Meme for When You Win Again
Everybody needs money to survive. Information technology'south a fact we may not like, but it'southward still a fact. Another inescapable truth is that most of us could use more coin for the things we need also as the things we just 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 need who won an unbelievable amount of money. The choices and mistakes she made after winning ultimately resulted in losing it all. Her story reminds us all to never forget that money doesn't buy happiness.
Meet Marie Holmes
When she was 26, Marie Holmes was living a hard life in Due north Carolina. She was a hard-working, single mother of 4 with two low-paying jobs. On top of this, ane of her children had just been diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
Because of her kid'southward special needs, Marie was forced to quit both of her jobs to intendance for him total fourth dimension. Obviously, the $188 million 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 fabricated some promising comments about what she planned to do with the lottery coin — $127 meg after she chose to get it in a lump sum. "Kickoff I'm going to pay my tithes, considering I wouldn't take none of it if it weren't for God."
"Later that, I'm going to ready accounts for my kids…I'yard going to buy a house for me and my kids, then make certain my family unit is all good." Marie also told WGN-Telly, "I don't have to worry about the word 'struggle' no more than and neither do [my children]."
The Waiting Game
Although virtually lottery winnings are non 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. Yet, there is a lengthy process involved in claiming large lottery winnings.
The ticket has to exist verified by a scanning automobile. Next, at that place is a waiting menstruation for the money to be awarded, and the winner must fill out some identification paperwork. Last, the winner must determine if they want all the money in a lump sum or take it dispersed in installments for 30 years (on average).
Choices, Choices
One of the more than hard choices when a person wins millions of dollars in a lottery is whether to become the money in a lump sum or in installments. The dilemma occurs considering there is a big penalty for getting all the money faster in a lump sum.
Marie had the choice of collecting the entire $188 million over 30 years or forfeiting $61 1000000 and collecting the remaining $127 million much sooner. Financial experts commonly recommend taking the lump sum and investing the money. That allows you lot the opportunity to make money on your winnings instead of the land. Marie chose the lump sum.
Uncle Sam's Cut
Many people don't know how much taxes people have to pay out of lottery winnings in the U.S., so nosotros'll break it downwardly for yous. Although the entire tax corporeality wasn't reported in Marie Holmes' case, she definitely paid millions to the government.
In the U.S., lottery winnings are considered income by the IRS, on both the state and federal levels. Therefore, North Carolina would have taken 5.8% of Marie'southward $127 one thousand thousand, and the Federal Government would accept taken anywhere from 25% to 39.6%, depending on tax bracket and other factors. About people pay the highest rate.
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 then move out of her mobile home and purchase a new house for her children. She too planned to set upward higher funds for them.
Marie told NBC, "All the struggle that I ever went through, it was all for [my children]. I want them to empathise that money doesn't modify y'all, but it tin can help you." The public fell in beloved with Marie later hearing near her history of poverty and hard knocks earlier she became wealthy.
Could She Handle It?
The reputation that Marie had in her hometown and elsewhere was that of a hard-working, single female parent who, according to her family unit and friends, "understood the value of a dollar." At one point, she had two jobs — Walmart and McDonald'southward — to back up her four children. Therefore, nobody expected her to brand poor decisions about where the money would go.
Of grade, no one took into account that Marie was inexperienced and uninformed nigh how to handle large amounts of money. When she started deciding how to spend the lottery money, the public viewed her every bit immature and irresponsible.
Financial Advisor, Please?
When people who aren't wealthy win a lot of money, it'southward highly recommended that they seek professional assistance about how to manage the money, including what NOT to do with it. The average American has absolutely no experience treatment big amounts of money.
Financial advisors warn that even titanic amounts of coin can disappear rapidly if it isn't invested wisely. In the example of Marie Holmes, it seemed like her heart was in the right identify and she was doing what she thought was correct, but some expert advice definitely would have helped her out.
The Bad Judgment Begins
The outset thing dubbed a poor judgment call by the public was the $15,000 Rolex that Marie bought her fellow, Lamar "Hot Sauce" McDow. The watch was more jewelry than a timepiece and was reportedly "dripping with diamonds."
