Tell Me Time and Time Again How to Win Your Heart
Everybody needs money to survive. It's a fact we may not like, just information technology's still a fact. Another inescapable truth is that most of us could use more than money for the things nosotros demand as well as the things we just desire. That probably makes the hope of winning the lottery audio similar a dream come true, only the reality is much more than complicated than that.
Consider this cautionary tale of a woman in drastic need who won an unbelievable amount of money. The choices and mistakes she fabricated after winning ultimately resulted in losing it all. Her story reminds united states of america all to never forget that money doesn't buy happiness.
Run across Marie Holmes
When she was 26, Marie Holmes was living a difficult life in North Carolina. She was a difficult-working, single mother of four with ii low-paying jobs. On top of this, one of her children had just been diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
Because of her child'due south special needs, Marie was forced to quit both of her jobs to intendance for him full time. Manifestly, the $188 million lottery windfall seemed like a Godsend when Marie won, just unfortunately, she made a series of poor decisions that resulted in her losing it all.
Marie's Original Plans
Marie made some promising comments about what she planned to practice with the lottery coin — $127 million later she chose to get it in a lump sum. "First I'm going to pay my tithes, considering I wouldn't take none of information technology if information technology weren't for God."
"Afterward that, I'm going to set up upwardly accounts for my kids…I'm going to buy a house for me and my kids, then make sure my family is all good." Marie also told WGN-TV, "I don't have to worry almost the word 'struggle' no more and neither practice [my children]."
The Waiting Game
Although almost lottery winnings are not life changing, lottery jackpots are huge, and there are rules for claiming those winnings. If a person wins less than $599, the establishment that sold them the ticket pays them their winnings. However, there is a lengthy process involved in challenge big lottery winnings.
The ticket has to be verified by a scanning car. Next, at that place is a waiting menses for the money to be awarded, and the winner must make full out some identification paperwork. Last, the winner must decide if they desire all the money in a lump sum or have it dispersed in installments for 30 years (on average).
Choices, Choices
I of the more than hard choices when a person wins millions of dollars in a lottery is whether to go the money in a lump sum or in installments. The dilemma occurs considering in that location is a large penalty for getting all the money faster in a lump sum.
Marie had the pick of collecting the entire $188 million over 30 years or forfeiting $61 million and collecting the remaining $127 million much sooner. Financial experts commonly recommend taking the lump sum and investing the money. That allows you the opportunity to make money on your winnings instead of the state. Marie chose the lump sum.
Uncle Sam'due south Cut
Many people don't know how much taxes people have to pay out of lottery winnings in the U.South., so nosotros'll break it downwardly for you lot. Although the unabridged tax amount wasn't reported in Marie Holmes' case, she definitely paid millions to the government.
In the U.S., lottery winnings are considered income by the IRS, on both the land and federal levels. Therefore, Northward Carolina would have taken 5.8% of Marie's $127 million, and the Federal Regime would take taken anywhere from 25% to 39.half dozen%, depending on revenue enhancement bracket and other factors. Virtually people pay the highest rate.
Setting an Example
When Marie won the lottery, she had plans that all sounded very honorable. She said she would donate beginning to her church building so motility out of her mobile habitation and buy a new house for her children. She as well planned to set up college funds for them.
Marie told NBC, "All the struggle that I always went through, it was all for [my children]. I want them to empathise that coin doesn't change you, but information technology can help you." The public fell in dear with Marie subsequently hearing about her history of poverty and hard knocks before she became wealthy.
Could She Handle It?
The reputation that Marie had in her hometown and elsewhere was that of a hard-working, unmarried mother who, according to her family and friends, "understood the value of a dollar." At one point, she had two jobs — Walmart and McDonald's — to support her four children. Therefore, nobody expected her to make poor decisions almost where the money would go.
Of course, no ane took into account that Marie was inexperienced and uninformed about how to handle big amounts of money. When she started deciding how to spend the lottery money, the public viewed her as immature and irresponsible.
Financial Advisor, Please?
When people who aren't wealthy win a lot of money, it's highly recommended that they seek professional person help nigh how to manage the money, including what NOT to practice with information technology. The average American has absolutely no feel handling big amounts of money.
Financial advisors warn that even titanic amounts of money can disappear rapidly if it isn't invested wisely. In the instance of Marie Holmes, it seemed like her heart was in the right place and she was doing what she thought was right, but some expert advice definitely would accept helped her out.
The Bad Judgment Begins
The commencement thing dubbed a poor judgment telephone call by the public was the $15,000 Rolex that Marie bought her boyfriend, Lamar "Hot Sauce" McDow. The lookout was more jewelry than a timepiece and was reportedly "dripping with diamonds."
That same beau ultimately cost Marie much more than. The Port City Daily reported Lamar was a gang fellow member and a drug dealer after he was arrested and charged with "conspiracy to traffic in opium or heroin" in April 2016. He continued to get arrested throughout their human relationship, and Marie spent millions on his bond and defense.
