$55 Million Lottery Winner Told No One About Their Winnings, Here’s Why They Made The Right Move
Close your eyes. Now imagine you just hit the payday of a lifetime and became a $55 million lottery winner. What would you do first? Would you call everyone who is close to you? Or would you keep it to yourself?
It’s a difficult question to answer.
On one hand, you want to stay quiet because there’s a chance word will spread in your social circle. When that happens, you can expect some people to reach out asking for money or loans that they won’t expect to pay back. And no one wants that. Not even a rich person with no financial worries.
On the other hand, sitting on a $55 million stealth wealth secret could make you go insane. After all, we want to be able to celebrate amazing moments with our best friends and loved ones. Especially when it involves this kind of money.
The Story Of The 67-Year Old Stealth Wealth Lottery Winner
That brings us to this 67 year old who wrote in to Market Watch. This person won $55 million 10 years ago and never told a soul. Not their parents (who are now both deceased) or their sister (who they seem to hate). However, something compelled them to write a question to Market Watch asking if they made the right decision.
“About 10 years ago, I won over $55 million in the California lottery. I never told my parents or my sister, or anyone for that matter. I have kept a low profile. I did buy a new truck and a house, but I told them I was renting the house. Was I wrong to not tell anyone?
I know that my parents would not have asked for a thing, but my sister would have told me to donate half to her church. I have not donated money to anyone or any organization. I also do not believe in loaning money to friends and relatives, no matter what. If I did, I would be broke.
I have not provided for my sister because I do not like her or her husband, and I have not spoken to her in over 10 years.”
Clearly there is some underlying guilt about never telling their parents. Could they have somehow used this money to make the last years of their parent’s life more enjoyable? Do they feel like they betrayed them by keeping such a large secret?
It’s difficult to know why now was the right time for this person to ask this question. Stealth wealth, a term used when referring to people who are wealthy without flaunting it, isn’t always easy to do. While your personal finances are no one’s business but your own, holding a secret this large, especially from your loved ones, could eat at you.
But here is why this was the right move…
This person already lead a very unassuming lifestyle. The two major splurges they had in ten years were a new truck and a house to live in. Considering the lie they told their parents that it was a rental, the house must not be a 10 bedroom mansion. They also seem to have serious turmoil with their sister. The last thing they probably wanted was for her to find our and suddenly want to mend their broken relationship purely because millions were now at stake.
On top of that, people’s perception of you will changes the moment they realize you’re rich.
5 Things That Happen When People Realize You’re Rich
– People will ask you to solve their problems with your money.
– You will be expected to pay for dinners, and other things since money is no longer an issue for you.
– People’s motives for talking to you often come back to money or investing.
– You could be looked at as a jerk who flaunts money or a cheapskate who refuses to donate/spend it.
– Everything your spend your money on is now under a microscope.
In order to maintain the low-key lifestyle they wanted, and to not be targeted endlessly by friends and family who need money, staying quiet and choosing stealth wealth was certainly the way to go. And if that isn’t reason enough to continue to stay quiet, then avoiding becoming another statistic on the list of lottery winners who lost it all, should be.