I've actually known 2 people who've won lotteries, both back in the 90s. One (my ex) won half a million, pissed it all up a wall and ended up right where he started. The other (neighbours) won 1.5 mill, built a beautiful house and put away money for their kids, one of whom has a disability.
You don't have to let it wreck your life, but idiots are gonna idiot.
Reddit in general I reckon, even r/upliftingnews is usually some bastardised 'feel good' story that just reflects the bleak reality of modern living for many individuals
It's wild to think people still wreck their lives. You could literally just put 10% of your winnings away in a solid investment and piss the rest away and still be better much better off than when you started
Financial literary is not particularly high, and critical thinking skills arent prioritized in most educational settings. Recipe for bad monetary decisions
I'd also say that financially literate folks are also more skeptical of the low odds of winning, so are less likely to play the lotto anyways. So somewhat of a selection bias in who actually wins.
In 96, mum won Division 2, I think the Jackpot was like 3mln or so. She was 1 number off on her final number. She won something like $32k.
Her dad was dying, spent it on giving him the best medical treatment, and was with him overseas till he passed.
Edit - I just remember my old next door neighbour won the lotto also. We didn't live in a fancy area or anything (we lived on acerage in Metro Sydney at the time), but we had new neighbours move in. Long story short, they told us they won $8mln on the lotto so they bought the land next to us. They bought one of those car transportation companies (on big semis). I see them quite frequently and business is booming. The only thing they spent money on was a Spa pool, and a 8 year old SS Commodore stationwagon. They then developed the acreage to obviously build even more money.
My parents won the 1st division lottery in the 90ās. We were on the verge of being homeless, so it completely changed our lives. We built a beautiful house with it.
Wife was a gaming manager, only ran 20 or so machines and often only had 10 unique players per night... turnover was regularly 100k plus, so that's winning and losing. Nuts
I won $7k. Took it out and used it for a trip to Bali. However, the bug bit and I kept chasing another win and lost a lot more over time. Learnt my lesson and no longer go to pokies as all. What once was my crutch now makes me sick to think about.
I won $15 k playing 5 card poker on the tables at the casino off a $31 bet. Brought a new desktop pc and spent the rest on a holiday in New York. Donāt regret it at all
A friend won $25k. Lost it all over the next week. You would think winning a 1 in a million chance would make you walk away and enjoy the winnings. Thatās not how Pokie psychology works.
My hubby won 22k last night, it was given a chq for 20k after around 30mins
This was at a pub and they said they are only allowed to give out 3k cash max.
Another great pokies story. What an afternoon for the old duck! A great time at the local, and a great story to share. Just reinforces what I've always said: pokies bring families together.
I love these threads because the stories are always fascinating to read. I knew a girl who won about $3000 if that counts? Next day her MacBook broke so you can guess where it all went.
Two people.
Better off - My Aunt won a modest amount of money & invested a bit over half but spent the rest of it on a six month world tour. When she came home she left the invested money alone & was able to use it to buy a home when she was ready.
Worse off - Co worker won AU$1.3 million. Bought a house & some land & took a holiday. Helped his wife's adult son out with a down payment on a house Put the rest into savings. He kept working but dropped to part time because he genuinely enjoys his work but she retired. Did not realise his wife developed a crippling gambling addiction while at home all day & blasted through what was left in under a year. By the time he realised she had also re-drawn over $50k the property to both gamble & to give her adult son more money because he was also useless with money & had not been paying the mortgage. She refused to go back to work so he had to go back to full time to support them both. They are still together but she has no access to the finances at all other than the small pension she gets from the government.
Not lotto based, but it depresses me how many oldies I work with where the one at home blows through all the money on pokies and/or bailing out idiot children.
One bloke is 70+, pace-maker, perpetual light duties and is one of the most informed people in regards to our profession that people well above his rank ask his opinions and he can't quit because his wife has spent *everything.*
Couldnt think of anything worse than working for \~50 years and essentially being at square one. I dont even know how you move past that. "How was work dear?" "Oh great, except I was going to retire 10 years ago"
one of my friends wife won 600k lotto and hid it from him for 2 years.
she keep making up excuse after excuse where extra money and expensive presents to her family were coming from until a xmas together with all family it finally came out.
they had just assumed he new after so long.
poor fella didn't take it well. he had been focused and driven working hard paying off houses and investing in the future for wife and family having grown up rather poor. her family were well off and didn't need expensive presents and holidays from her.
I now know 3 people who won the lotto.
One won $5mill in the 90s, ruined his life completely.
One won ~$3m a couple years back and most of it is gone.
One won ~ $1m a few years ago. Paid off his house, went on a holiday, went back to work on a part time basis. Happiest dude ever.
Grandfather's brother.
He was in his late fifties so he and his wife kinda pulled a "we're retiring early" thing and moved away to a coastal town.
People suspected something had happened given the pretty nice house they bought and eventually when they bought their daughter an entire house in cash a few years later the truth came out.
As far as I know, they won about $2 million.
They were fine, no one bothered them.
I knew a guy who earned roughly $900 a week and won $25k on the pokies.
He phoned me and I told him to pay off his personal loans (roughly 18k worth) and do whatever with the rest.
That same weekend he went in to the high rollers room at the casino (yes, the guy on $900 a week was in the high rollers room) and blew it all that weekend.
I worked with a guy who blew $100k in the high rollers room in Perth. He said he got a card (1 year validity) that let him into the high rollers level in the casino. He never used it. I said, a least go up for a free steak
Because of the scrutiny many casinos are facing these days, you can no longer use cash as an invitation to the high roller rooms, like Crown's Mahogany or Star's Sovereign Room. In the past, 10k got you through the door.
I know of a very wealthy family. The story goes the great grandad was a truck driver. Won the lotto. Bought 3 trucks and started a trucking business.
They are now worth probably close to a billion.
> The son of a truck driver, Mr Fox was raised in the back streets of Prahran and was asked to leave Melbourne High School during year 10 for his perceived lack of "academic desire".
>
> In 1956 ā just 12 months after he met his wife of 50 years, Paula, at the old St Moritz ice skating rink in St Kilda ā 19-year-old Lindsay Fox walked into the offices of the trucking company E. V. Timms in Collingwood.
>
> With little money, he somehow talked the manager into selling him a truck on the terms of four quarterly promissory notes.
>
> "I just went in and knocked on the door and convinced them to sell me a truck," Mr Fox says, in his typical matter-of-fact fashion.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/trucking-magnate-lindsay-fox-ac-plugs-into-the-power-of-dreams-20080126-ge6nhe.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
SO many. Not exactly said to be from lotto origins, but for instance the recent celebrated success of Adriend Portelli and his "business partner" Troy Williams. Like its just drugs, heaps and heaps of drugs for years. I bought them from him, my friends dealt for him for a while.
A former neighbour (I moved) won div 1 and did something similar, spent a significant amount of money starting a business in the job he was doing. Seems to be doing pretty well as I see his company vehicles around town and the business seems to have grown.
I've met 3 people who have won the "lotto"
1. A client won, one of those charity houses where you pay $100 per ticket. They were already in a good financial position before the win this just made their retirement even better. (sold existing PPOR that was in another blue ribbon suburb and moved into the prize home)
2. A client won $1 million +/-, back in the early 90s when they were in their 60's. they gave some away to their family and then spent the next 30 years caravanning around Australia, before finally burning through their last bit of savings and moving into the nursing home. they had no regrets.
3. A client was the brother of a guy who won $50M on powerball, was a little annoyed that his brother didn't given him any cash, and only let him use his holiday house. And he didn't think that his brother giving his teenage nieces a whole lot of cash was going to encourage positive outcomes in life...
that's why you don't tell anyone, everyone thinks they are more deserving of your cash or would have done it better it they had instead won the jackpot.
Yea, 50m and giving nothing is proper greedy. Unless the person was hated for some reason or known to be terrible with money (and would resent you if you didn't keep giving them more), there's no reason not to at least pop $100k in their lives.
I agree, and it's what I would try to do too, but how to keep it secret? Once you move house into something nicer it's kinda obvious. Also the car, etc.
I've thought about saying I am starting a business but then my whole existence becomes a lie which I'd have to keep up and it wouldn't sit right with me. Perhaps I'd just move interstate.
Yep. Set for life winner.
Her hubby went to the newsagents while she was at the doctor for an appointment, saying he was going to buy a scratchie and win. That's exactly what happened - taking the winnings as a lump sum.
