balki1867: [sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net image 850x636]

I feel like this needs to be shopped.

it already is

Atomic Spunk: If lotteries were illegal, I think most people wouldn't be out searching for an illegal alternative - they'd just choose not to gamble.

That's true, but the average person doesn't have a gambling problem. People with gambling problems will find the illegal alternatives anyway if no legal one is available. Making it illegal doesn't protect anyone, it just changes gambling addicts from people with a problem into criminals. Making gambling illegal is exactly the same as prohibition or the war on drugs.

This is why all lottery winners should have the option to stay anonymous. If You win its really no one else's bidness.

Atomic Spunk: So I think that keeping it illegal is probably protecting a lot of people from gambling their money away.

Why shouldn't people be able to spend their money in the way they want to?

Atomic Spunk: I often read these types of cautionary tales about a lottery winner blowing all their money and/or having their lives spin out of control after winning. Occasionally, I will read a story about how a winner's life was changed for the better. Overall, though, I wonder if most large jackpot winners feel that the win made their lives better or worse?

Either way though, I think lotteries are bad for society. I can't help but feel that if you sell hundreds of thousands of people (or more) a little piece of hope then yank it away, and you do this over and over again, it can't be good. Also, I've known a few problem gamblers before, and it's a miserable way to live for both them and their families.

There's no way governments would give up lotteries, they pull in way too much easy money. Maybe they should assign them financial advisers and counselors or force them to put a percentage into a trust fund for ten years so there's at least a chance they won't blow it all.

AutumnWind: I've heard of stores checking their security cameras and posting photos of lotto winners. Once the lotto winner didn't know she won until seeing her photo. It's a bit annoying overall though because if you want to remain anonymous and a store posts your picture and then it ends up on the news.........

OMG. Now that means that I must wear a disguises wen I buy my tickets from now on. Crap.

meintx2001: I hate hearing all these "reasons" not to win. BS. Go ahead give me a shot. I might make a few mistakes, but there's no way I'll end up broke. Farking idiots.

I dunno, 2 or the 5 had a sibling attempt to kill them, and another one had his granddaughter get kidnapped in an attempt to extort him. I'm not sure how much money I'd want to have to deal with those sorts of things. I'm not saying they are a brightest bulbs to begin with, but they definitely walked into a whole new world when they cashed in those tickets.

I've heard of stores checking their security cameras and posting photos of lotto winners. Once the lotto winner didn't know she won until seeing her photo. It's a bit annoying overall though because if you want to remain anonymous and a store posts your picture and then it ends up on the news.........

#1 Hire an attorney.
#2 Hire an accountant
#3 Hire a financial advisor
#4 Make sure that #'s 1-3 don't know each other
#5 Change phone #'s
#6 Move
#7 make sure all mail to old address goes directly to the trash
#8 then claim the prize.

/Never going to happen. Back to work on Monday.

I'd have absolutely no problem saying "No" to most requests for money, but it's the things you can't control that would worry me - people wanting to sue me because they tripped on a blade of grass in my yard, or because I "promised" them a million bucks 20 years ago if I ever won the lottery, or the worst of them all, physical harm or threats to me or my family.

I almost think I'd prefer winning a small lottery (say, $100,000 a year over 20-30 years) vs one big $300 Million + windfall.

1>claim it anonymously if possible
2>dont tell anyone
3>find a lawyer
3>do not quit job immediately, after a few weeks, put in your 2 weeks notice claiming that you got another job
4>get off the grid - change phone #, cell phone etc
5>tour europe or asia or sit on a beach in another country for a few months
6>when you come back, move to where there are lots of rich people so you dont stand out
7>stay alive if you can


/i'm all ready
//have yet to actually buy a ticket

I would literally tell nobody if I won the lottery. I'd do whatever it is those folks do when they form trusts and have their lawyer claim the prize. (I must admit I'm a proud GED law degree holder so I'm not sure how that works). The only exception to this would be a spouse.

In all reality, a lot of people you think you can trust will start to look at you differently and its unavoidable:
- Your coworkers will assume you don't take work seriously (even if you love your job) because you can quit whenever you want. You will get passed up for opportunities because of this.
- You might get sued or extorted (as in one of the cases in the article)
- You *WILL* constantly get hit up for money. It will get annoying
- Casual acquaintances will hit you up for money when they're in a tight spot and will say things about it to common friends when you refuse. Whether you like it or not, some of these people will not be sympathetic towards you in this regard no matter how bogus that is.
- I like to at least this your close friends won't give a fark

Seriously, no matter how good you are with money, I don't think any of us have a clue how much our lives would change because of something like this.

Wasn't there that one time that this trio of "bankers" won the lottery, but then rumors started circulating that these guys were really "financial lawyers" that claimed the money for the real winner so that he/she could stay anonymous? The trio got a cut of the winnings and the winner got to spend with no one pouncing them for cash.

/If that's true, I say GENIUS.

I'm just shocked to find out that people that play the lottery might not be so good at managing their money. Just absolutely shocked.