Winning The Lottery Research Paper

Do you wanna get lucky? I know I do. Everyone at one time or another has thought “what if I won the lottery?” Then think about everything they would buy and the people they would help. But when you really think about it the lottery is one of those things that is to good to be true. In our time people are very materialistic. Everyone wants to get rich quick! Winning the lottery isn’t the answer. It can actually bring much more trouble than good. “If you had problems before winning the lottery, you’ll have problems after the lottery. Money isn’t going to solve what’s wrong in your life.” I would be lying if I said thoughts of wanting to win the lotto have never crossed my mind. When I think about winning the lotto, my first thoughts
are who I would tell. If I were to win I would not want the public to know, I would prefer to keep it very private because you never know what kind of crazies come out when you suddenly have money. The second thing that comes to mind is what I would do with the money. I would be able to pay off my college education and not have to worry where next month’s payment is coming from. I would be able to pay off all of my family’s debts. Then I would purchase a brand new car, nothing to expensive, just something more dependable then my car. I would invest money into renovating my house in Carmel and my family’s house in the Bronx. What would I do for my parents? For my mother I would buy her a horse farm in Vermont, and give her enough money to keep it running. For my father I would build him a huge garage to store his cars. I would also buy my father a 1970 Chevy SS Chevelle, and a 1965 AC Cobra. I would put the rest of my lottery money in the bank and let it grow for my family, I would not want to live off of it, I would continue to work every day. Of course these are just thoughts, back to reality. When you go out to the store and buy that ticket you never contemplate everything that may happen after you win those millions.
Sure you’ll be a millionaire but it will bring risk to your life and your families. Many people look at winning the lottery as the end to all of their problems. But they never think what drastic changes come with winning the lottery. A man that had won over 7 million dollars said more than anything, he wished he could have his life back. His big win had changed his life forever and he just wasn't equipped to handle all the changes that come with sudden wealth. While most people would think that money would buy happiness, many people who have won the lottery become depressed. Winning an unimaginable sum of money places much stress on people who just aren't prepared for it. Most people do not know how to budget their money, and many new millionaires become bankrupt in a few short years after winning. People who win large amounts of money go crazy and buy whatever they want, without thinking about how they’re going to pay for it. Big spending has caused many lottery winners to go into
bankruptcy. Privacy is something you lose after winning the lottery. After winning the lotto it will be necessary to have a unlisted phone number, a security system, and a post office mailbox. Some lotto winners have been forced to move away, hiding their names and location of their home. People will pop up everywhere asking for money. Money to send their children to college, money to fund a business idea for them, and even for women seeking money to help from escaping abusive husbands. No wonder winning the lotto can cause depression. Michael Lewis wanted nothing more than to be one of the guys in rural South Carolina where he was raised.
He acquired almost $9 million in the South Carolina Lotto. When winning the lotto he became surrounded with a new group of friends, and in a short period of time partied all the money away, almost as soon as the money was gone so were his friends. Today, he’s lost his anonymity, his buddies, whatever girlfriends he once had and most of his family, whose members he no longer trusts. He rarely ventures outside the trailer where he lives alone. Since winning the lotto Michael has pretty much lost everything and doesn’t trust anyone but his dogs. He is very depressed and has an alcohol problem.
There are a lot of lottery success stories, many families that have won the lottery and been able to handle it. People that were able to open their own business with their lotto money and that have done very well. Then there are the people who were wise enough to not let their big win change the way they live their lives. I read about one women who gave money to her children, then she paid off her mortgage, put money to the side to cover all her monthly bills and put the rest of the money in savings. She continued to work every day as if nothing
happened.
Many people think that money can buy happiness. Then why do people who have won the lottery become depressed. They either weren’t prepared for the attention, or didn’t know how to handle their new found wealth by not being able to budget properly. Winning the lottery is in no way the solution to your problems. Sure winning the lotto is many Americans goal. Every day they go and buy their ticket and whether it is fate or luck someone wins. Just like people are different, so is what they do with the money. Although many people have a negative effect from winning the lottery others manage to get by alright. If I were to ever win the lottery I would need to have a plan, need to be able to manage the money and not blow it. Cause that’s all that ever goes wrong. They over spend, next thing they know the money is gone and they are bankrupt. Just always remember, “If you've got problems before winning the lottery, you'll have problems after the lottery. Money isn't going to solve what's wrong in your life.”