In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
My buddy/ former co-worker won the lottery
Warbirds
Member Posts: 16,923 ✭✭✭✭
This was about 10 years ago now. He and I worked together and were partnered up as road warriors- we traveled everywhere, all the time together.
He was in his early 50’s and hit the Maryland state lottery one night for I believe-about 2.5 million.
He gave the company 30 days notice, he and I made one last trip to Australia together on business and off he went into an early retirement.
About 6 months later, I go into the local Home Depot, and to my surprise, there he is, wearing the orange apron mixing paint!
I am shocked and of course ask- What are you doing!?!
He tells me:
This is great! I work one day a week, no stress and I get an employee discount!
Comments
For 2.5 million.......I dont need the discount!
IF i ever win big, i will buy land, house, dump truck and excavator. I can stay plenty busy digging my pond and piddling around. If not for the $, I have NO need for a job!
Good for him...🙂
A few years ago we had no lottery here in SC,but there was a lottery in Georgia.A handful of local good ol boys pitched in a few dollars each and got one of the truck drivers to buy them some Georgia lottery tickets and they won enough money they didnt have to work,but most of them did keep working.The one thing I always remembered about that was they all pitched in and paid the mortgage off of the truck driver that brought the winning ticket back from Georgia.
I would guess 20 years or so ago a fellow where I worked won th eohio lottery for millions I do not recall th eamount but it was a bigger pay out one . he was a engineer in another department, but stayed one until they could find a replacement for him . I was in the majority of the workers who thought he was nuts 😲 for hanging around after winning millions if me thaey would have heard the door close would have been it
now did he do the right thing at least he was doing so show his gratitude for the job I understand that but if the company decided he was fired they would never care if a replacement was ready to go . he would have been gone asap
I also worked with a gal her aunt won just under 10 million . the girl I worked with told me her aunt got the family all together then gave all the nieces and nephews and close family like 20k each (it may have been a just a little more ) and her aunt told all of them in a polite way .... don't come knocking that's all you will get from me don't ask for more .
Living on 2.5 Million for 20 years that's 125K. Not living "high" like a low rent rapper (unless one gets killed in a year) but it's doable. It beats working or getting up. The sound of never, ever, ever again hearing an alarm clock going off sounds wonderful.
I would suggest any lottery winners check on medical benefits before quitting their jobs.
I have a similar story. I was in a Home Depot in El Cajon, and ran across a guy that inherited some very valuable property worth over $100,000,000 and I had heard that he sold it.
While we talked I asked why and he said he was bored. I told him why don;t you just buy the store. He said nobody at Home Depot knew what he had money, nobody knew what he was worth.
Just happy as a clam working a few days a week.
Margaret Thatcher
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
Mark Twain
2.5 million sounds good but, I doubt you’ll retire on it. Figure 32% for federal tax, plus what ever your state tax would be, and then there still is that additional 10% tax that Bill Clinton put on anyone that makes over a million dollars.
And with inflation over the last fifty years a million dollars really not that much anymore.
2.5 mil. invested @ 5%=$125,000/year. easy to do with dividen paying stocks
Win $2.5 million, spend $300k just because. Invest $2.2 million at 4% and draw out $15k monthly the money will last 16 3/4 years. Draw out $10k monthly the money will last 33 years.
But at 5%, draw out $15k monthly the money will last just under 19 years and $10k monthly the money would last just under 50 years.
Amazing how much 1% difference rate of return amounts up to over time.
If you win 2.5 million
Federal gets 37%. If I use my state of Illinois they get 4.95%
Total $1,048,750 in tax. You would clear. $1,451,350
At 5% interest $72,562 annually. After capital gains at 15% you would clear $61,678. Ya you could do it.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
My slightly younger brother's best friend's sister hit the mega ball for 80 million a couple 3 years or so ago. I know very little of the details but have noticed the "friend" doesn't mention going to work anymore. Sadly, he is considered the black sheep of his family.