If We Win Again Thats Called a Winning Streak
Everybody needs money to survive. It's a fact we may not similar, merely it's still a fact. Another inescapable truth is that almost of us could apply more money for the things we need as well equally 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 complicated than that.
Consider this cautionary tale of a adult female in drastic need who won an unbelievable amount of coin. The choices and mistakes she made afterwards winning ultimately resulted in losing it all. Her story reminds us all to never forget that money doesn't purchase happiness.
Meet Marie Holmes
When she was 26, Marie Holmes was living a difficult life in North Carolina. She was a difficult-working, unmarried mother of iv with two depression-paying jobs. On pinnacle of this, ane 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 time. Patently, 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 information technology all.
Marie'south Original Plans
Marie fabricated some promising comments about what she planned to do with the lottery coin — $127 million after she chose to get it in a lump sum. "Get-go I'm going to pay my tithes, considering I wouldn't have none of it if it weren't for God."
"After that, I'm going to set up accounts for my kids…I'thousand going to buy a house for me and my kids, so brand sure my family is all practiced." Marie too told WGN-TV, "I don't have to worry nearly the discussion 'struggle' no more and neither practice [my children]."
The Waiting Game
Although most lottery winnings are not life irresolute, lottery jackpots are huge, and in that location 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, at that place is a lengthy process involved in challenge large lottery winnings.
The ticket has to exist verified by a scanning auto. Next, there is a waiting period for the money to be awarded, and the winner must make full out some identification paperwork. Last, the winner must decide if they want all the money in a lump sum or have it dispersed in installments for thirty years (on average).
Choices, Choices
One of the more difficult choices when a person wins millions of dollars in a lottery is whether to go the money in a lump sum or in installments. The dilemma occurs because there is a large penalty for getting all the money faster in a lump sum.
Marie had the selection of collecting the entire $188 1000000 over thirty years or forfeiting $61 million and collecting the remaining $127 million much sooner. Financial experts commonly recommend taking the lump sum and investing the coin. That allows you the opportunity to make money on your winnings instead of the state. 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.Southward., so we'll break information technology downwardly for yous. Although the entire tax amount wasn't reported in Marie Holmes' instance, she definitely paid millions to the government.
In the U.S., lottery winnings are considered income past the IRS, on both the state and federal levels. Therefore, North Carolina would accept taken 5.8% of Marie's $127 million, and the Federal Government would accept taken anywhere from 25% to 39.6%, depending on tax bracket and other factors. Most 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 and then move out of her mobile home and buy a new house for her children. She too planned to prepare college funds for them.
Marie told NBC, "All the struggle that I ever went through, it was all for [my children]. I desire them to sympathise that money doesn't change you, but it can help you." The public fell in dearest with Marie after hearing about her history of poverty and difficult knocks before she became wealthy.
Could She Handle It?
The reputation that Marie had in her hometown and elsewhere was that of a hard-working, single mother who, according to her family and friends, "understood the value of a dollar." At ane signal, she had two jobs — Walmart and McDonald'southward — to back up her four children. Therefore, nobody expected her to make poor decisions about where the money would get.
Of course, no i took into account that Marie was inexperienced and uninformed about how to handle large amounts of coin. When she started deciding how to spend the lottery coin, the public viewed her equally young and irresponsible.
Financial Counselor, Please?
When people who aren't wealthy win a lot of money, it'southward highly recommended that they seek professional help about how to manage the coin, including what Not to practice with it. The average American has absolutely no experience treatment large amounts of money.
Financial advisors warn that even titanic amounts of money can disappear speedily if it isn't invested wisely. In the case of Marie Holmes, information technology seemed like her centre was in the right place and she was doing what she thought was right, but some adept communication definitely would accept helped her out.
The Bad Judgment Begins
The first thing dubbed a poor judgment phone call past the public was the $xv,000 Rolex that Marie bought her boyfriend, Lamar "Hot Sauce" McDow. The scout was more than jewelry than a timepiece and was reportedly "dripping with diamonds."
