Will Trump Win the Lection Again
Everybody needs money to survive. It'due south a fact nosotros may not similar, but it's however a fact. Another inescapable truth is that about of united states of america could use more money for the things we need also as the things we just want. That probably makes the hope of winning the lottery sound like a dream come true, but the reality is much more complicated than that.
Consider this cautionary tale of a woman in drastic need who won an unbelievable amount of money. The choices and mistakes she made after winning ultimately resulted in losing it all. Her story reminds united states all to never forget that money doesn't buy happiness.
Meet Marie Holmes
When she was 26, Marie Holmes was living a hard life in North Carolina. She was a hard-working, unmarried mother of four with two depression-paying jobs. On acme of this, one of her children had simply been diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
Considering of her child'south special needs, Marie was forced to quit both of her jobs to care for him total fourth dimension. Plain, the $188 one thousand thousand lottery windfall seemed like a Godsend when Marie won, but unfortunately, she made a series of poor decisions that resulted in her losing it all.
Marie's Original Plans
Marie fabricated some promising comments about what she planned to do with the lottery money — $127 million afterwards she chose to get it in a lump sum. "Kickoff I'yard going to pay my tithes, because I wouldn't have none of it if it weren't for God."
"After that, I'm going to set up accounts for my kids…I'thousand going to buy a house for me and my kids, and then make sure my family is all good." Marie also told WGN-TV, "I don't have to worry about the discussion 'struggle' no more and neither practice [my children]."
The Waiting Game
Although most lottery winnings are not life changing, lottery jackpots are huge, and at that place are rules for claiming those winnings. If a person wins less than $599, the establishment that sold them the ticket pays them their winnings. However, at that place is a lengthy process involved in challenge large lottery winnings.
The ticket has to be verified by a scanning machine. Next, there is a waiting menstruum for the money to be awarded, and the winner must fill out some identification paperwork. Last, the winner must decide if they want all the money in a lump sum or take it dispersed in installments for 30 years (on boilerplate).
Choices, Choices
One of the more hard choices when a person wins millions of dollars in a lottery is whether to become the money in a lump sum or in installments. The dilemma occurs considering in that location is a big penalisation for getting all the money faster in a lump sum.
Marie had the choice of collecting the entire $188 million over 30 years or forfeiting $61 million and collecting the remaining $127 million much sooner. Financial experts normally recommend taking the lump sum and investing the money. That allows y'all the opportunity to brand coin on your winnings instead of the state. Marie chose the lump sum.
Uncle Sam's Cut
Many people don't know how much taxes people take to pay out of lottery winnings in the U.S., so we'll pause information technology downward for you. Although the unabridged tax amount wasn't reported in Marie Holmes' example, she definitely paid millions to the government.
In the U.S., lottery winnings are considered income by the IRS, on both the state and federal levels. Therefore, Northward Carolina would have taken 5.8% of Marie's $127 million, and the Federal Regime would have taken anywhere from 25% to 39.6%, depending on tax bracket and other factors. Most people pay the highest rate.
Setting an Example
When Marie won the lottery, she had plans that all sounded very honorable. She said she would donate commencement to her church building and then move out of her mobile dwelling and buy a new house for her children. She also planned to set upwards college funds for them.
Marie told NBC, "All the struggle that I ever went through, information technology was all for [my children]. I want them to understand that money doesn't change you, but information technology tin assist you." The public vicious in love with Marie after hearing about her history of poverty and difficult knocks before she became wealthy.
Could She Handle It?
The reputation that Marie had in her hometown and elsewhere was that of a hard-working, single female parent who, according to her family and friends, "understood the value of a dollar." At one point, she had two jobs — Walmart and McDonald'due south — to back up her four children. Therefore, nobody expected her to make poor decisions about where the money would go.
Of grade, no one took into account that Marie was inexperienced and uninformed about how to handle large amounts of money. When she started deciding how to spend the lottery coin, the public viewed her as immature and irresponsible.
Financial Advisor, Please?
When people who aren't wealthy win a lot of money, information technology'due south highly recommended that they seek professional person help about how to manage the money, including what Not to exercise with it. The average American has absolutely no experience handling large amounts of money.
Fiscal advisors warn that fifty-fifty titanic amounts of money can disappear chop-chop if information technology isn't invested wisely. In the case of Marie Holmes, it seemed like her centre was in the correct identify and she was doing what she thought was right, just some skilful advice definitely would have helped her out.
The Bad Judgment Begins
The first matter dubbed a poor judgment phone call by the public was the $xv,000 Rolex that Marie bought her young man, Lamar "Hot Sauce" McDow. The watch was more jewelry than a timepiece and was reportedly "dripping with diamonds."
That same beau ultimately cost Marie much more. The Port City Daily reported Lamar was a gang member and a drug dealer subsequently he was arrested and charged with "conspiracy to traffic in opium or heroin" in April 2016. He continued to become arrested throughout their relationship, and Marie spent millions on his bail and defense force.
The Saga Continues
Earlier beingness sent to jail on drug charges in 2014, Lamar McDow lived with Marie Holmes and her children in her trailer. When he was released from jail after serving his sentence, he lived in the $350,000 home that she had purchased afterwards winning the lottery.
