Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[dragoner]

The worst is to look back and ask "did I make a difference?"

 

[Old Fezziwig]

I’ve known a few people who have gotten substantial windfalls ($5M+) for a variety of reasons. I also studied windfalls in college & law school.

One concrete lesson is this: if you don’t have a real plan in place when you get your money, you will- on average- fritter it away in 5-7 years.

Of the people I know personally with such an experience, some are on each side.

So even though such an event is unlikely, I’ve had a concrete plan in mind (but not written down) for 20+ years. I’ve convinced my parents to plan likewise.

This advice from Reddit has always stuck with me about winning the lottery. I'm sure there are other plans that would work, but it seemed broadly reasonable as a starting point.

 

[Scribe]

This advice from Reddit has always stuck with me about winning the lottery. I'm sure there are other plans that would work, but it seemed broadly reasonable as a starting point.

I'd give most away, and move to a very low pop area of Canada, or one of the Nordic countries, get set up as off grid as possible.

 

[trappedslider]

"Normal is an illusion. What is normal to the spider is chaos to the fly." - Morticia Addams

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

This advice from Reddit has always stuck with me about winning the lottery. I'm sure there are other plans that would work, but it seemed broadly reasonable as a starting point.

I think a lot of it is solid, especially harping on how YOU are your own worst enemy in these situations. However, my personal plan differs somewhat. Some notes:

1) You should definitely have your plan in place before claiming your windfall. And if you can, claim it privately/anonymously.

2) DO hire a money manager of some kind. Fees may seem to be a neverending suck, but they help you avoid investment pitfalls.

3) Don’t quit your day job, or at least, don’t stop working. You need to have something productive to DO. Idle hands & minds tend to think more about how to spend the money.

4) Don’t give any $$$ to any friends or family. Set up a trust with an independent administrator who has clear disbursement instructions. Anyone comes to you asking for money, send them to the trust administrator.

5) Depending on your state, set up a HEW (Health, Education, Welfare) or HEMS (Health, Education, Maintenance, Support) trust for the benefit of you & your family. It protects the assets within it from claims by anyone who isn’t providing you with goods or services related to those categories; most lawsuits can’t override their terms. This is because the assets within can ONLY be used for goods & services related to those categories.

6) DO set some money aside to just have fun with. A psychological quirk was discovered when numerous state lottery agencies were trying to figure out why so many winners went bankrupt, so quickly. While some people simply blew through their windfalls by indulging every whim, the subgroup of those who didn’t spend ANY money enjoying themselves experienced much higher levels of dissatisfaction, depression and other negative consequences than others within the class of winners.

To clarify, even though a lot of the formal studies looked only at lotteries and similar prizes, I didn’t limit myself to them because all large windfalls have similarities. You’ll see similar anecdotes & statistics among people who win big lawsuits or make it big in some form of entertainment or sport.

Examples just down the street from me involve members of the Cowboys. Before he got his act together, WR Michael Irvin’s paternity suit disclosed he only had a few thousand dollars in the bank. He was spending virtually his entire salary on houses, cars, jewelry, and clothes. Other players in that organization were literally living game check to game check. They’d cash them without investing anything.

 

[Deset Gled]

When I pass, the horizon of my life will resemble the Appalachians. But even I gotta say that's one heck of a hill to die on.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

When I pass, the horizon of my life will resemble the Appalachians. But even I gotta say that's one heck of a hill to die on.

When I die, it will be on a hill an Everest of Bard corpses, and I’ll have a spring in my step, a twinkle in my eye, and at least two dozen incomplete essays.

 

[Ryujin]

When I die, it will be on a hill an Everest of Bard corpses, and I’ll have a spring in my step, a twinkle in my eye, and at least two dozen incomplete essays.

Mound of Dead Bards Miniature - Zombie Orpheus Entertainment

www.zombieorpheus.com

 

[TiQuinn]

This advice from Reddit has always stuck with me about winning the lottery. I'm sure there are other plans that would work, but it seemed broadly reasonable as a starting point.

A lot of states now preserve anonymity for lottery winners because of many of the examples that post raised.

 

[TiQuinn]

2) DO hire a money manager of some kind. Fees may seem to be a neverending suck, but they help you avoid investment pitfalls.

Yeah, that’s the one bit of advice I didn’t agree with from the original post. Learn to recognize a good money manager. They are doing work that you wouldn’t want to do.