Winning the lottery

He just stood there stonecold. Just minutes ago, Dan was the winner of the Mega Millions lottery which is worth at about 135million dollars. Not knowing what to do, he just stood there and then subsequently fainted.

Well, I'm pretty sure it's everybody's dream. I mean who the hell minds having an extra couple of hundred millions at your disposal? Hell I can make do with a couple of millions right now. I'm pretty sure everyone who actually play lotteries would have that 'to buy list when I strike rich'. Suddenly everything seems to be more plesant. Even the skies are bluer than ever.

Here's an interesting anecdote. Almost 80% of lottery winners end up back where they were financially before they won the lottery. Not only that, they usually end up with more debts, broken families and also trust issues with almost anyone else. I can so imagine if I did win the lottery my long lost brother from Kenya would suddenly show up to claim his share of that money. People would flock to you like you're the sugar central for ants.

Come to think of it, having large sums of money is not necessarily a good thing as everyone thought to be. However, there are a few stuff that one can do to avoid all the negativity related to your lottery winnings. For one, just don't tell anyone(especially your wife!!!! haha), even if you have the best intentions of sharing your wealth. If everyone knows about your wealth, you wouldn't know who would be your true friends are. Hell, even right now I've been taken advantage financially, imagine all the gold diggers when you're worth hundreds of millions.

Second thing would be to hire a financial advisor. In fact, this should be the very first thing you should do when you strike the gold. Having a person who are professional in handling funds ensures that you wouldn't get burned out. This should be the upmost priority, and would be the best investment you'd ever made. Of course, go make some investments on your own cause money would run out one day. Just ask the 80% of the lottery winners.

Thirdly, don't attract unwanted attention by flashing around. This is not to create jealousy and hate from other people. Just face it, people are jealous especially when the money you have literally fall from the sky. Everyone would of course would want the money as they think you don't deserve it and you driving your Lambo around doesn't ease their jealousy. So keep a low key life. Difficult I know as I would really love rubbing my Lambos against my other nemesis but remember, as cliche as it sounds with vast money comes great responsibility. The other benefit of not flashing around is that you do not waste your money on unecessary things, stretching your hard earned money to the limit.

Another thing which is related to the third thing is that to live a normal life. Your mentality is very important here and is that you want to live a normal life, not because you're worried of the consequences. Often enough happiness is a state of mind, not by the amount of zeros in your bank account. One must understand that extra wealth does not bring infinite happiness but rather just eases the worry of money. Go do the things you've always wanted like maybe travel around the world, fulfilling meaningful dreams.

Last but not least, donate a certain amount of money to charity, SINCERELY! I know alot of people donate large sums of money to charity because of tax benefits but that's a different story. Again sincerity is the key here. Don't underestimate karma as you would be surprised if you do. Do remember that in truth your money IS literally fallen from the sky into your hands, so go do something beneficial to the world.

I watched a show where her father comes to her talking about how foolish of her paying so much money buying those collectors cards and say they're essentially just paper. Her daughter then say 'Well then I don't understand why adults get so worked out over money. It's also paper right daddy?' Her father than couldn't say anything.