That same boyfriend ultimately cost 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 Apr 2016. He continued to get arrested throughout their human 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 subsequently serving his sentence, he lived in the $350,000 home that she had purchased after winning the lottery.
According to the Daily Post, of the original corporeality of $188 million, Marie was left with about $88 million after deciding to take her winnings in a lump sum and paying taxes. This is yet a very large amount of money, but 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 money subsequently 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 experience is mutual for lottery winners.
Marie and Lamar were constantly harassed for money handouts, and information technology became very stressful for them. Marie was quoted equally saying, "When money comes, at that place are more problems," according to reports.
Racial Intolerance in Their New Dwelling house
Another problem 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 was an intolerant, primarily white community, and much to the family's chagrin, the residents were not interested in changing.
According to Lamar, "One neighbor set a camera to record everything we were doing. If I was driving downward the road and going at the speed limit, they would wave at me for going also fast. They did not want us at that place. They were prejudiced." Lamar reported these agonizing events to the Daily Mail.
The Church Donation
Marie stayed true to her word, which was reported in a press release as "The get-go thing she promised was to tithe — give a 10th of her winnings to clemency." Marie donated a total of $700,000 to her hometown church building, Pleasant Loma Missionary Baptist Church building, located in Shallotte, NC.
The church reportedly used the money for much-needed renovations. Marie told the printing the church was an important office of her life and her religion and that she had been attention that detail 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 it after, Marie and her family believed him and allowed him into their lives and their domicile.
Soon later on meeting Marie, Pastor Matthews asked her for $1.5 million so he could build a retreat. Co-ordinate to him, Marie verbally agreed to fund the project, although there is no evidence to back up that. He then went ahead and began construction on the retreat using his own money. Marie did not contribute.
Wicked Intentions
Citing a verbal agreement in which Marie allegedly promised to donate $1.5 million for his retreat, Pastor Kevin Matthews appear publicly that he was suing Marie Holmes for $10 1000000. The corporeality of money named in the suit was baffling, considering the corporeality 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 organized religion. The justification for his lawsuit was that he had a verbal understanding with Marie for a coin donation and compensation for "emotional distress."
Public Outrage
Equally presently as the media defenseless 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 existence a fraud and trying to scam a overnice 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 articulate that this so-called "pastor" was nothing but a money-grubbing scam artist preying on a nice lady to go his easily on a lot of undeserved money.
To Summit It Off: Adultery
In more than bad news for Marie and her children, the media reported that her ex-convict boyfriend was being unfaithful. Unfortunately, it was too reported that she herself paid Lamar'south mistresses hush money to go away instead of getting rid of him.
In more reputation damaging news, a video surfaced on Facebook of a woman 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 often does.
Powering Through
Instead of withering under the scrutiny of the media and the public, Marie decided to have drastic measures to better her circumstances. She gathered her strength and took matters into her own hands past turning to a well-known life coach to get some advice almost how to meliorate her life.
Marie contacted Iyanla Vanzant, who has her ain show advising people about their relationships on the Oprah Network. Vanzant is a renowned author 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: Fix My Life talk show, her female parent, Fontella, came out and revealed that the numbers she chose for the winning lottery ticket were really hers and that they had a very special meaning.
"I kept dreaming about your brother that we lost. His birthday, he was the tertiary child, he'd take been 25 that year. Those were the numbers." When Marie asked her female parent why she didn't claim the money 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 skilful graces long plenty to fight jail three times, to the tune of millions in bond and legal fees. The kickoff time Marie bailed him out, information technology cost her $3 million in bond money.
Earlier a year had passed, Lamar was arrested over again, and Marie bailed him out again for $6 1000000. The third fourth dimension Marie bailed out Lamar, it was $12 meg. You would think she would have 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 continued her relationship with Lamar, she could end upwardly with criminal charges herself. Unfortunately, that'due south exactly what happened. One night, Lamar violated his parole curfew. When the police came, they discovered marijuana in the house.