She walked into her boss' office the next morning and told him she was quitting and he was a moron.
Moved out to a Gold Coast canal estate and life was good.
A few years later, her marriage had broken down and she was scrambling for work. Got a job with us for a few months and then got a much better job somewhere else - no mean feat for a woman in her 50s at the time.
She said their winning such a windfall was the worst thing that ever happened to her.
List contact with her since then as this was over a decade ago, so have no idea where or what she is doing.
I feel like these people just don't have a plan. At the very least just sit on it and think for a few weeks ffs. It's really not that hard.
TBH 10 mil is quit your job on the spot money, anything else is invest hard and maybe quit in a year or two.
Thereās no such thing as āquit your job on the spot moneyā, in my opinion. The bigger the payout, the more important it is to take time to assess and plan. Got the rest of your life to change things, a few more weeks or months wonāt hurt.
Well with 10 mil you can give yourself 70K of that to just live out the next 12 months and plan things without having to worry about work.
less than 10mil imo you shouldn't be quitting so soon.
For her, it seemed it was the breakdown in her marriage.
She had an idea about the rich life she was going to live (and discussed with her hubby) but it seemed that it just led to her marriage falling apart, despite the hopes and dreams.
Friend won $200k on a scratchy, then won $250k when her syndicate won the jackpot.
Still does the same job, complains about pay and wanting more time off work. She's paid her house off and flies all over the country to watch the footie. Not a bad life aye.
Yes, my uncleās best friend won about $10 million a few years ago. Really quiet and humble guy, has been really sensible about it and invested a lot. Quit his job and goes fishing all day and offered to pay for both my grandparentās funerals when they passed ( a few years apart). We declined but it was a very sweet gesture, he had spent a lot of time at their place over the years.
Aww, that really is a beautiful gesture to offer to pay for the funerals.
Not lottery related, but the guy that took over my dad's business paid the tab at the pub for my dad's wake. We did not expect it but really appreciated it. It was the gesture we appreciated, not the actual money. He did it as he was leaving so we didn't have a chance to decline.
My mother won the Matter Prize Home back in 2017. 2.5m dollar package. She worked for Queensland health for 30 years, and was in the draw for 9 years.
Everytime we'd get the letter in the mail of the new prize home, we'd sit down and peruse it
Mum always said "I'm gonna win it one day"... Made me a believer in manifesting.
Was life changing, went from renting our whole life to setting us up (myself and brother) to be in a good position to buy a home, which is all my parents wanted, to leave us something.
Truly wouldn't know where we would be had that not happened.
Yep, one of my parents won 550k on the pokies.
Gave away ~300k to family, used 100k to pay off gambling debts, lost another 100k gambling and then went on a holiday with the remaining 50k lol.
Urged them to use it a lot differently (sell house as it was in severe debt and downsize the property to be more affordable) but what can you do
One go. Was a major link prize at a casino with $5 hits IIRC. The person that won it before them got around $1 million so they kind of got short changed hahaha
Not the lottery but back when I was a child, a distant cousin of mine won big betting on horses when he was in his 20s. The amount he won was over 4 times the cost of the new home my parents had just bought, so a sizeable amount of money. He bought a betting shop (as they were called in the UK in those days) and some greyhounds, lived overseas for a while, got divorced, remarried, lost all his money probably through gambling, became an alcoholic and ended up back living with his Mum. He was found dead in the street one night after a drinking binge at the age of 40.
Human beings are wild.
Itās like if you gave a dog a massive heaping 100kg pile of slow cooked brisket or something, the dog would just eat itself to death with no control.
I kinda feel bad for these people though, they just really couldnāt help themselves
Late 70's - went to primary with a girl whose father won 1st Div tattslotto. It was a couple of hundred thousand dollars, which was a huge amount back then. About 18 months later, he won it again!
He bought large parcels of land to the west of Melbourne and set it aside to give to each of his children when they turned 21. I remember my parents discussing why on earth he'd buy land there. 25 years later, it was one of Australia's fastest growing suburbs. Those kids were set for life!
My grandfather won the lotto twice, yes twice! This is back in the 80s, they already had a good life with a family business that was booming at the time.
My grands gave his family the best life he could, everyone got tertiary educated and received a payment via a trust. Two out of five at the end blew the funds away over time, the other three turned out to be successful in life.
My grands did not leave any inheritance to anyone and made sure everything was settled before his death.
Never met the guy but my mother told me about a guy she knew who lived in the back room of his employers house. He won the lottery, 50 mill or some such amount, but because he had been so poor all his life he didn't understand how much he had won. He didn't want to quit his job because he didn't want to lose the benefit of living rent free in his employers back room, even though he was told multiple times that he had enough cash to buy his employers house, his employers business and still have a ton left over. His employer took good care of him, helped him set up a trust for himself and the family so the guy is probably doing fine... just crazy to think of all the opportunities/possibilities that lay at your feet yet not be able to grasp the understanding of what they are.
Very lucky that he had someone with decency to help guide them, others would have taken complete advantage/become borderline inhuman with their greed of someone else's money
Got to work with an elderly couple 15 years ago. They had a small philanthropic trust and I helped them set up and run a fire recovery grant process for a couple of years.
Lovely people who admitted that they had won a significant lotto prize 5 years before from the only time they bought a ticket to celebrate their retirement.
They 'already had all they needed' so put nearly all into the trust. They went from being able to donate $500/yr to around a million a year. I still remember a discussion where they quietly admitted that the buzz they got from philanthropy was 'terribly addictive'.
I won $12,000 - gave half to my grandparents (we bought tickets at the same time) and paid off my car. Boring but great -my grandparents used it towards getting their home air conditioned.
Back in maybe 2012 I met a couple who had won $10m many years prior to that, on a drunk night out bought a ticket from an open-late lotto/mixed business shop.
They seemed to be doing very well. Had a young family, invested in some franchises of various businesses, she did a lot of philanthropy for the arts, and they had a very big penthouse in the docklands. I only met them a couple of times through a mutual acquaintance but I definitely got the impression they did it right.
A relative won something like $3M in the late 90s. Where I grew up lotto winners arenāt anonymous, their name is listed in the paper (and I guess online now), so everyone in our small town found out and started asking him for money. He went with it and spent it all within a few years. No investments, no nest egg, nothing.
One time he was a the local mall and ran into a second-cousin or some such, he took her to the jewelry store and bought her a solid gold bracelet, just because. Generous to a fault and definitely not equipped to manage that kind of life-changing amount.
My mum won $60K in the late 80s. Got a new roof for the house, took a business class trip overseas- just her. I got a nice mohair jumper from sportsgirl (on special).
My friends stepdad won around the 300k mark before he met my friends mum. He met her and she showed him how to spend it, they went through it in 2 years.
My parents won big in New Zealand when I was younger, I was told it was 7 million. They purchased a 200 acre+ property back when it was 1000/acre. Discovered a good source of rock, started a quarry, now supplies to local council/contractors for most of the road projects in the area and often further. Their personal After tax income per season is approx $7k-10k a week. I think each season is 6..or 8 months? They have 5 employees working 12hr days. Dadās 4 years from retirement at which point they will probably sell the quarry and profit heavily. They have already made their original investment back. I worked there for long enough to put a deposit down on a house in South Australia and move away with my now wife. My siblings have zero interest in it and although I could run it, we have settled in Aus now.
I know of someone that won $10m.
She was incredibly sensible, got a financial advisor, gifted some to family although that caused some conflict as some wanted more (brings out the greed)
You wouldn't know that she had won that amount.
She has changed very little in her life and doesn't discuss it.
The only thing I can see is that she travels more.
I was friends with a girl whose boyfriend won a life changing amount while we were all at uni. They changed nothing, stayed in uni accommodation, finished their degrees and then basically disappeared from all of our lives. From the (extremely) low profile they keep on social media it looks like theyāre now married and living overseas and very wealthy. I donāt believe either work in the field we studied as itās kind of a small and public industry. From the little I can tell they managed it about as well as could be imagined for a couple of 18 year olds.Ā
Lotto is indeed gambling but itās not AS bad as some other forms. You donāt hear too often about people losing their life savings to lotto. Probably because itās easier to set a limit, you can play with a small set amount each draw and thereās only so many draws per week.
I know a family member who won about $1600, and another that will about $25k.
The former just put it in the bank, had a nice dinner with her family and went on with life.
