30 Eye-Opening Stories About How Money Changes People After Winning Big In The Lottery

A guy I went to high school with won the lottery in his early thirties. He bought the low-income housing block he grew up in and his mother still lived in, completely renovated it, and kept it low income housing.

I don’t know what else he did with the money, but he changed a lot of families’ lives for the better with that one purchase.

He bought a house, got sober, and invested a bunch of time into hobbies. He went from being a good guy to a great guy. Super proud of him.

My friend won just under $30 million, and dropped out of college to learn to manage her money herself, then finished off her degree online and moved from the East Coast to the West Coast to start her dream career. She invested most of her winnings, works a 9-5 job she loves, and got married and has a couple of kids now. Her personality didn’t change at all, she’s goofy as hell with her friends, and an absolute sweetheart.

My grandparents took our entire family on a cruise, and then paid for all of the grandkids college educations and first cars 🥺 they bought a new house and cars, but took the payment over years option and rode that MF out- traveled all over the world.

Guy I worked with asked what would I do if I won a lot of lottery money, I said tell noone, see a financial planner, do what makes me happy.
Later he brought a nice 4wd and left and a while later I heard he was just fishing in Queensland.
Tell noone.

My parents won the Readers Digest sweepstakes. (Yes, people really win those; no, they didn’t have to buy anything.)

It paid out $5 million over 30 years, or roughly $170K per year. So not “buy a private island” money, but more than my parents had ever seen.

They retired early, bought a modest house in their hometown near their family, and started doing the things they’d always wanted to do. They traveled the world, ate at good restaurants, drank nice wine. When grandkids came along, they could afford to visit four or five times a year.

The money was an unqualified blessing for them and I’m so happy they got to enjoy it.

I knew a guy who quit his job as a factory worker and went back to college to get a doctorate in music performance and composition. Played a mean jazz bass. Happiest guy I ever met.

I worked with a lady who was two cubicles down from me. She would buy the lottery religiously and one Friday our boss said to her, “I laugh you win the $55million and come in on Monday and quit.” Well…. She sure did. She was the first solo winner in my city and she quit Monday morning… she and her husband didn’t change much. They just remodelled their home and continue to live simple lives. Both are retired. She was 42 when she won. This was about 10years ago now.

Girl that was jumping from one s****y job to another. Did win not a massive amount but enough to be able to study 2-3 years without having to work. Was able to land a good job and nice paycheck thanks to her studies, so basically changed her life for better.

My friend's aunt won about 800k (which can be a generational-change sum if managed correctly), she gave her immediate family 1k each (about 15 persons), paid her and her husbands student loans in full, all of her debt and house mortgage and decided to invest the rest, she still works at a school as a head teacher and my friend tells me that her mentality is something like "what easy comes, easy goes" so she doesn't spend the money lavishly.

I worked in retail with a woman who won just over $1 mil in the US in 1998. She got laid off from her job as a checker the very next day. The HR lady said she had never seen someone so happy being laid off, and this was about 20 days before Christmas. She became a stay at home mom and her husband, who was working at 7-11 and absolutely loved to talk to people, took his dream job - selling cars. I saw him about 8 years age and he said they still lived in the same house and he was still selling cars for the same dealership.

I know a guy that won $1 million. It ended up being way less than that because of taxes. I didn't know him before he won but he was older, like late 50s, but he didn't stop working. Still a fabricator and the nicest guy. Apparently he didn't buy anything big, still lives in his small house and drives a beater. Couldn't have had a nicer guy win it honestly

Once I bought one of those $3 bingo cards and won $20. I cashed it in at the convenience store and the guy was so excited because, in his words, "I've never seen anyone win so much money on these before."

That was the last day I bought a bingo card.

Went to school with a guy whose parents won about $1m. This was in the early 90’s.

His dad just paid off the house, sent his kids to private school and kept working.

Last I heard, they’re now retired but still in that house. I’d like to think if I won a lot of money, that I’d do something similar.

Years ago one of my roommates won one of those $5k/week for life scratch offs.

She then moved out and my life got better because she was a terrible roommates.

She was already retired, so she gave like 100K to each of her children, gifted 10K to each of her nieces /nephews, bought a nicer apartment for herself and her husband, and mostly leads the same life as before. She still has the same friends, and she still has coffee with her sisters every weekday. 

But now she takes her grandkids on trips, pays for their cool extracurriculars / summer activities (surf school, SCUBA diving, whatever) and, now and then, she buys something nice for her close ones or for herself. 

Basically, she didn't change. She was always generous and kind, and she still is. Now she can splurge on things that are important to her, so she does. And she still has many family members who love her, as well as a lot of the money she won, so we know she'll be able to support herself in her old age.

He didn’t change at all. It was a moderately big win, he took his dream holiday and gave the rest away to family. 

One Christmas when I was 24 my mother who lived out of town came to visit. I took her and my grandmother to an Indian gaming casino for Christmas Eve / Christmas. I had just closed on my first house, very much a fixer upper. My mom gave me $300 and said “go double up”. I ended up winning over 9k that night. I hit three separate jackpots in the high limit room. It’s like I could do no wrong. There was one machine I was eyeing, but I didn’t want to press my luck. The very next morning I watched a guy hit the button twice and he won $4200.

I had to borrow 1500 from my dad for closing costs on the house. I had a 6 month payment plan all figured out - I paid him back immediately. I also had to pay for an oil tank decommission in my backyard. I spent the remaining on all new appliances, which was GREAT. The first night I spent in my new house, the refrigerator sounded like it ran on gas. Thump thump thump thump alllll night long. Super thankful for that lil financial boost to this day.

My friend's aunt and uncle won Cash 4 Life. Less than a year after winning, their house was hit by a tornado. They rebuilt, much larger than the original build. They didn't change, but their home did.

My best friends father won 1000 a week for life scratch off. Moved his family out of a horrible two bedroom apartment in NYC and he moved them down to Florida. Was able to pay for his children to do all the extra curricular activities they wanted to.