That aforementioned boyfriend ultimately price Marie much more. The Port Metropolis Daily reported Lamar was a gang member and a drug dealer after 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 beingness 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 later on serving his sentence, he lived in the $350,000 home that she had purchased after winning the lottery.
According to the Daily Mail, of the original amount of $188 million, Marie was left with nearly $88 million later on deciding to take her winnings in a lump sum and paying taxes. This is still a very big corporeality of money, simply a loss of $100 million is obviously very significant.
Leeches Coming Out of the Woodwork
Predictably, lots of people immediately started asking Marie and her boyfriend for coin 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 money handouts, and it became very stressful for them. Marie was quoted as saying, "When money comes, there are more than issues," co-ordinate to reports.
Racial Intolerance in Their New Dwelling house
Another problem that plagued Marie and her family unit in their new life in their new domicile was harassment from neighbors due to racial prejudice. The neighborhood that Marie moved into with her family was an intolerant, primarily white customs, and much to the family's chagrin, the residents were not interested in changing.
According to Lamar, "1 neighbor set up a photographic camera to record everything we were doing. If I was driving down the road and going at the speed limit, they would wave at me for going also fast. They did not want us there. They were prejudiced." Lamar reported these disturbing events to the Daily Mail.
The Church building Donation
Marie stayed truthful to her give-and-take, which was reported in a press release as "The showtime thing she promised was to tithe — requite a tenth of her winnings to charity." Marie donated a full of $700,000 to her hometown church, Pleasant Colina Missionary Baptist Church, located in Shallotte, NC.
The church reportedly used the money for much-needed renovations. Marie told the press the church building was an important function of her life and her religion and that she had been attending that particular church since she was a kid.
Pastor Disaster
Unfortunately, a unlike 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 it later, Marie and her family believed him and immune him into their lives and their home.
Soon after coming together Marie, Pastor Matthews asked her for $1.v million so he could build a retreat. According to him, Marie verbally agreed to fund the project, although in that location is no evidence to support that. He then went ahead and began construction on the retreat using his own coin. Marie did non contribute.
Wicked Intentions
Citing a exact agreement in which Marie allegedly promised to donate $1.5 million for his retreat, Pastor Kevin Matthews announced publicly that he was suing Marie Holmes for $10 meg. The amount of coin named in the adjust was baffling, because the amount he was allegedly promised was much less.
The public believed Pastor Matthews was being 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 exact agreement with Marie for a money donation and bounty for "emotional distress."
Public Outrage
As soon as the media caught wind of the lawsuit, they uncovered that Matthews did not appear to be affiliated with any church. 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.
One YouTuber, "Donald the Repentless," was so mad about this that he put out videos entitled, "F*** You Pastor Kevin Matthews." Public opinion was clear that this so-chosen "pastor" was nothing merely a money-grubbing scam artist preying on a nice lady to get his easily on a lot of undeserved money.
To Acme Information technology Off: Infidelity
In more bad news for Marie and her children, the media reported that her ex-captive swain was being unfaithful. Unfortunately, it 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 likewise stealing money 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 strength and took matters into her own hands by turning to a well-known life autobus to become some advice about how to improve her life.
Marie contacted Iyanla Vanzant, who has her own show advising people about 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'due south lives for the better.
The Truth Revealed
In another surprising twist, when Marie went on the Iyanla: Fix My Life talk show, her mother, 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 meaning.
"I kept dreaming about your brother that we lost. His altogether, he was the 3rd child, he'd have been 25 that year. Those were the numbers." When Marie asked her mother why she didn't merits the money for herself, Fontella replied, "I just wanted you to amend 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 iii times, to the tune of millions in bail and legal fees. The first fourth dimension Marie bailed him out, it cost her $iii million in bail money.
Before a yr had passed, Lamar was arrested again, and Marie bailed him out again for $half-dozen meg. The 3rd time Marie bailed out Lamar, it was $12 million. Y'all would remember she would accept been repulsed past 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 relationship with Lamar, she could end up with criminal charges herself. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. 1 nighttime, Lamar violated his parole curfew. When the constabulary came, they discovered marijuana in the house.