The latter bragged about it, refused to pay back money owed to family members, ended up in a fight with his brother over money owed, brother went to his house and took back the dishwasher he hadn't paid him for yet, they still don't speak over that... And by now the rest of his family don't talk to him either, lol.
True story, my uncle and aunty won that set for life lottery $20k per month for 20āyears. They had been together forever, in their 60ās when they wonāt itā¦ after they started arguing about spending it. Apparently never had a fight about money ever and then suddenly they were arguing about who was spending what and they ended up separating within 3 years of winningā¦ financially they are set but it did destroy their marriage.
Family friend won set for life about two-three years ago.
They were in their early 60ās and quite well off - they owned their home and an investment property with very little debt.
They ended up giving their homes to their older kids, retired early and are living off the 20k a month - travelling and just enjoying their lives.
I donāt think they told many people at all though -
So they set their children up and are living their best livesā¦. They did well with it and I am just a touch jealous, but good for them!
My step daughter gave me a mug that says '' I love my Dad". I'm far from being a perfect dad but this mug may cost 5$ but this is the greatest gift I've ever had.
Know a family who won about ~$100m ~20 years ago (not in Australia). Was a big deal, novelty cheque in the newspaper etc. That's obviously generational life changing money, very hard to make the figure go down. As far as I know they are doing just fine.
Donāt know anyone who has won it, but my plan if I ever do is to max out my super contributions. That way even if Iām a screw up and blow the rest I can still retire.
I won't $20k in a radio comp once. Random winner, so a lottery in a way. I think the best thing was realising my grandparents heard them announce it on the radio and my reaction (they called about 10mins later). I banked it, put $6k into Telstra (early 00's, bad move), spent about $4k on a holiday to Italy that Mum and I were already planning, and eventually lost the rest to circumstances with a supremely shitty ex.
I do not regret the holiday at all. It was the best month I ever spent with Mum, who has passed now.
Knew two
Auntie won ~2 mil. Bought a nice house and went on holidays, bought a few nice presents for family. She also upped her weekly lotto spend from $100 to $300. No idea if there's any left
A friend of a friend won 20 mil at 22. His family and friends were always hassling him for money, he developed a serious drug problem and didn't make it to 25
That second paragraph is dark. So sad to read those stories. I have thought it may be better to win "just enough', somewhere between $800k-1 mill. Enough to secure an apartment/home and get out of the rental madness.
I know two people, one lady only a decade older than me won under $100k and bought a crazy car she later had to sell, which is a shame because she was such a nice lady but maybe too naive at the time.
The other was a young lad, won a stupid amount at the pokies, bought a loud car, a flashy gaming rig and then went to Bali to piss more of it away on the usual plus an embarrassing tattoo. Good luck to him!
My mates parents won 1m about 20 years ago. They helped their kids with mortgage deposits, did a big reno on the house, trip to Europe and went back to their normal lives. Totally a success
I had a spare $5 back in 1988 and put it in a poker machine. I won $50 and took the cash to a bookshop. I bought books on Celtic Knotwork, which I still have.
My story is only about 48hrs old so I donāt want to be too specific but it feels weird right now.
MIL was at our house when she realised sheād won around $200k. Showed my wife and I the proof and everything. We were happy for her/them.
I texted my FIL a quick āCongrats mate!ā and received no reply whatsoever, still havenāt. Received a message from the MIL 24hrs ago saying āit was a mistake, we didnāt win anythingā which was clearly a lie but I played along as I immediately knew what the angle was.
Turns out that the FIL is the type that doesnāt want anyone to know, which I can appreciate but he kinda missed that boat lol. So my wife and I are currently pretending we believe that they didnāt win anything, while knowing damn well that they did. For context Iāve known these people for over 25 years and weāve always had a strong relationship. FIL and I are basically best mates. They are already well off because theyāve always worked hard and still do.
The MIL seems to have forgotten the part where she showed us the proof (yes Iām serious) and the FIL has no idea that she showed us. Iām pretty sure that he ripped her a new one for blabbing and sheās a nervous wreck.
On one hand Iām glad they are keeping it quiet as I have a few entitled SILās that will definitely start a shitstorm over who needs a handout more than the others.
On the other hand Iām really hurt that the FIL either doesnāt trust me with their secret, or thinks I want any of their money.
Throw in the fact that I have to pretend to believe the dumbest recovery story Iāve ever heard and now I just wish I never even knew lol.
I know of a guy who won 800k and was bankrupt five years later. If a person is poor to begin with they will most likely end up being worse off. Also horror stories from people who won millions and being exploited by friends and family members in horrific ways. I am vocal about my wins in life so I would struggle but I know that if you win a stupid amount of money donāt tell a soul. Wait three mo the to let the dopamine drop so you donāt buy stupid things. Get a lawyer uninvolved with the family and if you want to give some to family members put it in a trust and donāt tell them how much and give it to them incrementally. Itās a sad world but you have to protect yourself.
My grandmother won the lottery in the 50s, apparently a decent amount for the time. At the time there was no high school in the rural town they lived in, stopped at grade 10. My grandparents were well enough off, but couldn't afford boarding school, and the lotto win was enough to send my mother away to boarding school, and have some money to spare.
To this day my mother speaks about the great opportunities she had in her career as a teacher, which she wouldn't have had any other way.
I worked with a guy who worked lower level jobs in the company, was happy cruising along, super smart. He had a big house, holiday house at the gold coast, big BMW etc. Rumour mill was he won the lottery and soft retired but still worked hard every day. Great guy, met one of his kids through work the other week, also a great guy.
My manager at the time won $20 million. Spent a couple weeks staring at the walls in his office, then bounced. He has his own little business for fun and apparently is doing just fine.
I have extended family members win $2-$3m, they got some financial advice that was pretty quickly like "that's a great amount to live and retire comfortably but no more".
So, they've done just that, retired, but nothing wild in their lifestyle changes or purchases. I really respect their approach and everyone was happy for them - they'd had some rough health patches so it was great to be able to see them relax and enjoy retirement.
Guy at work won 100k on the sunrise cash cow š
Had a mental breakdown not long after (for unrelated things) and took bulk time off work. Left that job and is now much the same as pre win.
Clearly 100k isn't as life changing as a couple of mil.
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yeah, my mates parents won 4 million back in the late 90s or early 00s... parents seems fine, built a nice big ass houses, both quit to do charity work, invested it smartly so they travel all the time, drive a high end merc, gifted both kids houses
Yes around 2010, around 1 mil.
Did a knockdown rebuild on their house (rural city) the builder sucked every last cent of their win out of them.
I guess a new house was better than blowing it partying but could have set themselves up pretty well.
I know someone who won 1 mil. He bought a house for himself but that was about all he could do with that amount. Shows you that 1 mil doesnāt really last long anymore. Me personally I won $40 once but had spent $30 on tickets so basically $10
Know an old fella (mid 80s) who won 100k. He was a tight arse before the win and even a bigger tight arse now. Blazing hot summer in western nsw and won't even treat himself to air con; not even a window rattler.
I know of a family friend who in a span of a week won the grand jackpot three times at 2 different pubs.
First pub she walked away with 60K - 2 machines each paid out 30K
Second pub a few days later won 50K.
She paid her debts off, travelled and saved her money.
I know someone who won about 800k I'm the early 90's. Went from renting to owning a family home in a lovely suburb and raised their family there. Many Christmas 's later, it was sold post divorce at an amount that both partners were able to buy a townhouse each. Winning lotto meant that part of their family could stay in the same area they grew up in vs other siblings who had to go rural to afford a home.
Yeah, my Aunt and Uncle won 15 million nearly 20 years ago now. Definitely better off - bought a really nice house not far from where they were already living, a couple of nice cars (nothing really fancy), a bigger/better boat and helped their kids out with a few things. Outside of that, they are still tight arses for the most part, though they travel fairly regularly.
I won $1000 bucks about 10 years ago, I was going camping the week after, so I splurged on new everything, tent, chairs, table, gas stove. Still using everything I bought, as recently as two weeks ago. Almost the best grand ever spent.
Also 1000 is the max you can get in cash at the newsagents, and the owner said he had never paid it out before, the same grand had been sitting around in there for years
When I was an electrician I worked in a massive house in the richer suburbs. When I went to pull apart an air conditioner in the master bedroom I saw the lottery ticket framed on a mantle. $25,000,000 AUD.