The Saga Continues
Before being sent to jail on drug charges in 2014, Lamar McDow lived with Marie Holmes and her children in her trailer. When he was released from jail later serving his judgement, he lived in the $350,000 home that she had purchased after winning the lottery.
According to the Daily Mail, of the original amount of $188 million, Marie was left with virtually $88 million later on deciding to accept her winnings in a lump sum and paying taxes. This is withal a very large amount of money, just a loss of $100 meg is plainly very significant.
Leeches Coming Out of the Woodwork
Predictably, lots of people immediately started request Marie and her boyfriend for money afterwards they heard she won the lottery. The people included friends, family members and numerous others, all requesting various amounts of money for all kinds of reasons. Unfortunately, this feel is common for lottery winners.
Marie and Lamar were constantly harassed for money handouts, and it became very stressful for them. Marie was quoted as proverb, "When money comes, at that place are more issues," according to reports.
Racial Intolerance in Their New Dwelling
Another problem that plagued Marie and her family in their new life in their new home was harassment from neighbors due to racial prejudice. The neighborhood that Marie moved into with her family was an intolerant, primarily white community, and much to the family unit's chagrin, the residents were not interested in changing.
According to Lamar, "One neighbor gear up up a camera to record everything we were doing. If I was driving downwards the route and going at the speed limit, they would wave at me for going too fast. They did not desire us in that location. They were prejudiced." Lamar reported these disturbing events to the Daily Mail service.
The Church Donation
Marie stayed true to her word, which was reported in a press release as "The start thing she promised was to tithe — give a 10th of her winnings to charity." Marie donated a total of $700,000 to her hometown church, Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church, located in Shallotte, NC.
The church reportedly used the coin for much-needed renovations. Marie told the printing the church was an important part of her life and her organized religion and that she had been attending that particular church building since she was a kid.
Pastor Disaster
Unfortunately, a different pastor made contact with Marie and her family with an evil ulterior motive. Pastor Kevin Matthews claimed that "God led him to them," and although they certainly regretted information technology later on, Marie and her family believed him and allowed him into their lives and their home.
Presently after meeting Marie, Pastor Matthews asked her for $1.v million then he could build a retreat. According to him, Marie verbally agreed to fund the project, although there is no bear witness to support that. He then went alee and began structure on the retreat using his own money. Marie did non contribute.
Wicked Intentions
Citing a verbal agreement in which Marie allegedly promised to donate $1.5 meg for his retreat, Pastor Kevin Matthews appear publicly that he was suing Marie Holmes for $10 one thousand thousand. The corporeality of coin named in the suit was inexplainable, because the corporeality he was allegedly promised was much less.
The public believed Pastor Matthews was being ungrateful and greedy. His beliefs seemed unbecoming of a Christian leader to near people of faith. The justification for his lawsuit was that he had a verbal understanding with Marie for a coin donation and compensation for "emotional distress."
Public Outrage
As soon every bit the media caught wind of the lawsuit, they uncovered that Matthews did not appear to be affiliated with any church. This led to a astringent, aroused public backlash. People shamed Matthews for existence a fraud and trying to scam a nice lady out of her rightful winnings.
One YouTuber, "Donald the Repentless," was and then mad nearly this that he put out videos entitled, "F*** You Pastor Kevin Matthews." Public opinion was clear that this so-called "pastor" was zero but a money-grubbing scam artist preying on a prissy lady to get his hands on a lot of undeserved money.
To Summit It Off: Infidelity
In more bad news for Marie and her children, the media reported that her ex-convict boyfriend was being unfaithful. Unfortunately, information technology was also reported that she herself paid Lamar's mistresses hush money to go away instead of getting rid of him.
In more reputation damaging news, a video surfaced on Facebook of a woman who claimed that in addition to Lamar cheating on Marie, he was also stealing money from her to pay prostitutes for "sexual favors." Unfortunately, the video went viral, every bit juicy gossip oftentimes does.
Powering Through
Instead of withering nether the scrutiny of the media and the public, Marie decided to take drastic measures to improve her circumstances. She gathered her force and took matters into her own hands by turning to a well-known life coach to become some advice most how to better her life.
Marie contacted Iyanla Vanzant, who has her own show advising people virtually their relationships on the Oprah Network. Vanzant is a renowned author and motivational speaker with a huge following due to her reputation for changing people'due south lives for the amend.
The Truth Revealed
In another surprising twist, when Marie went on the Iyanla: Fix My Life talk prove, her mother, Fontella, came out and revealed that the numbers she chose for the winning lottery ticket were actually hers and that they had a very special pregnant.
"I kept dreaming well-nigh your brother that we lost. His birthday, he was the third child, he'd have been 25 that twelvemonth. Those were the numbers." When Marie asked her mother why she didn't claim the coin for herself, Fontella replied, "I just wanted you to better yourself for the babies."
The Scoop on Lamar McDow
Lamar "Hot Sauce" McDow was fortunate plenty to stay in Marie's good graces long enough to fight jail three times, to the tune of millions in bail and legal fees. The beginning fourth dimension Marie bailed him out, it cost her $3 million in bail money.
