中了彩票又如何？

假如你現在有了五百萬美金，讓你在有生之年溫飽有餘而不必再為衣食奔波，你會用你的餘生做什麽？這是剛上班時一門職業培訓課的老師給我們這些年輕人提出的問題。記得問題激起了在座者極大的興趣，課堂氣氛極為熱烈，其中印象最深的是一位先生很認真的回答：“做個職業學生”。

那假如把“假如”變為現實，又如何呢？讀到了下麵這則新聞（節選。作者：E.Goodstein）：

 

8 Lottery Winners Who Lost Their Millions

For a lot of people, winning the lottery is the American dream. But for many lottery winners, the reality is more like a nightmare.

"Winning the lottery isn't always what it's cracked up to be,"says E.A., who won the New Jersey lottery not just once, but twice (1985, 1986), to the tune of $5.4 million.Today the money is all gone and E.A. lives in a trailer.

"I won the American dream but I lost it, too. It was a very hard fall. It's called rock bottom," says E.A..

"There are a lot of people out there like me who don't know how to deal with money," laments E.A. "Hey, some people went broke in six months. At least I held on for a few years."

Living on food stamps

W.P. won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988 but now lives on his Social Security.

"I wish it never happened. It was totally a nightmare," says W.P.  

A former girlfriend successfully sued him for a share of his winnings. It wasn't his only lawsuit. A brother was arrested for hiring a hit man to kill him, hoping to inherit a share of the winnings. Other siblings pestered him until he agreed to invest in a car business and a restaurant in Sarasota, Fla.,-- two ventures that brought no money back and further strained his relationship with his siblings.

W.P.  even spent time in jail for firing a gun over the head of a bill collector. Within a year, he was $1 million in debt.

W.P. admitted he was both careless and foolish, trying to please his family. He eventually declared bankruptcy.

Now he lives quietly on $450 a month and food stamps.

"I'm tired, I'm over 65 years old, and I just had a serious operation for a heart aneurysm. Lotteries don't mean (anything) to me," says W.P.

Deeper in debt

S.M. won $4.2 million in the Virginia lottery in 1993. Now she's deeply in debt to a company that lent her money using the winnings as collateral.

She borrowed $197,746.15, which she agreed to pay back with her yearly checks from the Virginia lottery through 2006. When the rules changed allowing her to collect her winnings in a lump sum, she cashed in the remaining amount. But she stopped making payments on the loan.

She blamed the debt on the lengthy illness of her uninsured son-in-law, who needed $1 million for medical bills.

Back to the basics

K.P. was a machinist when he won $1 million in the Michigan lottery. He moved to California and went into the car business with his brothers. Within five years, he had filed for bankruptcy.

"It was a hell of a good ride for three or four years, but now he lives more simply. There's no more talk of owning a helicopter or riding in limos.We're just everyday folk. Dad's now back to work as a machinist," says his son.

W.H. of Lansing, Mich., won $3.1 million in 1989. Two years later he was broke and charged with murder. His lawyer says W.H. spent his fortune on a divorce and crack cocaine.

C.R. of Belleville, Mich., won $1 million in 1975. Afterward, he got divorced, faced several lawsuits and was indicted for selling cocaine.

Missourian J.L. won $18 million in 1993. J.L. was generous to a variety of causes, giving to politics, education and the community. But according to published reports, eight years after winning, J.L. had filed for bankruptcy with only $700 left in two bank accounts and no cash on hand.

One Southeastern family won $4.2 million in the early '90s. They bought a huge house and succumbed to repeated family requests for help in paying off debts.

The house, cars and relatives ate the whole pot. Eleven years later, the couple is divorcing, the house is sold and they have to split what is left of the lottery proceeds. The wife got a very small house. The husband has moved in with the kids. Even the life insurance they bought ended up getting cashed in.

"It was not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow," says their financial advisor.

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看完了別人的笑話，回頭想想自己，我的結論是：不要夢想與自己的智慧不相稱的福分。