Whether you go to the gas station or convenience store and pick up your lottery ticket or instead frequent a site like William Hill 49s, you likely play the lottery because you dream of winning it big. Who doesn’t?
It’s hard not to imagine what life would be like as a multimillionaire when you hear stories like these:
1. Brad Duke. In 2005, this lottery winner hit it big with a $225 million jackpot. Instead of blowing the money on cars, women and drugs as so many lottery winners do, he hired advisors to help him grow his money to a billion dollars in 10 years! In addition, he set up recurring annual payments to relatives of $12,000 each.
2. Louise White. In 2012, Louise White, then 81 years old, hit it big and won a $336 million jackpot! In a smart move, she opted for a $220 million lump sum payout rather than 30 annual installments. She’s set up a trust for the money, The Rainbow Sherbert Trust, to provide distance from the money and to prevent any relatives from coming out of the woodwork to ask for money.
3. Robert Harris. Robert Harris and his wife, Tonya were living in a trailer dreaming of building a big house when they won $275 million in 2008. Robert promptly quit his job as an ironworker. Considering he had to work overtime for 20 years just to make ends meet, he is quite deserving of some rest and relaxation!
4. Neal Wanless. In 2009, Neal Wanless, a 23 year old rancher, bought a ticket in the town of–are you ready for this–Winner and then won $232 million. Wanless lived with his parents on their ranch, and his father had resorted to selling scrap metal to make ends meet. Now those days are over.
Of course, there are a host of lottery-winners-gone-bad stories like Jack Whittaker who lost his millions in four years by drinking and hanging out at strip clubs. In fact, he was robbed of $545,000 when he had it in his car while at the strip club. Even more tragically, his granddaughter died of an overdose.
These stories grab our attention and the media’s because they are so sad, but not all lottery winner stories are like this. There are plenty of winners who do good with their money and grow it into more, just like Brad Duke.