Winning the Lottery

X-raying some ills of lottery winnings!

Research has it that lottery winners are more likely to declare bankruptcy within three to five years than the average American. What's more, studies have shown that winning the lottery does not necessarily make you happier or healthier. Instead, it leaves you confused on how to spend the money, what choices to make and the expectations of friends and family do not help matters. "Evidence shows that most people who make it to the top one percent of income earners usually don't stay at the top for very long," writes The Washington Post's Jonnelle Marte.

In life, people have a tendency to ruin a good thing while it’s going. People become overwhelmed with the joy and fulfillment and begin to react irresponsible. For instance, a great thing such as winning can result into something horrible. Winning the lottery not only can bring happiness into someone’s life, but as well cause their life to be a complete nightmare lotto dominator . When a person goes from being considerably poor to having millions of dollars, it impacts their lives to a great extent by causing them to become unreasonable with their winnings, quit their jobs, or just lose touch with reality. Truth is winning unthinkable amounts of money causes unimaginable stress on lives of people not accustomed to it.

The issue of fame also comes in. A lottery winner will begin to feel the need to flaunt their wealth because of their popularity. In result, a lottery winner will start buying flashy things for display and buying others overly expensive gifts to show how wealthy they are. Not considering the cost of their flashy and expensive objects, can cause a lottery winner to lose all their winnings in a matter of time. Therefore, the popularity given to a lottery winner isn’t beneficial because the fame and wealth results into dishonor and debt. After faced with new responsibilities, a person is subject to become overwhelmed and at times insecure.

Being a lottery winner, privacy becomes nonexistent. The winners are now considered to be local celebrities. Being obligated to uphold the duties of a celebrity places a large burden on the life of a lottery winner. A lottery winner will begin to over analysis events taking place and question the intentions of people around them. They begin to constantly ask themselves, “Are people around for the best interest of them or their winnings.” Much insecurity faced by lottery winners can result in the loss of their true character. The lottery winners abandon their previous hobbies, jobs, and interests and start to lead the new life based on what they feel they are expected to be.

Don McNay, a financial consultant to lottery winners and the author of "Life Lessons from the Lottery," says many winners struggle with suicide, depression and divorce. "It's the curse of the lottery because it made their lives worse instead of improving them," he says.