Co-ordinate to the Daily Mail, of the original corporeality of $188 meg, Marie was left with about $88 million after deciding to have her winnings in a lump sum and paying taxes. This is still a very large amount of coin, but a loss of $100 one thousand thousand is apparently very pregnant.
Leeches Coming Out of the Woodwork
Predictably, lots of people immediately started asking Marie and her boyfriend for coin after they heard she won the lottery. The people included friends, family members and numerous others, all requesting diverse amounts of money for all kinds of reasons. Unfortunately, this experience is common for lottery winners.
Marie and Lamar were constantly harassed for coin handouts, and it became very stressful for them. Marie was quoted as maxim, "When money comes, there are more problems," according to reports.
Racial Intolerance in Their New Home
Some other problem that plagued Marie and her family unit in their new life in their new habitation was harassment from neighbors due to racial prejudice. The neighborhood that Marie moved into with her family unit was an intolerant, primarily white community, and much to the family unit's chagrin, the residents were not interested in changing.
According to Lamar, "Ane neighbor set up a camera to record everything nosotros were doing. If I was driving down the road and going at the speed limit, they would wave at me for going likewise fast. They did non want us in that location. They were prejudiced." Lamar reported these disturbing events to the Daily Mail.
The Church Donation
Marie stayed truthful to her give-and-take, which was reported in a press release every bit "The kickoff affair she promised was to tithe — requite a 10th of her winnings to charity." Marie donated a full of $700,000 to her hometown church, Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church, located in Shallotte, NC.
The church building reportedly used the money for much-needed renovations. Marie told the printing the church was an important office of her life and her faith and that she had been attending that particular church building since she was a child.
Pastor Disaster
Unfortunately, a different pastor made contact with Marie and her family with an evil ulterior motive. Pastor Kevin Matthews claimed that "God led him to them," and although they certainly regretted it later on, Marie and her family unit believed him and immune him into their lives and their home.
Presently after meeting Marie, Pastor Matthews asked her for $1.five meg and so he could build a retreat. According to him, Marie verbally agreed to fund the projection, although there is no prove to support that. He and then went ahead and began construction on the retreat using his ain coin. Marie did not contribute.
Wicked Intentions
Citing a verbal agreement in which Marie allegedly promised to donate $one.5 meg for his retreat, Pastor Kevin Matthews appear publicly that he was suing Marie Holmes for $10 million. The amount of money named in the accommodate was baffling, considering the corporeality he was allegedly promised was much less.
The public believed Pastor Matthews was beingness ungrateful and greedy. His behavior seemed unbecoming of a Christian leader to nearly people of religion. The justification for his lawsuit was that he had a verbal understanding with Marie for a money donation and compensation for "emotional distress."
Public Outrage
As shortly as the media caught wind of the lawsuit, they uncovered that Matthews did non announced to be affiliated with any church. This led to a astringent, aroused public backlash. People shamed Matthews for being a fraud and trying to scam a nice lady out of her rightful winnings.
Ane YouTuber, "Donald the Repentless," was so mad about this that he put out videos entitled, "F*** You Pastor Kevin Matthews." Public opinion was clear that this so-chosen "pastor" was nothing simply a money-grubbing scam creative person preying on a squeamish lady to become his hands on a lot of undeserved money.
To Tiptop It Off: Infidelity
In more than bad news for Marie and her children, the media reported that her ex-captive boyfriend was beingness unfaithful. Unfortunately, it was also reported that she herself paid Lamar's mistresses hush money to go away instead of getting rid of him.
In more reputation damaging news, a video surfaced on Facebook of a woman who claimed that in addition to Lamar cheating on Marie, he was besides stealing money from her to pay prostitutes for "sexual favors." Unfortunately, the video went viral, equally juicy gossip oftentimes does.
Powering Through
Instead of withering under the scrutiny of the media and the public, Marie decided to take drastic measures to amend her circumstances. She gathered her strength and took matters into her ain hands past turning to a well-known life coach to get some advice about how to better her life.
Marie contacted Iyanla Vanzant, who has her own show advising people about their relationships on the Oprah Network. Vanzant is a renowned author and motivational speaker with a huge following due to her reputation for changing people'due south lives for the better.
The Truth Revealed
In another surprising twist, when Marie went on the Iyanla: Prepare My Life talk show, her mother, Fontella, came out and revealed that the numbers she chose for the winning lottery ticket were really hers and that they had a very special meaning.
"I kept dreaming about your brother that we lost. His birthday, he was the third child, he'd have been 25 that year. Those were the numbers." When Marie asked her mother why she didn't claim the money for herself, Fontella replied, "I just wanted y'all to ameliorate yourself for the babies."
The Scoop on Lamar McDow
Lamar "Hot Sauce" McDow was fortunate plenty to stay in Marie's expert graces long enough to fight jail iii times, to the melody of millions in bail and legal fees. The first time Marie bailed him out, it cost her $3 million in bail money.
