If You Win Again Tomorrow That Is Called a Winning Streak
Everybody needs money to survive. It'southward a fact we may non like, but it's yet a fact. Another inescapable truth is that well-nigh of us could use more coin for the things we need as well as the things we only want. That probably makes the hope of winning the lottery sound like a dream come true, but the reality is much more than complicated than that.
Consider this cautionary tale of a adult female in desperate demand 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 of america all to never forget that money doesn't buy happiness.
Meet Marie Holmes
When she was 26, Marie Holmes was living a difficult life in North Carolina. She was a difficult-working, single mother of four with two depression-paying jobs. On top of this, one of her children had only been diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
Because of her child's special needs, Marie was forced to quit both of her jobs to care for him full fourth dimension. Obviously, the $188 1000000 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'southward Original Plans
Marie made some promising comments nearly what she planned to do with the lottery coin — $127 million after she chose to get it in a lump sum. "Showtime I'thou going to pay my tithes, because I wouldn't take none of it if it weren't for God."
"After that, I'g going to set up accounts for my kids…I'm going to buy a house for me and my kids, then brand sure my family is all good." Marie also told WGN-TV, "I don't have to worry about the word 'struggle' no more than and neither practise [my children]."
The Waiting Game
Although most lottery winnings are not life changing, lottery jackpots are huge, and there 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, there is a lengthy process involved in challenge large lottery winnings.
The ticket has to be verified past a scanning machine. Adjacent, there is a waiting period for the money to be awarded, and the winner must fill out some identification paperwork. Terminal, the winner must decide if they want all the money in a lump sum or have information technology dispersed in installments for 30 years (on average).
Choices, Choices
One of the more difficult choices when a person wins millions of dollars in a lottery is whether to get the money in a lump sum or in installments. The dilemma occurs considering at that place is a large penalty for getting all the money faster in a lump sum.
Marie had the choice of collecting the entire $188 meg over 30 years or forfeiting $61 million and collecting the remaining $127 million much sooner. Financial experts commonly recommend taking the lump sum and investing the money. That allows you the opportunity to make money on your winnings instead of the state. Marie chose the lump sum.
Uncle Sam's Cutting
Many people don't know how much taxes people take to pay out of lottery winnings in the U.S., then we'll pause it down for y'all. Although the entire tax corporeality wasn't reported in Marie Holmes' instance, she definitely paid millions to the regime.
In the U.Due south., lottery winnings are considered income by the IRS, on both the state and federal levels. Therefore, Due north Carolina would have taken 5.viii% of Marie's $127 million, and the Federal Government would take taken anywhere from 25% to 39.half dozen%, depending on taxation subclass and other factors. Most people pay the highest charge per unit.
Setting an Example
When Marie won the lottery, she had plans that all sounded very honorable. She said she would donate first to her church building and then motility out of her mobile dwelling house and buy a new business firm for her children. She also planned to gear up up college funds for them.
Marie told NBC, "All the struggle that I ever went through, it was all for [my children]. I want them to understand that money doesn't change you, but information technology can help you." The public fell in dear with Marie subsequently hearing nigh her history of poverty and hard knocks before she became wealthy.
Could She Handle It?
The reputation that Marie had in her hometown and elsewhere was that of a difficult-working, single mother who, according to her family and friends, "understood the value of a dollar." At ane indicate, she had two jobs — Walmart and McDonald's — to back up her four children. Therefore, nobody expected her to make poor decisions near where the money would become.
Of course, no ane took into account that Marie was inexperienced and uninformed near how to handle big amounts of money. When she started deciding how to spend the lottery money, the public viewed her as young and irresponsible.
Financial Counselor, Please?
When people who aren't wealthy win a lot of money, information technology's highly recommended that they seek professional person help about how to manage the coin, including what NOT to do with it. The average American has admittedly no experience handling big amounts of money.
Financial advisors warn that even titanic amounts of coin can disappear quickly if information technology isn't invested wisely. In the example of Marie Holmes, it seemed similar her heart was in the right place and she was doing what she thought was right, just some expert advice definitely would have helped her out.
The Bad Judgment Begins
The outset thing dubbed a poor judgment telephone call by the public was the $15,000 Rolex that Marie bought her boyfriend, Lamar "Hot Sauce" McDow. The watch was more jewelry than a timepiece and was reportedly "dripping with diamonds."