Before a year had passed, Lamar was arrested once more, and Marie bailed him out again for $6 million. The tertiary time Marie bailed out Lamar, it was $12 million. You would retrieve she would have been repulsed past his criminal beliefs, merely she merely kept spending the money, resulting in widespread criticism.
Misery Loves Company
Marie was warned past many people that if she continued her relationship with Lamar, she could end upward with criminal charges herself. Unfortunately, that'southward exactly what happened. I nighttime, Lamar violated his parole curfew. When the police force came, they discovered marijuana in the house.
Tragically, Marie was arrested for possession in front of her children. Marijuana remains illegal in North Carolina, but there is a significant racial bias about who is criminalized for it, co-ordinate to the ACLU. The same number of white people every bit blackness people employ marijuana, but blacks are three.73 times more likely to be arrested.
The Boyfriend Defense
Lamar eventually got angry at the people criticizing Marie for spending her coin bailing him out of jail, and he lashed out. To the Daily Mail, he asserted, "We are a couple, and I am the father of her youngest child. This is what people do for each other."
Lamar went on to say, "She has the money, and she can practise what she wants with it. If I had that coin, then I would do the same for her. People are just jealous because of how much she won, and people want to come across me locked in jail."
The Wolf Pit
During the taping of the Iyanla show, the bad headlines just kept rolling in. Marie'southward family and even former friends started accusing her of really stealing the lottery ticket from her mother, despite Fontella freely albeit on television that she had given the ticket to Marie.
To add to the stress and drama, Lamar went to jail at this time on a vii-year judgement for charges related to possessing and selling heroin. True to form, Marie persisted in pushing forward and moving on with her life, demonstrating her strength and resilience.
A Goal Met
Despite poor taste in partners, Marie did make some good decisions about what to exercise with some of her coin. She concluded upwards giving $9.vii meg to various charities. Office of that money went to the brand-new Marie Holmes Foundation, which was established to provide for children in need.
Marie's foundation provides necessities for underprivileged children. It besides holds community events, which are how some children get their school supplies and their Christmas presents. The foundation helps struggling young mothers like Marie was before she won the lottery.
Exercise Christians Gamble?
Marie was raised a devout Cosmic, and she leans heavily on her Christian faith. Some people criticized her for playing the lottery at all, because it tends to be frowned upon by the church. People have mixed opinions when information technology comes to Christians gambling.
One pastor said this to the Christian Post: "Yous can't be against the lottery, only your youth department is doing a RAFFLE! Same thing, pastor. SAME THING!" The stigma remains about gambling existence an irresponsible coin-waster. Others argue that there is zippo specific said most gambling in the Bible, and so it'south okay when it'south non driveling.
The Root of All Evil
Other religious people, such as i pastor cited in the Christian Post, pointed out that the Bible says that money is where evil originated. He scolded Marie for ownership the lottery ticket and went on to say, "First, nosotros must guard against our beloved of coin."
It should be noted that when the Bible does mention "casting lots," it's not usually talking about material gain, but near God. In an example of this, Proverbs 16:33 states, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every conclusion is from the Lord."
Some Friendly Communication
Nosotros recommend that others read the unfortunate story of Marie Holmes in instance they detect themselves in her shoes. It'southward not at all easy to go from rags to riches, and like versions of her story have happened to others.
Information technology's important to empathise tax laws for the long term, the rules of the lottery and investment options if you ever detect yourself in the position of receiving a large windfall of money. Be sure to hire a skilful professional fiscal adept to help you decide how to manage your coin to avert reckless decisions.
A Cautionary Tale
If you always happen to find yourself in the unlikely position of winning the lottery some things to watch out for include authorities laws, lottery rules, state and federal taxes and your previous unpaid debts. These things can help yous calculate your expendable income.
It may exist unwise in the initial excitement to promise lots of charitable giving, like Marie did, without outset doing the math to see what your take-home amount actually is. Multiple millions of dollars may seem like an enormous amount, but as Marie discovered, information technology's easy to burn through it apace if y'all are uninformed.
Further Drama
Some think that Marie had a run of terrible luck after she won the lottery, while others call back she brought her woes upon herself with poor decision-making. A few think the truth lies somewhere in the middle of those two black-and-white judgments.
Aside from spending millions on her boyfriend — who eventually ended up in federal prison anyway — Marie also made some other questionable decisions after winning the lotto, such as buying her boyfriend a business of his ain and ownership her mother a house. She also had harassment charges filed confronting her for allegedly calling a woman repeatedly to threaten her.
The Bottom Line
The catastrophe of this story is more often than not grim, although Marie Holmes did do some positive things with a lasting bear on earlier the last of her coin was gone. She didn't seem to realize that she would exist under a microscope with the media and the public.
Here are a couple more than tips, just in case you always hit it big: Don't trust anyone asking for money, even if they seem to have a very respectable social status (like the pastor who sued Marie Holmes). Think the good that money can practice, but don't forget the bad. No matter what, don't make bold promises immediately after winning.
Source: https://www.reference.com/business-finance/what-not-to-do-if-you-win-lottery?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740005%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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