Many people probably fantasize about winning the lottery. In reality, the odds of winning any lottery are 1 in 300 million. We actually have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than we do winning the big lottery prize. Nevertheless, about 50% of Americans still buy at least one lottery ticket a year, hoping they will be that one lucky person among the 300 million.
I personally have won only a few bucks. But what's it like to know a winner of a real lottery prize? One netizen was curious to know, so they asked: "Have you ever actually met/know someone who has won the lottery? What happened to them?" Surprisingly, there are a lot of folks who know lottery winners! And each story differs from the rest.
#21
A family friend won $200k. Payed off his student loans, put a down payment on a house and saved/invested the rest. He is an accountant. So not life altering but definitely set himself up good for his life.
62points
#22
Yep. A friend won the big Canadian lotto. Won 7 figures. Bought a beautiful home on Vancouver Island and kept his job with the BC government.
60points
#23
My stepdad's brother won 4.3m 20 years ago. Still chillin. Invested in real estate and kept rolling them over for profit.
56points
#24
Worked with a guy who won like $3k/week for life on a scratch off. He continued working for like 6 months before he bought a truck and went and lived the O/O life in the oil fields of North Dakota. Bought everyone pizza on his last day.
52points
#25
When I was 10 in late 70’s my friends family won 3 million. I went to his house to see if he was coming out. The house was empty and they were gone and I never saw him again.
48points
#26
When I worked at a bank I helped a guy deposit a $300K+ check. The man looked like a regular guy, dressed in dockers and a polo, drove a 90s or 00s Camry type car, at first I was wary of the amount of the check but we got to talking (and I called to verify the check) and he said that he won something like $15million and this was his yearly check.
I always thought that was really smart of him to not draw attention to himself by dressing casual and driving a “beater”. At the time I looked up his address and he did have a nice house on the water, I’m sure he has other fancier cars but you wouldn’t know.
I always thought that was really smart of him to not draw attention to himself by dressing casual and driving a “beater”. At the time I looked up his address and he did have a nice house on the water, I’m sure he has other fancier cars but you wouldn’t know.
47points
#27
A woodwork teacher from high school won the lottery twice, I think it was [only] around 250k each time, so he didn’t quit his job - but he completely gave up on trying to keep the class under control, he’d usually just show us YouTube videos of him racing superbikes in the countryside
He gave me a decent grade for a clock I made at least.
He gave me a decent grade for a clock I made at least.
46points
#28
I sold mortgages for a bit and talked to a lady who was dead broke, in mountains of debt and was trying to consolidate debt and refinance her house.
Through the course of conversation, it came to light that she won almost $4 million playing the lottery (and took home ~$2 mil after taxes) about 3 years earlier.
She was in bad financial shape, so I asked what she did with all the money and how she got into the situation she was in, and she honestly had no idea.
Her words were essentially "We took a few trips, bought 2 new cars, paid off the house and stuff, but I have no clue how I spent $2 million and racked up over $100k in credit card debt in 3 years.".
Through the course of conversation, it came to light that she won almost $4 million playing the lottery (and took home ~$2 mil after taxes) about 3 years earlier.
She was in bad financial shape, so I asked what she did with all the money and how she got into the situation she was in, and she honestly had no idea.
Her words were essentially "We took a few trips, bought 2 new cars, paid off the house and stuff, but I have no clue how I spent $2 million and racked up over $100k in credit card debt in 3 years.".
46points
#29
Coworkers sister won 2mil. 6 months later asking him, and me, at our job, for help to feed her children.
44points
#30
Worked with a guy in the 90's that won 28 million. Never saw him again.
44points
