There is a phenomenon among the large mega millions lottery winners where their lives are often worse after they win the lottery, referred to as the Curse of the Lottery. There have been some documentaries made on it in more detail if you would like to see specific cases, but many times you see these people who win blow through an absurd amount of money in only a few years and end up friendless, depressed and poor after it is all said and done. In one case a man who blew through 110 million dollars in only a few years ended up committing suicide. Why does this happen and why do people think there is a curse of the lottery?
The big reason is believe it or not, most people playing the lottery are usually lower educated and looking for a ticket out of poverty. This actually flows over to gambling as well because the lottery is a form of gambling with very bad odds. Most people who avoid the lottery do so primarily because they know the statistics. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning than winning the mega millions. Ill admit I actually play the lottery occasionally but not because I think im going to win, im paying for the daydream for that little bit of time before I lose. Maybe I look online at multimillion dollar homes, but im really just daydreaming.
The problem with many people who actually play the lottery is they think they are going to win and continue to play every day for a lifetime. Statistically even playing every day they would need thousands of lifetimes to have a decent shot at winning. If they end up winning, they often arent educated enough to realize how to move forward with the amount of money they won and will throw away that fortune. It is very similar to pro sports players who come from bad areas and never have the financial knowledge to suddenly deal with their massive income. It may look like a ton to them, but they dont realize that most people dont play very long and it has to last them a lifetime.
Lottery winners will start spending millions on multiple houses, give their friends a ton of money or if they dont people become jaded with them. People start coming out of the woodwork back into their lives only so they can try and mooch money off of them. It really makes things complicated if you dont know how to deal with it. On top of that most curse of the lottery people will ramp up their spending to insane levels. They dont realize that if they just sat back and invested the money they could live extremely comfortably off the interest. Instead they spend to levels that are insane for even the super wealthy.
Rich people often times become and stay rich because they dont spend a ton of money and have the financial responsibility that other lack. Dropping a ton of money into someone's hands over night without any prior knowledge of proper management could realistically end up destroying their lives. With no income and a fixed amount that has to last you a lifetime, including paying taxes and other penalties, you still cant afford to be irresponsible. After you lose it all you are going to realize that your life is in shambles and you have nowhere to go. I talk about the curse of the lottery, mostly because I think it relates to many in the crypto scene who are newly rich and eventually are going to throw it all away. I hope thats not the case, but it happens with everything.
-Calaber24p
Well nice perspective. My friends and I were actually discussing this topic a couple weeks ago, they were of the opinion that those that suddenly get rich from gambling will always spend it lavishly because they didn't work for it. But I on the other hand believe they lack the financial nous to handle or absorb the shock that comes with such amount of cash. With the right amount of discipline one can tailor their spending to a responsible rate and think of ways to invest that money in a wise manner.
I agree completely, you seem to have a much better head on your shoulders than many others!
That is the problem of sudden richness. It kills faster when there is no knowledge on how to utilise the resources. Resources with knowledge leads to productivity. The way gamblers deals with lottery is alarming because they lose a lot of money on it without winning and when they eventually win, they squander it in a jiffy. The depression of no more moneh makes some of them to commit suicide as an escape. It is unfortunate the way people who gamble get addicted and to move away becomes a problem. Knowlegde of money is key
Exactly they have no idea how to utilize it and believe that it can last them forever regardless of how much them spend. Simple math would fix this problem but they dont do the math.
Nice article @calaber24p. I have friends who play the lotto and I feel they understand that they dont have good odds at winning. (The probably don't understand how bad the odds truly are) They figure throwing 5 bucks in the pool wouldnt hurt. It not an education level its an oppurtuntity. Wealthier people just have more oppurtunity. Its the same reason a bunch of people play the lotto when it gets to be 400 million. I think managing money should be put into the schools curriculum.
I actually dont have a problem with people who play the lottery once a week or so, its more the people who buy 20 tickets and blow their paycheck that week.
to simplify it it is people who ussually never had money and had very bad money managing skills . just look at pro athletes that came from nothing. make millions for a few years and then are flat ass broke living in a box withing 3 to 5 years of their carerer being over. i mean look al Allen Iverson.
http://madamenoire.com/536085/broke-baller-how-nba-star-allen-iverson-lost-it-all/
Nice information
Good information thanks sir
At the end of the day it's all about being financially responsible. Buying lottery tickets isn't financially responsible and hence we have so many stories of the lottery being a curse on someone. If I won the lottery, I'd collect dividends :)
The language you used here was very easy and enjoyable to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.