The Blog We Share in MM199

Image By Shutterstock By: Seth Cross 70% of lottery winners actually have less money than they did originally within 7 years. But how in the world is this possible? The answer is simple: irresponsibility, stupidtiy, however you want to phrase it. But what are some of the craziest things that lottery winners have blown their new-found wealth on? After some research, here are the wildest reported things that I was able to find.  A man from the United Kingdom who won 10 million dollars built a race track in his backyard and held demolition derbies. A winner in New Jersey of 5.4 million, lost her money gambling within 2 years and is now living in a trailer park basically penniless. The first thing a woman from North Carolina bought after winning 4 million, was another lottery ticket. She won another 1 million on the second ticket. A man who won 3 million immediately used that money to start selling guns and crystal meth, he's now facing life in prison. A woman spend $500,...

Image By Shutterstock By: Seth Cross As mentioned in my last post, there are some states that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous, but still many do not. There is a great deal of controversy and debate surrounding this issue. On one hand, allowing winners to stay anonymous protects them by not allowing the rest of the world to find out they're a multi-millionaire over night. However, if winners were allowed to remain anonymous, it would be extremely easy for fraudulent practices to occur by the lottery itself. The lottery organization could just declare a "winner", and keep the money themselves or paid out to a person of their choice. I understand this sounds far fetched, but there's been a great deal researched and written about this very conundrum. Many lottery organizations, on advice from the FTC, want to remain as transparent about how they operate and how they payout their big prizes. If not, they will fall under tremendous scrutiny by the general publ...

Image credits to Shutterstock By: Seth Cross  It doesn't take long for a little research to prove some of the horrors that can come from winning the lottery. There is story after story of a big jackpot breaking up a marriage, ending friendships, and ruining lives as a whole. However bad the social impacts could be, winning the lottery could literally cost you your life. While some states allow winners to stay anonymous, most don't. Therefore it becomes public knowledge that you won big money. When that happens, you might as well have spray painted a giant bulls-eye on your back. Not only will you be hounded for money by anyone who knows you, and some who don't, you also increase your chances of being robbed or killed dramatically .  Studies have even shown that 70% of lottery winners have even less money than they originally did within 7 years. No matter how you slice it, there is a great many negative aspects and dangers of winning the lottery that people rarely con...

Royalty Free Image: Shutterstock By: Seth Cross If I won the lottery, some wild stuff is going to happen. Check out my podcast and find out what I would do with my winnings. https://soundcloud.com/seth-cross-979446429/if-i-won-the-lottery-mm199-podcast

Royalty Free Image - Shutterstock By: Seth Cross It's probably one of the most common road trip conversations, "what would you do if you won the lottery?" Undoubtedly, we all have an answer to that question in one way, shape, or form. It might be something smart and savvy like investing in low-yield bonds. It might be something generous like paying off your families bills. Or it might be something honest like going and buying the world's largest gumball machine. However, winning the lottery and the idea of the lottery as a whole is not quite as glamorous or fantastic as you might think. Don't get me wrong I'd still like to try it, but there is a significant amount of controversy and insane stories that surround the lottery and especially some of it's winners. In this 5 post series, I will discuss all sorts of interesting things surrounding the lottery. Among these will include the dangers of winning the lottery, controversies and and rumors that sur...