That aforementioned swain ultimately cost Marie much more. The Port Urban center Daily reported Lamar was a gang member and a drug dealer later on he was arrested and charged with "conspiracy to traffic in opium or heroin" in April 2016. He continued to get arrested throughout their relationship, and Marie spent millions on his bail and defense.
The Saga Continues
Before existence 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 later winning the lottery.
According to the Daily Mail, of the original corporeality of $188 million, Marie was left with virtually $88 meg after deciding to take her winnings in a lump sum and paying taxes. This is still a very big amount of money, but a loss of $100 million is plain very meaning.
Leeches Coming Out of the Woodwork
Predictably, lots of people immediately started asking Marie and her boyfriend for money after they heard she won the lottery. The people included friends, family members and numerous others, all requesting various amounts of money for all kinds of reasons. Unfortunately, this feel is mutual for lottery winners.
Marie and Lamar were constantly harassed for coin handouts, and it became very stressful for them. Marie was quoted equally maxim, "When money comes, there are more problems," according to reports.
Racial Intolerance in Their New Home
Another trouble that plagued Marie and her family in their new life in their new abode 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'south chagrin, the residents were not interested in changing.
Co-ordinate to Lamar, "One neighbor set up a camera to tape 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 not want united states there. They were prejudiced." Lamar reported these disturbing events to the Daily Mail.
The Church Donation
Marie stayed true to her word, which was reported in a press release as "The first thing she promised was to tithe — give a tenth of her winnings to charity." Marie donated a full of $700,000 to her hometown church, Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church building, located in Shallotte, NC.
The church reportedly used the money for much-needed renovations. Marie told the press the church was an important part of her life and her faith and that she had been attending that particular church 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 information technology later, Marie and her family believed him and allowed him into their lives and their home.
Soon after meeting Marie, Pastor Matthews asked her for $one.5 one thousand thousand then he could build a retreat. According to him, Marie verbally agreed to fund the projection, although there is no testify to support that. He and then went ahead and began construction on the retreat using his own coin. Marie did not contribute.
Wicked Intentions
Citing a exact agreement in which Marie allegedly promised to donate $ane.5 million for his retreat, Pastor Kevin Matthews announced publicly that he was suing Marie Holmes for $10 million. The amount of money named in the accommodate was baffling, considering the amount 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 most people of faith. The justification for his lawsuit was that he had a verbal agreement with Marie for a coin donation and compensation for "emotional distress."
Public Outrage
As shortly as the media defenseless wind of the lawsuit, they uncovered that Matthews did not appear to exist affiliated with whatsoever church building. This led to a severe, 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 and so mad nigh this that he put out videos entitled, "F*** You Pastor Kevin Matthews." Public opinion was clear that this so-called "pastor" was null but a money-grubbing scam creative person preying on a nice lady to go his easily on a lot of undeserved coin.
To Top Information technology Off: Infidelity
In more bad news for Marie and her children, the media reported that her ex-convict fellow was being unfaithful. Unfortunately, information technology was also reported that she herself paid Lamar's mistresses hush money to go away instead of getting rid of him.
In more than reputation damaging news, a video surfaced on Facebook of a adult female who claimed that in addition to Lamar cheating on Marie, he was also stealing coin from her to pay prostitutes for "sexual favors." Unfortunately, the video went viral, as juicy gossip oft does.
Powering Through
Instead of withering under the scrutiny of the media and the public, Marie decided to take drastic measures to improve her circumstances. She gathered her force and took matters into her own easily past turning to a well-known life coach to get some communication about how to improve her life.
Marie contacted Iyanla Vanzant, who has her ain show advising people most their relationships on the Oprah Network. Vanzant is a renowned writer and motivational speaker with a huge following due to her reputation for changing people's lives for the better.
The Truth Revealed
In another surprising twist, when Marie went on the Iyanla: Gear up My Life talk show, her female parent, Fontella, came out and revealed that the numbers she chose for the winning lottery ticket were actually hers and that they had a very special significant.
"I kept dreaming about your brother that we lost. His altogether, he was the tertiary kid, he'd have been 25 that year. Those were the numbers." When Marie asked her mother why she didn't claim the coin for herself, Fontella replied, "I just wanted you to better yourself for the babies."
The Scoop on Lamar McDow
Lamar "Hot Sauce" McDow was fortunate plenty to stay in Marie's good graces long enough to fight jail three times, to the melody of millions in bail and legal fees. The offset time Marie bailed him out, it cost her $3 million in bond money.