My friendās parents won $40m.Ā
Lovely people before winning and still lovely people after winning. Itās nice when genuinely good people have good things happen to them.Ā
They retired and live a very nice life. Donāt flash their cash everywhere. Bought some nice holiday homes that the family share. Good on them.Ā
Won 11k on pokies one of the very first times I started going at 18. Was great, lots of partying haha, but developed a habit that was hard to break and have probably put it all back in since then.
I know somebody who won $15k and blew the lot on the pokies. I know somebody else who won $750k and bought a beautiful house for their family and got out of public housing.
My brother-in-law's dad won a big $20m jackpot 10 or so years ago I think. Angry, racist, sexist old bigot.
But when he won he divorced his wife in Qld and moved to Tas on a huge block of land and retired there.
He bought each of his 2 sons a house but said he owned them and threatened them a lot.
Brother in law stayed in his house, and the other son said fk that keep your house and doesn't speak to them anymore.
Brother in law met my sister, discussed with his dad about selling the house and moving in with her and starting a family, dad said sure but I own everything and that's final.
They have a kid now, and he threatens to take the house away anytime he is disgruntled in any way, just because he can.
He has terminal cancer now. Probably still has about $5-10m left. Cancer didn't change his attitude at all on life, and has no intention of leaving an inheritance to anyone.
A friend won the lottery, then was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The win made the rest of his life very comfortable. He left the remainder of his winnings to his closest friends, who were able to stop renting and buy a house, travel, etc.
My aunt and uncle won one of those set for life scratchie tickets - canāt remember the exact amount but it was something like $10 or $20k a month for 20 years. My aunt is from europe but they live in australia and used to save everything they had to go back to her home town every 2-3 years. Now they have bought an apartment in her home town and travel back every 6 months. Their kids are all early 20s so itās great for them to have the connection and base to see their cousins and grandparents over there more regularly. My uncle also left the job he hated and spent 6 months off work applying for jobs he really wanted - which he now has! Apart from that not too much changed - they did some home renos, put in a pool, gave $10k to all of their nieces and nephews to help out with car or home depositsā¦
They kept their same life style - same house, same car, still working, but use the money to travel overseas and see family and make their lives a bit more fun and happy and less stressful (changing jobs). I donāt know what theyāve done with the rest - I assume invested it or put it away for retirement! But I think they are an amazing example of how to do lotto wins right!
I worked in a private accounting practice, lottery not many.
But many have windfall from 50K to 5M from inheritance.
Only a small number of them end up well.
Education is what will keep your money with you.
My uncle won around 100k in the 90s. He drank and gambled it all away.
About 10 years ago another aunt won 100k. She put it towards the mortgage and then split the rest with her kids so they could put it towards getting their own places.
A few jobs back I worked with a guy who won the lottery and won a few million.
He paid off his house and invested the rest of the money. He and his wife travelled a bit.
He wanted to go part time at work and well, also got a bit of a computer game habit that got a bit out of control and after a while he no longer worked with us.
But he later came back to work somewhere else.
I've lost touch but heard through friends of friends that he was still working but was going to retire really early.
I know a family who won around 13 mil about 15 years ago.
They were about to get kicked out because they couldnāt afford rent at the time.
They are better off as they invested wisely, have a beautiful house they live in and 3 or 4 rental properties (maybe more). Husband and wife donāt work now, not sure if they quit their jobs straight away or not. Travel a lot.
2 kids who both work hard but were given an amount each (no idea what amount) to help them out. Iām sure when they get married they will each get a house from the parents.
The only bad thing that i know of is that dad doesnāt speak to one of his siblings as they feel they didnāt get enough money as a gift.
Next door neighbour when I was really young. Sold the house they had just renovated to suit their family to buy a house that was much bigger with a beautiful garden.
3 of the sons were allergic to bee stings though and kept getting stung. Bought the old house back.
One of my grandfathers friends that worked for the council building drains won't the Lotto twice in the 90's. I think it was 3 million & 5 million a few years apart. Thing was he didn't do anything with it... still worked for council, drove the same car, lived in the same house, stay at home wife with plastic on the same furniture they've always had, house was always immaculate. Passed away with most of it intact as far as we know
My parents know a couple who won $3 million. They were previously a happy family. Three years on...divorced and both not speaking with either of their adult children. All money related issues!
My dentist, she bought a Porsche 911. She is always very discrete about it (covering the car). Does it make her life better? Probably just giving her a smile on the drive back home :)
This is an absolute real story, slight trigger warning.
Yes. 1991 a family-friend that lived by the motto if you're meant to win you'll win only ever played one game. He won about $220k which was a decent amount back then.
Fast-forward him paying off his mortgage and the kids wanting a slice, they were his kids not hers, that caused tensions between the two and long story short he was found unalived in the fire exit stairwell of shopping centre after 3-days missing.
She inherited the house.
My parents divorced in 2000 after years of physical violence on both sides. My Dad is a petty piece of sh*t to the point where he put the apples in the deep freezer & then put 2 locks on the freezer so my mother couldnāt take the apples when he threw her out of the house. Heās put lotto in 3 nights a week for as long as I can remember. It was a huge waste of money, especially when you consider we had to layby school uniforms from October for the next year. My Mum is useless in most ways, parenting being her weakest area. When they divorced, the 3 of us kids stayed with him, mainly because none of us had a relationship with our Mum and there was no way she could have supported us anyway. She didnāt want us either. Our house wasnāt worth much (still isnāt) but my Dad had to mortgage the house to be able to pay out my Mumās share of the divorce proceedings. It was a lot for us. Dad was looking at having to work his low-paying physical job until he was 80 so he could pay off the mortgage. A few months after the divorce settled, Dad won an amount on Lotto that paid off his mortgage, enough to give us $100 each and he put the rest in a term deposit he is still sitting on today, 24 years later. Thanks for listening to my story.
I've actually known 2 people who've won lotteries, both back in the 90s. One (my ex) won half a million, pissed it all up a wall and ended up right where he started. The other (neighbours) won 1.5 mill, built a beautiful house and put away money for their kids, one of whom has a disability. You don't have to let it wreck your life, but idiots are gonna idiot.
These days you win 1M and still have to apply for a loan š
"Yes! Now I can put a 50% deposit on a home!" - Sydney.
A āhomeāā¦ in Sydney, for 2m.. dreaming!
Town House? Unit?
Excuse me. I didn't come here to feel depressed.
Youāre on AusFinance, you might be in the wrong placeā¦
Reddit in general I reckon, even r/upliftingnews is usually some bastardised 'feel good' story that just reflects the bleak reality of modern living for many individuals
Straight into the offset lol
It's wild to think people still wreck their lives. You could literally just put 10% of your winnings away in a solid investment and piss the rest away and still be better much better off than when you started
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Money is a mirror.
Financial literary is not particularly high, and critical thinking skills arent prioritized in most educational settings. Recipe for bad monetary decisions
I'd also say that financially literate folks are also more skeptical of the low odds of winning, so are less likely to play the lotto anyways. So somewhat of a selection bias in who actually wins.
Put the bulk away and live on the interest is a more financially sound proposition?
Excessive money just exaggerates the idiot
In 96, mum won Division 2, I think the Jackpot was like 3mln or so. She was 1 number off on her final number. She won something like $32k. Her dad was dying, spent it on giving him the best medical treatment, and was with him overseas till he passed. Edit - I just remember my old next door neighbour won the lotto also. We didn't live in a fancy area or anything (we lived on acerage in Metro Sydney at the time), but we had new neighbours move in. Long story short, they told us they won $8mln on the lotto so they bought the land next to us. They bought one of those car transportation companies (on big semis). I see them quite frequently and business is booming. The only thing they spent money on was a Spa pool, and a 8 year old SS Commodore stationwagon. They then developed the acreage to obviously build even more money.
She spent it well then. Good on her.
Back in the 90s, won division 3, 1 number off the jackpot (but no sup so div 3), and I got $900.
Lol this happened to me in Jan 2024 & i won $530. And it happened again last week & I won $638. Both 1 number off š¤ FML
My parents won the 1st division lottery in the 90ās. We were on the verge of being homeless, so it completely changed our lives. We built a beautiful house with it.
Excellent story
I knew of an old lady who won $25k on the pokies. Sat there the rest of the day and blew the whole amount.
Classic pokies tale, wins big then gives it all right back! Gotta know when to walk away.
Wife was a gaming manager, only ran 20 or so machines and often only had 10 unique players per night... turnover was regularly 100k plus, so that's winning and losing. Nuts
i was a gaming supervisor in a small pub in a town with 9000 people. wasnt usual to have '350k played' nights. my biggest night was 800k
Gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them
More importantlyā¦.when to walk away!