Tragically, Marie was arrested for possession in front of her children. Marijuana remains illegal in Due north Carolina, but at that place is a pregnant racial bias about who is criminalized for it, according to the ACLU. The same number of white people as blackness people apply marijuana, but blacks are three.73 times more likely to exist arrested.
The Beau Defense force
Lamar eventually got aroused at the people criticizing Marie for spending her money bailing him out of jail, and he lashed out. To the Daily Mail, he asserted, "We are a couple, and I am the father of her youngest child. This is what people do for each other."
Lamar went on to say, "She has the money, and she can exercise what she wants with it. If I had that coin, then I would practice the same for her. People are just jealous considering 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 merely kept rolling in. Marie'southward family and even one-time friends started accusing her of actually stealing the lottery ticket from her mother, despite Fontella freely admitting on tv that she had given the ticket to Marie.
To add to the stress and drama, Lamar went to jail at this time on a seven-year sentence for charges related to possessing and selling heroin. True to form, Marie persisted in pushing forward and moving on with her life, demonstrating her strength and resilience.
A Goal Met
Despite poor taste in partners, Marie did make some good decisions about what to practice with some of her money. She ended upwardly giving $nine.7 million to diverse charities. Part of that money went to the brand-new Marie Holmes Foundation, which was established to provide for children in need.
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 Gamble?
Marie was raised a devout Catholic, and she leans heavily on her Christian religion. Some people criticized her for playing the lottery at all, considering information technology tends to exist frowned upon by the church building. People have mixed opinions when it comes to Christians gambling.
1 pastor said this to the Christian Post: "You lot can't exist against the lottery, but your youth department is doing a RAFFLE! Same thing, pastor. SAME Thing!" The stigma remains about gambling beingness an irresponsible coin-waster. Others debate that in that location is cypher specific said about gambling in the Bible, and so information technology's okay when information technology's non abused.
The Root of All Evil
Other religious people, such every bit i pastor cited in the Christian Mail, pointed out that the Bible says that money is where evil originated. He scolded Marie for buying the lottery ticket and went on to say, "Offset, we must guard against our love of money."
It should be noted that when the Bible does mention "casting lots," it'south not ordinarily talking about material gain, but about God. In an example of this, Proverbs sixteen:33 states, "The lot is cast into the lap, merely its every decision is from the Lord."
Some Friendly Advice
Nosotros recommend that others read the unfortunate story of Marie Holmes in case they notice themselves in her shoes. It's not at all easy to go from rags to riches, and similar versions of her story have happened to others.
Information technology's important to understand tax laws for the long term, the rules of the lottery and investment options if you always notice yourself in the position of receiving a large windfall of money. Exist sure to rent a good professional financial expert to help you decide how to manage your money to avoid reckless decisions.
A Cautionary Tale
If y'all ever happen to find yourself in the unlikely position of winning the lottery some things to watch out for include authorities laws, lottery rules, country and federal taxes and your previous unpaid debts. These things can help you lot calculate your expendable income.
It may be unwise in the initial excitement to hope lots of charitable giving, similar Marie did, without outset doing the math to see what your accept-domicile amount really is. Multiple millions of dollars may seem similar an enormous amount, but as Marie discovered, it'south easy to burn through information technology quickly if you are uninformed.
Further Drama
Some recall that Marie had a run of terrible luck later on she won the lottery, while others think she brought her woes upon herself with poor controlling. A few think the truth lies somewhere in the centre of those two black-and-white judgments.
Aside from spending millions on her boyfriend — who eventually ended up in federal prison anyway — Marie too fabricated some other questionable decisions after winning the lotto, such as ownership her boyfriend a concern of his own and buying her female parent a business firm. She also had harassment charges filed against her for allegedly calling a adult female 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 before 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, simply in case you e'er striking it large: Don't trust anyone asking for money, even if they seem to accept a very respectable social status (similar the pastor who sued Marie Holmes). Remember the good that money tin do, but 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
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