under the lottery machine or out in the parking lot.
They had a sudden inexplicable urge to drop into the gas station and buy one.
A waiter/waitress receives it from a patron as a gift (hopefully NOT in lieu of a tip).
Someone in the office buys a ticket for the whole office (resulting in lawsuits galore, but that’s a consequence tale for another day).
Or my favorite… The cashier punches in the wrong numbers and the buyer refuses the ticket, demanding a new one with their chosen numbers.
- The ticket is left behind for someone else (or the clerk) to purchase.
- Then… BAM! That sad little abandoned orphan ticket who found a home with a new dreamer WINS!
- It happens more often than you would think. In fact, I always purchase those tickets if I see them at the counter, even if I’m just there to buy a Snickers Bar (don’t tell my wife). Sadly, none of those tickets were big winners. But I sometimes did win enough to pay for my candy bar.

Today’s amazing tale is not about the CIRCUMSTANCES of buying a ticket.
Our tale is about the UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES of buying a ticket.

Those who play the lottery dream of hitting the numbers. Even a measly $1 Million, can change the trajectory of your life. In fact, I have always felt that I'd rather hit a $10 Million dollar jackpot than a $1 Billion dollar jackpot.

Think about it. $10 Million (about $5 million after you take the reduced cash payout and pay taxes on it) sets you up to live a nice life, in a nice home where you want to live, drive a nice car, and even fill the fridge with Snickers bars. There are millions of people in just the U.S. who have over $5 million bucks in the bank. These days, you would be just another of those lucky people living a wealthy lifestyle (or however you want to live).

You would think that winning $5 million, $10 million, or even $100 million would ensure comfort for the rest of your life (happiness is up to you, not the money by the way). Unfortunately, for many big winners, exactly the opposite happens.

This takes us to the Dark Side of winning big and our latest venture into Unintended Consequences.

Death, Despair, Murder, and Suicide

After doing a bit of research into this topic, I was truly saddened by the trail of destruction left behind by some of these winning tickets. But don’t worry, this will NOT stop me from buying tickets. I’m willing to take my chances.

I am talking of course about the Lottery Curse! Is it real? I don’t know. But there are enough cautionary tales around to warrant a pause to consider your next steps in one of the most exciting moments of your life.

So, what is our Unintended Consequence? That should be obvious by now. Someone innocently buys a few lottery tickets, just as they have every week for the past 20 years. Then the unimaginable happens and they win big! Joy! Celebration!

Unfortunately, sometimes this event also ends up severely damaging or destroying their life.

Overdramatic? I don’t think so. I have seen numerous claims that nearly 70% of lottery winners across the win spectrum end up broke within seven years. However, I have not been able to reliably validate that with real metrics, so I offer it with a fair bit of skepticism (and amazement).

What I do know is that winning has sometimes resulted in divorces, lawsuits, bankruptcies, thefts, unhappiness, depression, suicide, and murder.

Will any of that happen to you if you hit it big? Not likely, but here are some of the causes that brought these big winners down to earth (and sometimes under it).

Immaturity and lack of understanding of how to manage money.
Massive initial overspending and purchases of mansions, cars, boats, etc.
Not accounting or planning for the myriad of taxes you will be hit with.
Hard time dealing with all the people who want a piece of that money - and the most greedy will do anything to get it.
Failing to recognize all of the cons hitting from all sides from strangers, organizations, and even friends and family.
Pressure from trying to please everyone and/or protecting your money.
Stress over the new responsibilities and life changes - this is a primary driver.
Misjudging the characters of people who now want to surround you and “help” you.
Gambling and other unhealthy activities like big parties, drugs, hookers, etc. - this is also a primary driver.

There are numerous examples that can easily be found on the Internet. I’ll provide just a few of them in short bullets, then close with the heartbreaking tale of one of the most well-known, Jack Whittaker.