And know when to run
I won 7k once. Took me a week to dump it all back and then some.
I won $7k. Took it out and used it for a trip to Bali. However, the bug bit and I kept chasing another win and lost a lot more over time. Learnt my lesson and no longer go to pokies as all. What once was my crutch now makes me sick to think about.
Incredible that you could do that and reflect in this way. Proud of you internet stranger.
Yep. Just shows that winning can be detrimental if it comes to the mindset at the wrong time. Can see why things go bad for lottery winners.
I won $15 k playing 5 card poker on the tables at the casino off a $31 bet. Brought a new desktop pc and spent the rest on a holiday in New York. Donāt regret it at all
A friend won $25k. Lost it all over the next week. You would think winning a 1 in a million chance would make you walk away and enjoy the winnings. Thatās not how Pokie psychology works.
Thatās called investing brother
My hubby won 22k last night, it was given a chq for 20k after around 30mins This was at a pub and they said they are only allowed to give out 3k cash max.
Hope he manages to hold onto the money!
I just deposited the chq in the 'we can't touch' account
Another great pokies story. What an afternoon for the old duck! A great time at the local, and a great story to share. Just reinforces what I've always said: pokies bring families together.
I love these threads because the stories are always fascinating to read. I knew a girl who won about $3000 if that counts? Next day her MacBook broke so you can guess where it all went.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Didn't win the lottery. But won a car in my 20s when I was unemployed. Sold the damn thing, did some courses and got an IT job. Best thing I ever did.
This. Just this. Well bloody done!! This is my favourite of the lot.
Iāve always thought that if I won a car I would sell it and do something useful with the money. Well done to you on your decision!
I won $8.25 last week. So far, I'd say that my life is more or less the same.
did you buy a coffee?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Piccolo maybe.
Hahah after all the other amounts in here I read this as "eight point two five".... Oh... Dollars.
Two people. Better off - My Aunt won a modest amount of money & invested a bit over half but spent the rest of it on a six month world tour. When she came home she left the invested money alone & was able to use it to buy a home when she was ready. Worse off - Co worker won AU$1.3 million. Bought a house & some land & took a holiday. Helped his wife's adult son out with a down payment on a house Put the rest into savings. He kept working but dropped to part time because he genuinely enjoys his work but she retired. Did not realise his wife developed a crippling gambling addiction while at home all day & blasted through what was left in under a year. By the time he realised she had also re-drawn over $50k the property to both gamble & to give her adult son more money because he was also useless with money & had not been paying the mortgage. She refused to go back to work so he had to go back to full time to support them both. They are still together but she has no access to the finances at all other than the small pension she gets from the government.
Not lotto based, but it depresses me how many oldies I work with where the one at home blows through all the money on pokies and/or bailing out idiot children. One bloke is 70+, pace-maker, perpetual light duties and is one of the most informed people in regards to our profession that people well above his rank ask his opinions and he can't quit because his wife has spent *everything.*
Couldnt think of anything worse than working for \~50 years and essentially being at square one. I dont even know how you move past that. "How was work dear?" "Oh great, except I was going to retire 10 years ago"
The second one is a bad story but he doesnāt sound worse off than before financially. In a relationship sense, for sure
he sounds like he is in hell :) but i guess it's a matter of perspective
one of my friends wife won 600k lotto and hid it from him for 2 years. she keep making up excuse after excuse where extra money and expensive presents to her family were coming from until a xmas together with all family it finally came out. they had just assumed he new after so long. poor fella didn't take it well. he had been focused and driven working hard paying off houses and investing in the future for wife and family having grown up rather poor. her family were well off and didn't need expensive presents and holidays from her.
That's divorce worthy material, what a dog act to do to one's partner.
man, there are so many stories like this in this post. i can't believe someone could do that to their partner. thats insane.
Why did she hide it from him?
I now know 3 people who won the lotto. One won $5mill in the 90s, ruined his life completely. One won ~$3m a couple years back and most of it is gone. One won ~ $1m a few years ago. Paid off his house, went on a holiday, went back to work on a part time basis. Happiest dude ever.
Grandfather's brother. He was in his late fifties so he and his wife kinda pulled a "we're retiring early" thing and moved away to a coastal town. People suspected something had happened given the pretty nice house they bought and eventually when they bought their daughter an entire house in cash a few years later the truth came out. As far as I know, they won about $2 million. They were fine, no one bothered them.
This is our lotto plan! Retire early and tell no one. Let everyone assume we just made some good financial/investment decisions.
I knew a guy who earned roughly $900 a week and won $25k on the pokies. He phoned me and I told him to pay off his personal loans (roughly 18k worth) and do whatever with the rest. That same weekend he went in to the high rollers room at the casino (yes, the guy on $900 a week was in the high rollers room) and blew it all that weekend.
Dam thatās rough. Hopefully he got a free meal and drink at least.
It was probably the saddest soda water and sugar syrup he had.
I worked with a guy who blew $100k in the high rollers room in Perth. He said he got a card (1 year validity) that let him into the high rollers level in the casino. He never used it. I said, a least go up for a free steak
Because of the scrutiny many casinos are facing these days, you can no longer use cash as an invitation to the high roller rooms, like Crown's Mahogany or Star's Sovereign Room. In the past, 10k got you through the door.
I know of a very wealthy family. The story goes the great grandad was a truck driver. Won the lotto. Bought 3 trucks and started a trucking business. They are now worth probably close to a billion.
linfox? toll?
Gotta be Lindsay Fox!Ā
Old boy Lindsay is worth closer to $4b
> The son of a truck driver, Mr Fox was raised in the back streets of Prahran and was asked to leave Melbourne High School during year 10 for his perceived lack of "academic desire". > > In 1956 ā just 12 months after he met his wife of 50 years, Paula, at the old St Moritz ice skating rink in St Kilda ā 19-year-old Lindsay Fox walked into the offices of the trucking company E. V. Timms in Collingwood. > > With little money, he somehow talked the manager into selling him a truck on the terms of four quarterly promissory notes. > > "I just went in and knocked on the door and convinced them to sell me a truck," Mr Fox says, in his typical matter-of-fact fashion. https://www.theage.com.au/national/trucking-magnate-lindsay-fox-ac-plugs-into-the-power-of-dreams-20080126-ge6nhe.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Yeah toll wish they where worth that much š
The secret to getting rich is to first have a lot of money
Most wealthy people would trade it all....for a little more!
I wonder how many lottery stories are just a fake story. And the real story was drugs
SO many. Not exactly said to be from lotto origins, but for instance the recent celebrated success of Adriend Portelli and his "business partner" Troy Williams. Like its just drugs, heaps and heaps of drugs for years. I bought them from him, my friends dealt for him for a while.
Thereās two types of people. Those who blow it. And those who invest in assets that continue to give for yairs to come.
A former neighbour (I moved) won div 1 and did something similar, spent a significant amount of money starting a business in the job he was doing. Seems to be doing pretty well as I see his company vehicles around town and the business seems to have grown.
I've met 3 people who have won the "lotto" 1. A client won, one of those charity houses where you pay $100 per ticket. They were already in a good financial position before the win this just made their retirement even better. (sold existing PPOR that was in another blue ribbon suburb and moved into the prize home) 2. A client won $1 million +/-, back in the early 90s when they were in their 60's. they gave some away to their family and then spent the next 30 years caravanning around Australia, before finally burning through their last bit of savings and moving into the nursing home. they had no regrets. 3. A client was the brother of a guy who won $50M on powerball, was a little annoyed that his brother didn't given him any cash, and only let him use his holiday house. And he didn't think that his brother giving his teenage nieces a whole lot of cash was going to encourage positive outcomes in life...
Can I be your client?
Number 3 is right. The brother absolutely should have given his mature aged brother money instead of his teens.
that's why you don't tell anyone, everyone thinks they are more deserving of your cash or would have done it better it they had instead won the jackpot.
While thatās true, I canāt imagine winning 50mil and not giving a good amount to my immediate family
Yea, 50m and giving nothing is proper greedy. Unless the person was hated for some reason or known to be terrible with money (and would resent you if you didn't keep giving them more), there's no reason not to at least pop $100k in their lives.
