Oct 20, 2023
If you won the lottery, who would you tell?
A recent caller on The Ramsey Show claimed he hasn’t even told his teenage children about his $22-million jackpot win two years ago.
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“My wife and I made a conscious decision just to keep it under wraps,” said the caller, who used the pseudonym John. “We just don’t want them to grow up to be waiters — waiting for us to die.”
The comment made host Dave Ramsey burst into laughter. But John’s decision was based on research he did following his big win. He learned that many lottery winners overspend and go bankrupt within a few years of hitting it big.
“One of the things they all say is they told too many people and had too many people turning up at their door asking for handouts,” John said.
His approach to his windfall should keep his family in good financial shape going forward.
Staying anonymous after a lottery win
Unfortunately, staying anonymous after winning the jackpot isn’t always possible. Only a handful of states allow lottery winners to hide their identities upon claiming their prize, and some require you to win a minimum amount first.
John, however, has managed to keep his winning status hidden from nearly everyone, except his wife and one sibling. That puts the couple in a solid position to safeguard their new fortune.
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How to make the most of a windfall
To enhance his family’s chances of keeping their lottery winnings, John says he hired a team to help him with investments. He and his wife also plan to live well within their means for the foreseeable future. John says he is still working because he loves his job and his wife is happy to live in the same house they paid off a few years ago.
“We just paid cash for two Toyotas before we won this,” John said. “We’re not looking to upgrade because they’re perfectly fine cars.”
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Ramsey was impressed by the couple’s financial discipline, despite the tremendous windfall.
“I like everything you’re doing, and it’s not anyone else’s business,” he said.
Ramsey contrasted the situation with his own, although living in the spotlight and being known for financial advice made it difficult to keep his fortune a secret. However, he says his net worth wasn’t disclosed to his children until they graduated college.
“I sat down with three of my kids and two of their spouses, five of them, and we started unpacking what our estate plan looks like because they’re adults at that point,” he said. “I said, ‘Listen, here’s the deal … are you going to continue to be productive and generous people, or are you going to be … a waiter? Because if you’re a waiter, you’re not going to get access to any of this.’”
Ramsey said his goal was to impart to his children the importance of using wealth to maximize the good they could do in the world. And he had a similar message for John, who to this point has, by his own admission, been very tight with his newfound riches.
“I think you need to increase the enjoyment of this money and increase the generosity factor.”
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Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