Earlier a year had passed, Lamar was arrested again, and Marie bailed him out again for $6 1000000. The 3rd time Marie bailed out Lamar, it was $12 million. Y'all would recall she would have been repulsed past his criminal behavior, only she just kept spending the money, resulting in widespread criticism.
Misery Loves Company
Marie was warned by many people that if she connected her human relationship with Lamar, she could end upwardly with criminal charges herself. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. Ane night, Lamar violated his parole curfew. When the police force came, they discovered marijuana in the house.
Tragically, Marie was arrested for possession in forepart of her children. Marijuana remains illegal in North Carolina, but in that location is a significant racial bias about who is criminalized for information technology, co-ordinate to the ACLU. The aforementioned number of white people as black people utilize marijuana, but blacks are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested.
The Fellow Defence
Lamar eventually got aroused at the people criticizing Marie for spending her money bailing him out of jail, and he lashed out. To the Daily Postal service, he asserted, "We are a couple, and I am the father of her youngest child. This is what people do for each other."
Lamar went on to say, "She has the coin, and she can do what she wants with information technology. If I had that coin, so I would do the same for her. People are just jealous because of how much she won, and people want to see me locked in jail."
The Wolf Pit
During the taping of the Iyanla show, the bad headlines but kept rolling in. Marie's family unit and fifty-fifty one-time friends started accusing her of actually stealing the lottery ticket from her female parent, despite Fontella freely admitting on idiot box that she had given the ticket to Marie.
To add together to the stress and drama, Lamar went to jail at this time on a 7-year sentence for charges related to possessing and selling heroin. Truthful to course, Marie persisted in pushing forrard and moving on with her life, demonstrating her forcefulness and resilience.
A Goal Met
Despite poor taste in partners, Marie did brand some good decisions about what to do with some of her money. She ended upward giving $nine.7 meg to various charities. Office of that money went to the brand-new Marie Holmes Foundation, which was established to provide for children in need.
Marie'due south foundation provides necessities for underprivileged children. It likewise holds customs events, which are how some children get their school supplies and their Christmas presents. The foundation helps struggling young mothers like Marie was before she won the lottery.
Exercise Christians Risk?
Marie was raised a devout Catholic, and she leans heavily on her Christian faith. Some people criticized her for playing the lottery at all, because it tends to be frowned upon by the church building. People have mixed opinions when it comes to Christians gambling.
One pastor said this to the Christian Post: "You tin't be against the lottery, merely your youth department is doing a RAFFLE! Same matter, pastor. SAME THING!" The stigma remains nearly gambling existence an irresponsible money-waster. Others argue that there is nothing specific said nigh gambling in the Bible, and so it's okay when it's non abused.
The Root of All Evil
Other religious people, such every bit 1 pastor cited in the Christian Post, pointed out that the Bible says that money is where evil originated. He scolded Marie for ownership the lottery ticket and went on to say, "First, we must guard confronting our love of coin."
It should be noted that when the Bible does mention "casting lots," it's not usually talking about textile gain, but about God. In an example of this, Proverbs 16:33 states, "The lot is bandage into the lap, merely its every conclusion is from the Lord."
Some Friendly Communication
We recommend that others read the unfortunate story of Marie Holmes in example they find themselves in her shoes. It's not at all easy to become from rags to riches, and similar versions of her story take happened to others.
Information technology'southward of import to sympathize revenue enhancement laws for the long term, the rules of the lottery and investment options if you ever find yourself in the position of receiving a large windfall of money. Be certain to rent a skillful professional person financial adept to help yous decide how to manage your money to avoid reckless decisions.
A Cautionary Tale
If you ever happen to detect yourself in the unlikely position of winning the lottery some things to lookout out for include regime laws, lottery rules, country and federal taxes and your previous unpaid debts. These things can help you calculate your expendable income.
It may exist unwise in the initial excitement to promise lots of charitable giving, like Marie did, without first doing the math to see what your take-home amount really is. Multiple millions of dollars may seem like an enormous corporeality, merely as Marie discovered, it'due south easy to burn through it chop-chop if you are uninformed.
Further Drama
Some call up that Marie had a run of terrible luck later she won the lottery, while others recall she brought her woes upon herself with poor determination-making. A few think the truth lies somewhere in the middle of those 2 black-and-white judgments.
Aside from spending millions on her boyfriend — who eventually ended up in federal prison house anyway — Marie also made another questionable decisions subsequently winning the lotto, such as buying her boyfriend a business of his own and buying her female parent a house. She too had harassment charges filed against her for allegedly calling a woman repeatedly to threaten her.
The Lesser Line
The catastrophe of this story is mostly grim, although Marie Holmes did exercise some positive things with a lasting affect earlier the last of her money was gone. She didn't seem to realize that she would be under a microscope with the media and the public.
Here are a couple more tips, just in example you lot ever hitting it big: Don't trust anyone asking for money, fifty-fifty if they seem to have a very respectable social status (like the pastor who sued Marie Holmes). Recall the proficient that money can do, simply don't forget the bad. No affair what, don't make assuming promises immediately later on winning.
Source: https://www.reference.com/business-finance/what-not-to-do-if-you-win-lottery?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740005%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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