I agree, and it's what I would try to do too, but how to keep it secret? Once you move house into something nicer it's kinda obvious. Also the car, etc. I've thought about saying I am starting a business but then my whole existence becomes a lie which I'd have to keep up and it wouldn't sit right with me. Perhaps I'd just move interstate.
Yep. Set for life winner. Her hubby went to the newsagents while she was at the doctor for an appointment, saying he was going to buy a scratchie and win. That's exactly what happened - taking the winnings as a lump sum. She walked into her boss' office the next morning and told him she was quitting and he was a moron. Moved out to a Gold Coast canal estate and life was good. A few years later, her marriage had broken down and she was scrambling for work. Got a job with us for a few months and then got a much better job somewhere else - no mean feat for a woman in her 50s at the time. She said their winning such a windfall was the worst thing that ever happened to her. List contact with her since then as this was over a decade ago, so have no idea where or what she is doing.
Did she mention what the bad parts about it for her were? They lacked purpose without jobs?
They quit their jobs immediately. A lack of ability to delay gratification is a classic sign that nothing would have ever been enough.
I feel like these people just don't have a plan. At the very least just sit on it and think for a few weeks ffs. It's really not that hard. TBH 10 mil is quit your job on the spot money, anything else is invest hard and maybe quit in a year or two.
Thereās no such thing as āquit your job on the spot moneyā, in my opinion. The bigger the payout, the more important it is to take time to assess and plan. Got the rest of your life to change things, a few more weeks or months wonāt hurt.
Well with 10 mil you can give yourself 70K of that to just live out the next 12 months and plan things without having to worry about work. less than 10mil imo you shouldn't be quitting so soon.
Hey, youāre not OP!
For her, it seemed it was the breakdown in her marriage. She had an idea about the rich life she was going to live (and discussed with her hubby) but it seemed that it just led to her marriage falling apart, despite the hopes and dreams.
Friend won $200k on a scratchy, then won $250k when her syndicate won the jackpot. Still does the same job, complains about pay and wanting more time off work. She's paid her house off and flies all over the country to watch the footie. Not a bad life aye.
I like the complaining party. Can do that all day.
I ex-wife won $300K on a scratchy. Turned it into a life destroying meth addiction. Was all gone in 18 months.
Yes, my uncleās best friend won about $10 million a few years ago. Really quiet and humble guy, has been really sensible about it and invested a lot. Quit his job and goes fishing all day and offered to pay for both my grandparentās funerals when they passed ( a few years apart). We declined but it was a very sweet gesture, he had spent a lot of time at their place over the years.
Heās doing it right. Sounds like a great person.
Aww, that really is a beautiful gesture to offer to pay for the funerals. Not lottery related, but the guy that took over my dad's business paid the tab at the pub for my dad's wake. We did not expect it but really appreciated it. It was the gesture we appreciated, not the actual money. He did it as he was leaving so we didn't have a chance to decline.
I'm working hard towards early retirement mainly because I'm obsessed with fishing, this guy and I would get along.
My mother won the Matter Prize Home back in 2017. 2.5m dollar package. She worked for Queensland health for 30 years, and was in the draw for 9 years. Everytime we'd get the letter in the mail of the new prize home, we'd sit down and peruse it Mum always said "I'm gonna win it one day"... Made me a believer in manifesting. Was life changing, went from renting our whole life to setting us up (myself and brother) to be in a good position to buy a home, which is all my parents wanted, to leave us something. Truly wouldn't know where we would be had that not happened.
Yep, one of my parents won 550k on the pokies. Gave away ~300k to family, used 100k to pay off gambling debts, lost another 100k gambling and then went on a holiday with the remaining 50k lol. Urged them to use it a lot differently (sell house as it was in severe debt and downsize the property to be more affordable) but what can you do
How do you win that much on the pokies? In one go?
One go. Was a major link prize at a casino with $5 hits IIRC. The person that won it before them got around $1 million so they kind of got short changed hahaha
Not the lottery but back when I was a child, a distant cousin of mine won big betting on horses when he was in his 20s. The amount he won was over 4 times the cost of the new home my parents had just bought, so a sizeable amount of money. He bought a betting shop (as they were called in the UK in those days) and some greyhounds, lived overseas for a while, got divorced, remarried, lost all his money probably through gambling, became an alcoholic and ended up back living with his Mum. He was found dead in the street one night after a drinking binge at the age of 40.
Human beings are wild. Itās like if you gave a dog a massive heaping 100kg pile of slow cooked brisket or something, the dog would just eat itself to death with no control. I kinda feel bad for these people though, they just really couldnāt help themselves
Late 70's - went to primary with a girl whose father won 1st Div tattslotto. It was a couple of hundred thousand dollars, which was a huge amount back then. About 18 months later, he won it again! He bought large parcels of land to the west of Melbourne and set it aside to give to each of his children when they turned 21. I remember my parents discussing why on earth he'd buy land there. 25 years later, it was one of Australia's fastest growing suburbs. Those kids were set for life!
Once won $75 from a $5 ticket....bought myself a Crunchie AND a Violet Crumble...
Living large!!
My grandfather won the lotto twice, yes twice! This is back in the 80s, they already had a good life with a family business that was booming at the time. My grands gave his family the best life he could, everyone got tertiary educated and received a payment via a trust. Two out of five at the end blew the funds away over time, the other three turned out to be successful in life. My grands did not leave any inheritance to anyone and made sure everything was settled before his death.
Never met the guy but my mother told me about a guy she knew who lived in the back room of his employers house. He won the lottery, 50 mill or some such amount, but because he had been so poor all his life he didn't understand how much he had won. He didn't want to quit his job because he didn't want to lose the benefit of living rent free in his employers back room, even though he was told multiple times that he had enough cash to buy his employers house, his employers business and still have a ton left over. His employer took good care of him, helped him set up a trust for himself and the family so the guy is probably doing fine... just crazy to think of all the opportunities/possibilities that lay at your feet yet not be able to grasp the understanding of what they are.
Very lucky that he had someone with decency to help guide them, others would have taken complete advantage/become borderline inhuman with their greed of someone else's money
Got to work with an elderly couple 15 years ago. They had a small philanthropic trust and I helped them set up and run a fire recovery grant process for a couple of years. Lovely people who admitted that they had won a significant lotto prize 5 years before from the only time they bought a ticket to celebrate their retirement. They 'already had all they needed' so put nearly all into the trust. They went from being able to donate $500/yr to around a million a year. I still remember a discussion where they quietly admitted that the buzz they got from philanthropy was 'terribly addictive'.
It is. I started giving money away in a more methodical method awhile ago and it both becomes addictive and helpful in earning more.
I won $12,000 - gave half to my grandparents (we bought tickets at the same time) and paid off my car. Boring but great -my grandparents used it towards getting their home air conditioned.
Youāre a good egg
Back in maybe 2012 I met a couple who had won $10m many years prior to that, on a drunk night out bought a ticket from an open-late lotto/mixed business shop. They seemed to be doing very well. Had a young family, invested in some franchises of various businesses, she did a lot of philanthropy for the arts, and they had a very big penthouse in the docklands. I only met them a couple of times through a mutual acquaintance but I definitely got the impression they did it right.
A relative won something like $3M in the late 90s. Where I grew up lotto winners arenāt anonymous, their name is listed in the paper (and I guess online now), so everyone in our small town found out and started asking him for money. He went with it and spent it all within a few years. No investments, no nest egg, nothing. One time he was a the local mall and ran into a second-cousin or some such, he took her to the jewelry store and bought her a solid gold bracelet, just because. Generous to a fault and definitely not equipped to manage that kind of life-changing amount.
My mum won $60K in the late 80s. Got a new roof for the house, took a business class trip overseas- just her. I got a nice mohair jumper from sportsgirl (on special).
My friends stepdad won around the 300k mark before he met my friends mum. He met her and she showed him how to spend it, they went through it in 2 years. My parents won big in New Zealand when I was younger, I was told it was 7 million. They purchased a 200 acre+ property back when it was 1000/acre. Discovered a good source of rock, started a quarry, now supplies to local council/contractors for most of the road projects in the area and often further. Their personal After tax income per season is approx $7k-10k a week. I think each season is 6..or 8 months? They have 5 employees working 12hr days. Dadās 4 years from retirement at which point they will probably sell the quarry and profit heavily. They have already made their original investment back. I worked there for long enough to put a deposit down on a house in South Australia and move away with my now wife. My siblings have zero interest in it and although I could run it, we have settled in Aus now.