Let’s start with William. He was broke and borrowed $40 so he could buy lottery tickets. Normally a very terrible idea. In this case though, he won $16.2 million dollars. He took installment payments and within a year, he was half a million dollars in DEBT! Due to several events, he declared bankruptcy but was able to hold onto $2.6 million, which he quickly burned through. The decline continued. He fired his shotgun at a man who was bothering him for money and got arrested. His brother hired a hitman to kill him and his wife (#6 at this point) so he could inherit the money. The brother failed and was arrested. Years later William was living on welfare payments and died alone and penniless. Obviously, there were other things going on here, but it is still a sad story.
Michael won $15 million dollars and began living a life of excess. His wife left him a year later, taking their baby daughter with her. After eight years, he had squandered all of his winnings on lavish living, prostitutes, gambling, and drugs - ending up poorer than he was when before he won.
Abraham won $40 million dollars. He was very generous with his money. He met a woman who claimed she wanted to write about his experience and manage his money. He agreed and she began lavishly spending the money on herself. Ultimately, she murdered Abraham and buried his body at her boyfriend’s house under concrete slabs. She was convicted. He was dead.
Jeffrey won $20 million dollars. Jeffrey did it right. He spent much of his winnings on the people around him. He sent 38 family members on a Caribbean cruise and bought houses and cars for his parents and siblings. Even so, he was doing okay financially and managing his money. He even provided well for his sister-in-law… who promptly shot him in the back of the head to try and take his money. She was sentenced to life. He was dead.
Curtis: I’ll close the short list with a little twist. Curtis won $5 million dollars. He was a heavy spender, dumping more than his yearly annuity checks on partying and living big - houses, flashy cars, parties, women. He left his wife for a lover, got divorced a few years later, drank more, and spent all the money. However, this one has a happy ending. When the money ran out and he had a drunk-driving incident, he ultimately found God, changed his life, stopped drinking, stopped partying, and became a Minister. A tough lesson, but he found direction for his life and presumably much happiness.

And now, to our final story…

Jack Whittaker and His $314 Million Dollars

One of the most widely known Lottery Curse cases is that of Jack Whittaker. Jack was unusual in that he was already rich before he won $314 million dollars on Christmas morning of 2002. He actually did a lot of good with his lottery winnings in the beginning - a charitable foundation, donations to build churches, even buying a house, new car, and providing lots of cash to the woman who sold him the winning ticket. Jack gave away an estimated $50 million in cash, houses, and cars.

He still had plenty, but ultimately, the winnings, the stress, and changes to how others interacted with him started to change him.

Jack’s win was widely publicized and he was deluged with large numbers of people and organizations demanding his money and favors. Jack and his assistants would sometimes spend 10 hours in a day opening envelopes from those seeking his “help”. At one point, the post office refused to continue delivering their mail.

He suffered hundreds of legal claims against him and his companies to try and reach the deep pockets they all now knew he had. Large amounts of cash were stolen from his cars where he was known to keep significant spending money.

To combat the stress, he started drinking heavily and getting into fights. His relationship with his wife, whom he met when he was 14, deteriorated as he partied heavily and offered money to women he met to sleep with him. He had never acted in this way before.

Do we begin to see where unintended consequences start coming into play?

Even with all the changes, he was still sharing, in particular with his granddaughter, whom he loved dearly. He bought her an apartment, several cars, and provided her with a very generous allowance. Unfortunately, his incredible generosity attracted a bad crowd to his granddaughter and after several incidents and a new drug addiction, she was found dead under suspicious circumstances.

A few years later, Jack’s daughter - the granddaughter’s mother - died. His wife divorced him. And most of the money was gone. Jack stated in several interviews that he believes his granddaughter was dead because of the lottery money.

Sadly, I have to agree. The lottery money changed the trajectory of all of their lives and the money and cars he fed her directly led to her ultimate death.

In one of his last interviews in 2007 (a total of 5 years had elapsed), Jack said, “I don’t like what I’ve become." And as to losing his family due to the money and the changes it fostered in him, he came to the conclusion that “Family is what is dear.”

I have to agree with that also.

Conclusion

We never know where things are going to head in the broader picture. As much as we think we know ourselves, there is always risk that we will lose that vision of who we are.

We all like to think we are smarter and more mature than any of these people. Maybe we are. But until we are in that position, we can’t be sure. Lack of, or an abundance of money has a way of refocusing people. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

All I know is, if you win the big lottery, do NOT tell ANYONE except your spouse (of course) and the 17 lawyers and financial experts you have compiled from multiple agencies to provide you advice and guidance.

And always remember, when they tell you that you should give all the money to David (me), be sure to listen to the experts. That is the safe thing to do.

Ah, dreams…

Tell us in the comments below what YOU would do if you suddenly had $10 million dollars in your pocket.

David Nemzoff
Author, Consultant, Wonderer of “What If?”
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nemzoff/

Author of “Public Speaking for Kids, Tweens, and Teens - Confidence for Life!”

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