Before a year had passed, Lamar was arrested again, and Marie bailed him out once again for $6 million. The third fourth dimension Marie bailed out Lamar, it was $12 million. You lot would recall she would take been repulsed by his criminal behavior, but 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 cease upwards with criminal charges herself. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. I night, Lamar violated his parole curfew. When the police came, they discovered marijuana in the firm.
Tragically, Marie was arrested for possession in front of her children. Marijuana remains illegal in North Carolina, merely in that location is a significant racial bias about who is criminalized for it, according to the ACLU. The same number of white people as blackness people use marijuana, but blacks are iii.73 times more than probable to exist arrested.
The Swain Defense force
Lamar eventually got angry at the people criticizing Marie for spending her money bailing him out of jail, and he lashed out. To the Daily Post, he asserted, "We are a couple, and I am the begetter of her youngest child. This is what people practise for each other."
Lamar went on to say, "She has the coin, and she can practise what she wants with it. If I had that money, 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 just kept rolling in. Marie's family and even former friends started accusing her of actually stealing the lottery ticket from her mother, despite Fontella freely admitting on boob tube that she had given the ticket to Marie.
To add to the stress and drama, Lamar went to jail at this time on a vii-year sentence for charges related to possessing and selling heroin. Truthful to grade, Marie persisted in pushing forward and moving on with her life, demonstrating her strength and resilience.
A Goal Met
Despite poor sense of taste in partners, Marie did make some good decisions well-nigh what to do with some of her money. She concluded up giving $9.7 million to various charities. Role of that money went to the brand-new Marie Holmes Foundation, which was established to provide for children in demand.
Marie'due south foundation provides necessities for underprivileged children. It also 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.
Do Christians Risk?
Marie was raised a devout Catholic, and she leans heavily on her Christian organized religion. Some people criticized her for playing the lottery at all, because it tends to be frowned upon by the church. People have mixed opinions when information technology comes to Christians gambling.
One pastor said this to the Christian Post: "You can't exist against the lottery, but your youth department is doing a RAFFLE! Same matter, pastor. Same Matter!" The stigma remains about gambling being an irresponsible money-waster. Others debate that there is nothing specific said nearly gambling in the Bible, so information technology'due south okay when it'due south not abused.
The Root of All Evil
Other religious people, such as 1 pastor cited in the Christian Postal service, 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, "Showtime, we must guard confronting our love of coin."
Information technology should be noted that when the Bible does mention "casting lots," information technology'south not usually talking about material gain, just near God. In an instance of this, Proverbs 16:33 states, "The lot is cast into the lap, just its every determination is from the Lord."
Some Friendly Advice
We recommend that others read the unfortunate story of Marie Holmes in instance they find themselves in her shoes. It'south not at all easy to go from rags to riches, and similar versions of her story take happened to others.
Information technology's of import to empathize tax 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 sure to hire a good professional financial practiced to assist you decide how to manage your money to avoid reckless decisions.
A Cautionary Tale
If you e'er happen to find yourself in the unlikely position of winning the lottery some things to sentry out for include regime laws, lottery rules, state and federal taxes and your previous unpaid debts. These things tin help yous calculate your expendable income.
It may be unwise in the initial excitement to promise lots of charitable giving, like Marie did, without first doing the math to run into what your take-home corporeality really is. Multiple millions of dollars may seem similar an enormous corporeality, but equally Marie discovered, information technology'southward easy to burn down through it apace if y'all are uninformed.
Further Drama
Some recollect that Marie had a run of terrible luck after she won the lottery, while others call up she brought her woes upon herself with poor decision-making. A few recall the truth lies somewhere in the middle of those two black-and-white judgments.
Aside from spending millions on her boyfriend — who somewhen concluded upwards in federal prison anyway — Marie also made some other questionable decisions after winning the lotto, such as buying her fellow a business of his own and ownership her mother a house. She as well had harassment charges filed confronting her for allegedly calling a woman repeatedly to threaten her.
The Bottom Line
The ending of this story is mostly grim, although Marie Holmes did do some positive things with a lasting impact 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 instance you ever hitting it big: Don't trust anyone asking for money, even if they seem to have a very respectable social status (similar the pastor who sued Marie Holmes). Remember the skillful that coin can exercise, merely don't forget the bad. No matter what, don't make bold promises immediately after 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
0 Response to "If You Win Again Tomorrow That Is Called a Winning Streak"
Post a Comment