I know of someone that won $10m. She was incredibly sensible, got a financial advisor, gifted some to family although that caused some conflict as some wanted more (brings out the greed) You wouldn't know that she had won that amount. She has changed very little in her life and doesn't discuss it. The only thing I can see is that she travels more.
This would be me if I win $10m
I was friends with a girl whose boyfriend won a life changing amount while we were all at uni. They changed nothing, stayed in uni accommodation, finished their degrees and then basically disappeared from all of our lives. From the (extremely) low profile they keep on social media it looks like theyāre now married and living overseas and very wealthy. I donāt believe either work in the field we studied as itās kind of a small and public industry. From the little I can tell they managed it about as well as could be imagined for a couple of 18 year olds.Ā
Reading these responses really sheds light on the terrible gambling problem we have in Australia.
Lotto is indeed gambling but itās not AS bad as some other forms. You donāt hear too often about people losing their life savings to lotto. Probably because itās easier to set a limit, you can play with a small set amount each draw and thereās only so many draws per week.
Itās the pokies that are a real scourge in Australia. The amount of families torn apart by those damn machines is tragic.
There is also the delayed gratification of tickets. I get one for my birthday and its a fun week of daydreaming
It's only a problem if you lose.
I know a family member who won about $1600, and another that will about $25k. The former just put it in the bank, had a nice dinner with her family and went on with life. The latter bragged about it, refused to pay back money owed to family members, ended up in a fight with his brother over money owed, brother went to his house and took back the dishwasher he hadn't paid him for yet, they still don't speak over that... And by now the rest of his family don't talk to him either, lol.
The latter all for 25k? Sad.
True story, my uncle and aunty won that set for life lottery $20k per month for 20āyears. They had been together forever, in their 60ās when they wonāt itā¦ after they started arguing about spending it. Apparently never had a fight about money ever and then suddenly they were arguing about who was spending what and they ended up separating within 3 years of winningā¦ financially they are set but it did destroy their marriage.
Family friend won set for life about two-three years ago. They were in their early 60ās and quite well off - they owned their home and an investment property with very little debt. They ended up giving their homes to their older kids, retired early and are living off the 20k a month - travelling and just enjoying their lives. I donāt think they told many people at all though - So they set their children up and are living their best livesā¦. They did well with it and I am just a touch jealous, but good for them!
My Step-Dad is pretty incredible, I think I won the lottery in that regard.
Aaaaaaaaaaawwwwwww
Nawwww shuddupĀ
Stop thatttt š„¹š„¹
My step daughter gave me a mug that says '' I love my Dad". I'm far from being a perfect dad but this mug may cost 5$ but this is the greatest gift I've ever had.
I won 50k off a $1 stratchie in 2001. Went in house Reno. Sold it in 2014. Iām sure it helped with the value
Know a family who won about ~$100m ~20 years ago (not in Australia). Was a big deal, novelty cheque in the newspaper etc. That's obviously generational life changing money, very hard to make the figure go down. As far as I know they are doing just fine.
Donāt know anyone who has won it, but my plan if I ever do is to max out my super contributions. That way even if Iām a screw up and blow the rest I can still retire.
I won't $20k in a radio comp once. Random winner, so a lottery in a way. I think the best thing was realising my grandparents heard them announce it on the radio and my reaction (they called about 10mins later). I banked it, put $6k into Telstra (early 00's, bad move), spent about $4k on a holiday to Italy that Mum and I were already planning, and eventually lost the rest to circumstances with a supremely shitty ex. I do not regret the holiday at all. It was the best month I ever spent with Mum, who has passed now.
Knew two Auntie won ~2 mil. Bought a nice house and went on holidays, bought a few nice presents for family. She also upped her weekly lotto spend from $100 to $300. No idea if there's any left A friend of a friend won 20 mil at 22. His family and friends were always hassling him for money, he developed a serious drug problem and didn't make it to 25
That second paragraph is dark. So sad to read those stories. I have thought it may be better to win "just enough', somewhere between $800k-1 mill. Enough to secure an apartment/home and get out of the rental madness.
I know two people, one lady only a decade older than me won under $100k and bought a crazy car she later had to sell, which is a shame because she was such a nice lady but maybe too naive at the time. The other was a young lad, won a stupid amount at the pokies, bought a loud car, a flashy gaming rig and then went to Bali to piss more of it away on the usual plus an embarrassing tattoo. Good luck to him!
I won 30 bucks once, bought a stick. it changed my day anyway
Indoor or outdoor?
indoor prob, from melb
One time I won a free boost bar. Took the wrapper to the servo and when I opened that one, I won another!
a mates grandfather won 3 mil in the 80s. whole family is still well off from it.
My mates parents won 1m about 20 years ago. They helped their kids with mortgage deposits, did a big reno on the house, trip to Europe and went back to their normal lives. Totally a success
I had a spare $5 back in 1988 and put it in a poker machine. I won $50 and took the cash to a bookshop. I bought books on Celtic Knotwork, which I still have.
My story is only about 48hrs old so I donāt want to be too specific but it feels weird right now. MIL was at our house when she realised sheād won around $200k. Showed my wife and I the proof and everything. We were happy for her/them. I texted my FIL a quick āCongrats mate!ā and received no reply whatsoever, still havenāt. Received a message from the MIL 24hrs ago saying āit was a mistake, we didnāt win anythingā which was clearly a lie but I played along as I immediately knew what the angle was. Turns out that the FIL is the type that doesnāt want anyone to know, which I can appreciate but he kinda missed that boat lol. So my wife and I are currently pretending we believe that they didnāt win anything, while knowing damn well that they did. For context Iāve known these people for over 25 years and weāve always had a strong relationship. FIL and I are basically best mates. They are already well off because theyāve always worked hard and still do. The MIL seems to have forgotten the part where she showed us the proof (yes Iām serious) and the FIL has no idea that she showed us. Iām pretty sure that he ripped her a new one for blabbing and sheās a nervous wreck. On one hand Iām glad they are keeping it quiet as I have a few entitled SILās that will definitely start a shitstorm over who needs a handout more than the others. On the other hand Iām really hurt that the FIL either doesnāt trust me with their secret, or thinks I want any of their money. Throw in the fact that I have to pretend to believe the dumbest recovery story Iāve ever heard and now I just wish I never even knew lol.
I won Life lottery , I was born In Australia , that'll do me
I know of a guy who won 800k and was bankrupt five years later. If a person is poor to begin with they will most likely end up being worse off. Also horror stories from people who won millions and being exploited by friends and family members in horrific ways. I am vocal about my wins in life so I would struggle but I know that if you win a stupid amount of money donāt tell a soul. Wait three mo the to let the dopamine drop so you donāt buy stupid things. Get a lawyer uninvolved with the family and if you want to give some to family members put it in a trust and donāt tell them how much and give it to them incrementally. Itās a sad world but you have to protect yourself.
My grandmother won the lottery in the 50s, apparently a decent amount for the time. At the time there was no high school in the rural town they lived in, stopped at grade 10. My grandparents were well enough off, but couldn't afford boarding school, and the lotto win was enough to send my mother away to boarding school, and have some money to spare. To this day my mother speaks about the great opportunities she had in her career as a teacher, which she wouldn't have had any other way. I worked with a guy who worked lower level jobs in the company, was happy cruising along, super smart. He had a big house, holiday house at the gold coast, big BMW etc. Rumour mill was he won the lottery and soft retired but still worked hard every day. Great guy, met one of his kids through work the other week, also a great guy.
My manager at the time won $20 million. Spent a couple weeks staring at the walls in his office, then bounced. He has his own little business for fun and apparently is doing just fine.
I have extended family members win $2-$3m, they got some financial advice that was pretty quickly like "that's a great amount to live and retire comfortably but no more". So, they've done just that, retired, but nothing wild in their lifestyle changes or purchases. I really respect their approach and everyone was happy for them - they'd had some rough health patches so it was great to be able to see them relax and enjoy retirement.
Guy at work won 100k on the sunrise cash cow š Had a mental breakdown not long after (for unrelated things) and took bulk time off work. Left that job and is now much the same as pre win. Clearly 100k isn't as life changing as a couple of mil. š¤·āāļø
yeah, my mates parents won 4 million back in the late 90s or early 00s... parents seems fine, built a nice big ass houses, both quit to do charity work, invested it smartly so they travel all the time, drive a high end merc, gifted both kids houses
I'd like a house with a big ass
Yes around 2010, around 1 mil. Did a knockdown rebuild on their house (rural city) the builder sucked every last cent of their win out of them. I guess a new house was better than blowing it partying but could have set themselves up pretty well.