Tragically, Marie was arrested for possession in front end of her children. Marijuana remains illegal in North Carolina, simply there is a meaning racial bias about who is criminalized for it, co-ordinate to the ACLU. The same number of white people as black people use marijuana, but blacks are 3.73 times more than likely to exist arrested.
The Boyfriend Defense
Lamar somewhen 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 kid. This is what people exercise for each other."
Lamar went on to say, "She has the coin, and she tin can do what she wants with information technology. If I had that coin, then I would practise the same for her. People are but jealous because of how much she won, and people desire to see me locked in jail."
The Wolf Pit
During the taping of the Iyanla testify, the bad headlines just kept rolling in. Marie's family and fifty-fifty onetime friends started accusing her of really stealing the lottery ticket from her mother, despite Fontella freely admitting on television 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. Truthful to form, Marie persisted in pushing forwards 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 near what to do with some of her money. She ended up giving $9.7 one thousand thousand to diverse charities. Part of that coin went to the make-new Marie Holmes Foundation, which was established to provide for children in need.
Marie's foundation provides necessities for underprivileged children. It also holds community events, which are how some children get their school supplies and their Christmas presents. The foundation helps struggling immature mothers like Marie was before she won the lottery.
Do Christians Take chances?
Marie was raised a devout Catholic, and she leans heavily on her Christian faith. Some people criticized her for playing the lottery at all, considering it tends to be frowned upon by the church. People have mixed opinions when it comes to Christians gambling.
One pastor said this to the Christian Mail service: "You tin can't exist confronting the lottery, but your youth department is doing a RAFFLE! Same thing, pastor. SAME Thing!" The stigma remains about gambling being an irresponsible coin-waster. Others argue that there is nothing specific said about gambling in the Bible, and then it'due south okay when it's not abused.
The Root of All Evil
Other religious people, such as one pastor cited in the Christian Post, pointed out that the Bible says that coin is where evil originated. He scolded Marie for ownership the lottery ticket and went on to say, "First, nosotros must guard against our honey of money."
It should be noted that when the Bible does mention "casting lots," it's non ordinarily talking about cloth proceeds, merely about God. In an case of this, Proverbs 16:33 states, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord."
Some Friendly Advice
We recommend that others read the unfortunate story of Marie Holmes in case they observe themselves in her shoes. It'south non at all easy to become from rags to riches, and similar versions of her story have happened to others.
It'south important to understand tax laws for the long term, the rules of the lottery and investment options if you e'er find yourself in the position of receiving a big windfall of money. Be sure to hire a practiced 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, state and federal taxes and your previous unpaid debts. These things tin can help you calculate your expendable income.
Information technology may be unwise in the initial excitement to promise lots of charitable giving, like Marie did, without offset doing the math to run into what your accept-dwelling amount actually is. Multiple millions of dollars may seem similar an enormous amount, but every bit Marie discovered, it's easy to burn through information technology speedily if you are uninformed.
Farther Drama
Some remember that Marie had a run of terrible luck later she won the lottery, while others think she brought her woes upon herself with poor decision-making. A few remember the truth lies somewhere in the center of those two blackness-and-white judgments.
Aside from spending millions on her boyfriend — who somewhen ended upwardly in federal prison anyway — Marie also made some other questionable decisions after winning the lotto, such as ownership her young man a business of his ain and buying her female parent a firm. She as well had harassment charges filed against her for allegedly calling a woman repeatedly to threaten her.
The Bottom Line
The ending of this story is generally grim, although Marie Holmes did do some positive things with a lasting touch on before the last of her coin 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 yous always hit it big: Don't trust anyone request for money, fifty-fifty if they seem to accept a very respectable social status (like the pastor who sued Marie Holmes). Remember the good that money tin can do, but don't forget the bad. No thing 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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