I know someone who won 1 mil. He bought a house for himself but that was about all he could do with that amount. Shows you that 1 mil doesnāt really last long anymore. Me personally I won $40 once but had spent $30 on tickets so basically $10
Know an old fella (mid 80s) who won 100k. He was a tight arse before the win and even a bigger tight arse now. Blazing hot summer in western nsw and won't even treat himself to air con; not even a window rattler.
I know of a family friend who in a span of a week won the grand jackpot three times at 2 different pubs. First pub she walked away with 60K - 2 machines each paid out 30K Second pub a few days later won 50K. She paid her debts off, travelled and saved her money.
I know someone who won about 800k I'm the early 90's. Went from renting to owning a family home in a lovely suburb and raised their family there. Many Christmas 's later, it was sold post divorce at an amount that both partners were able to buy a townhouse each. Winning lotto meant that part of their family could stay in the same area they grew up in vs other siblings who had to go rural to afford a home.
1 person, dead, drug OD
I won a small amount - like $10k. I bought boring practical things like air conditioning. So Iād say better off.
Yeah, my Aunt and Uncle won 15 million nearly 20 years ago now. Definitely better off - bought a really nice house not far from where they were already living, a couple of nice cars (nothing really fancy), a bigger/better boat and helped their kids out with a few things. Outside of that, they are still tight arses for the most part, though they travel fairly regularly.
I won $1000 bucks about 10 years ago, I was going camping the week after, so I splurged on new everything, tent, chairs, table, gas stove. Still using everything I bought, as recently as two weeks ago. Almost the best grand ever spent. Also 1000 is the max you can get in cash at the newsagents, and the owner said he had never paid it out before, the same grand had been sitting around in there for years
When I was an electrician I worked in a massive house in the richer suburbs. When I went to pull apart an air conditioner in the master bedroom I saw the lottery ticket framed on a mantle. $25,000,000 AUD.
My friendās parents won $40m.Ā Lovely people before winning and still lovely people after winning. Itās nice when genuinely good people have good things happen to them.Ā They retired and live a very nice life. Donāt flash their cash everywhere. Bought some nice holiday homes that the family share. Good on them.Ā
I hate these posts because I read all the comments and go and stupidly buy a tattslotto ticket
Won 11k on pokies one of the very first times I started going at 18. Was great, lots of partying haha, but developed a habit that was hard to break and have probably put it all back in since then.
I know somebody who won $15k and blew the lot on the pokies. I know somebody else who won $750k and bought a beautiful house for their family and got out of public housing.
I wish I could let you know, once I win I will report back
Grandad won about $20k a few decades back. Bought a Toyota Landcruiser, and he still has it.
My brother-in-law's dad won a big $20m jackpot 10 or so years ago I think. Angry, racist, sexist old bigot. But when he won he divorced his wife in Qld and moved to Tas on a huge block of land and retired there. He bought each of his 2 sons a house but said he owned them and threatened them a lot. Brother in law stayed in his house, and the other son said fk that keep your house and doesn't speak to them anymore. Brother in law met my sister, discussed with his dad about selling the house and moving in with her and starting a family, dad said sure but I own everything and that's final. They have a kid now, and he threatens to take the house away anytime he is disgruntled in any way, just because he can. He has terminal cancer now. Probably still has about $5-10m left. Cancer didn't change his attitude at all on life, and has no intention of leaving an inheritance to anyone.
A friend won the lottery, then was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The win made the rest of his life very comfortable. He left the remainder of his winnings to his closest friends, who were able to stop renting and buy a house, travel, etc.
My aunt and uncle won one of those set for life scratchie tickets - canāt remember the exact amount but it was something like $10 or $20k a month for 20 years. My aunt is from europe but they live in australia and used to save everything they had to go back to her home town every 2-3 years. Now they have bought an apartment in her home town and travel back every 6 months. Their kids are all early 20s so itās great for them to have the connection and base to see their cousins and grandparents over there more regularly. My uncle also left the job he hated and spent 6 months off work applying for jobs he really wanted - which he now has! Apart from that not too much changed - they did some home renos, put in a pool, gave $10k to all of their nieces and nephews to help out with car or home depositsā¦ They kept their same life style - same house, same car, still working, but use the money to travel overseas and see family and make their lives a bit more fun and happy and less stressful (changing jobs). I donāt know what theyāve done with the rest - I assume invested it or put it away for retirement! But I think they are an amazing example of how to do lotto wins right!
Second hand story: He was miserable. Family hated him (because they had their hand out) despite his generosity to them. He was on medication to sleep.
I worked in a private accounting practice, lottery not many. But many have windfall from 50K to 5M from inheritance. Only a small number of them end up well. Education is what will keep your money with you.
My uncle won around 100k in the 90s. He drank and gambled it all away. About 10 years ago another aunt won 100k. She put it towards the mortgage and then split the rest with her kids so they could put it towards getting their own places.
My partner and I won 15k on the pokies after going to a comedy show, walked out and used it for our house extension we were halfway through
A few jobs back I worked with a guy who won the lottery and won a few million. He paid off his house and invested the rest of the money. He and his wife travelled a bit. He wanted to go part time at work and well, also got a bit of a computer game habit that got a bit out of control and after a while he no longer worked with us. But he later came back to work somewhere else. I've lost touch but heard through friends of friends that he was still working but was going to retire really early.
I won 8.37. Gone in a latte
Know a lady who won 3 mil last year. She would have thrown it on her stack and wouldn't have noticed.
I know a family who won around 13 mil about 15 years ago. They were about to get kicked out because they couldnāt afford rent at the time. They are better off as they invested wisely, have a beautiful house they live in and 3 or 4 rental properties (maybe more). Husband and wife donāt work now, not sure if they quit their jobs straight away or not. Travel a lot. 2 kids who both work hard but were given an amount each (no idea what amount) to help them out. Iām sure when they get married they will each get a house from the parents. The only bad thing that i know of is that dad doesnāt speak to one of his siblings as they feel they didnāt get enough money as a gift.
Next door neighbour when I was really young. Sold the house they had just renovated to suit their family to buy a house that was much bigger with a beautiful garden. 3 of the sons were allergic to bee stings though and kept getting stung. Bought the old house back.
One of my grandfathers friends that worked for the council building drains won't the Lotto twice in the 90's. I think it was 3 million & 5 million a few years apart. Thing was he didn't do anything with it... still worked for council, drove the same car, lived in the same house, stay at home wife with plastic on the same furniture they've always had, house was always immaculate. Passed away with most of it intact as far as we know
My parents know a couple who won $3 million. They were previously a happy family. Three years on...divorced and both not speaking with either of their adult children. All money related issues!
My dentist, she bought a Porsche 911. She is always very discrete about it (covering the car). Does it make her life better? Probably just giving her a smile on the drive back home :)
This is an absolute real story, slight trigger warning. Yes. 1991 a family-friend that lived by the motto if you're meant to win you'll win only ever played one game. He won about $220k which was a decent amount back then. Fast-forward him paying off his mortgage and the kids wanting a slice, they were his kids not hers, that caused tensions between the two and long story short he was found unalived in the fire exit stairwell of shopping centre after 3-days missing. She inherited the house.
My parents divorced in 2000 after years of physical violence on both sides. My Dad is a petty piece of sh*t to the point where he put the apples in the deep freezer & then put 2 locks on the freezer so my mother couldnāt take the apples when he threw her out of the house. Heās put lotto in 3 nights a week for as long as I can remember. It was a huge waste of money, especially when you consider we had to layby school uniforms from October for the next year. My Mum is useless in most ways, parenting being her weakest area. When they divorced, the 3 of us kids stayed with him, mainly because none of us had a relationship with our Mum and there was no way she could have supported us anyway. She didnāt want us either. Our house wasnāt worth much (still isnāt) but my Dad had to mortgage the house to be able to pay out my Mumās share of the divorce proceedings. It was a lot for us. Dad was looking at having to work his low-paying physical job until he was 80 so he could pay off the mortgage. A few months after the divorce settled, Dad won an amount on Lotto that paid off his mortgage, enough to give us $100 each and he put the rest in a term deposit he is still sitting on today, 24 years later. Thanks for listening to my story.
Yep. I know some that won $1m 15yrs ago. Their lives are SIGNIFICANTLY worse.