Perhaps you've had the conversation before: What, exactly, would you do if you won the lottery?

Would you keep working, and invest the money responsibly? Would you quit your job and travel the world? Would you share any of it with your friends and family? Or would you spend it all in two years time, throwing expensive parties and buying huge homes and designer handbags, living as large as you possibly could until the money was gone?


Everyone has their own approach (some more reasonable than others), but the truth is that it's hard to say what you would do with that kind of money until you have the check in your hands. These people have all been through it, and what happened next was varied. Check out their amazing (and cringeworthy) stories below!

#1. The Temporary Big Spender
Sharon Tirabassi won over 10 million dollars in 2004. She spent the following years buying fancy cars, a big house, designer cloths, and throwing outrageous parties. Now, eleven years later, she is back to working part-time and riding the bus. It's a sad ending, but hey: at least part of those ten years were probably pretty great.



#2. The Giver
Andrew Whittaker was already worth 17 million dollars when he won $315 million in 2002. Instead of continuing to stack his cash, he donated a large portion of it to charity and started his own foundation. The best part? He gave a $125,000 home, a new car, and $50,000 cash to the woman who sold him the ticket. Talk about paying it forward.



#3. The Star-Crossed Lovers
Lara and Roger Griffiths were happily married before they won the $2.76 million in the lottery. Six years later, Lara accused Roger of cheating on her, and a house fire gutted their home. The couple lost everything, including their marriage.



#4. The Sad Story
Billie Bob Harrell was a preacher and a Home Depot stocky when he won $31 million in 1997. He ended up mismanaging his money, which caused his family to fall apart. Sadly, Harrell eventually committed suicide.


#5. The Scandalizer
Ini Roncaili won $5 million in 1991. She secretly gave $2 million of that money to a child that she had with another man. When her husband found out, he poisoned her with painkillers. Luckily, he was later found guilty of manslaughter (but still had the nerve to ask Roncaili's family to pay for the funeral).


#6. The Wanted
Barry Shell won 3.8 million dollars in 2009 He took a photo of himself claiming his prize, which was published in the local newspaper. There was only one problem: There was a warrant out for his arrest. The police used the photo to identify and arrest him. Luckily, Shell had already handed off his winnings to a relative.



#7. The Two-Timer
Evelyn Adams didn't win the lottery once, but twice. Totaling her winnings at $5.4 million, Adams then did the only sensible thing and gambled it all away in Atlantic City. Today, she lives in a pleasant trailer park in New Jersey.


#8. The Sex Offender
In some kind of cruel twist of luck and fate, a sex offender named Freddy Topous Jr. won $57 million in 2008. He has to remain a registered sex offender until 2024, but with that kind of money, Topous probably isn't feeling any repercussions.


#9. The Fairweather Luckster
Juan Rodriguez spent one of his last dollars on a lottery ticket, and ended up winning the $149 million dollar jackpot. It seems like a lucky break, but soon after, his wife divorced him and demanded half of his winnings. She won.



#10. The Scammer
Amanda Clayton won $1 million in the Michigan lotto, but kept trying to receive food stamps. Claiming that her expenses outweighed her winnings, she believed she was still entitled to welfare. The Department of Human Services dropped her from the program shortly thereafter.

#11. The Shakespearean Tragedy
Abraham Shakespeare won $31 million in 2006, but a fellow trucker accused him of stealing his ticket. Shakespeare won, but the drama wasn't over: He was reported missing, and eventually, police found his remains. We have our guesses about who may be responsible.



#12. The Spendthirft
William Post III won $16 million, but quickly blew through all of his money. Two weeks after he received his annual payment of $500,000, he bought a restaurant and an airplane. Three months later, he was $500,00 in debt. Eventually, he filed for bankruptcy, and was jailed for firing a gun at a bill collector.



#13. The Losers
The Totts won a 5 million dollar jackpot. Unfortunately, when it came time claim their money, they lost their ticket. They were unable to collect.



#14. The Karmic Failure
Tonda Lynn Dickerson was a former Waffle House employee who promised her coworkers she would share the lotto money if she won. She didn't, but karma came back around: After investing her money in a corporation, she was taxed for over $1,000,000.



#15. The Drinker
Gerald Muskegon won $10 million dollars in Canada. He spent all the money in seven years, mostly on partying and drinking. Eventually, Muswagon committed suicide.


#16. The Indebted
Suzanne Mullins won the lotto, but opted to take the yearly payouts instead of the lump sum. She went into debt, and then decided to take the rest as a lump sum. Still, she never paid back the debt she owed.



#17. The Liar
Americo Lopes promised his coworkers he'd split his lottery winnings, but when he actually won he quit his job and blamed a fictional foot surgery. Eventually, his ex-coworkers found out, and the court orded him to split the prize.



#18. The Garbageman
Michael Carroll won$15 million in 2002, but spent it quickly on cocaine, prostitutes, and cars. In five years, he was back to being a garbageman - well, trying to be a garbageman. He has yet to get his old job back.


#19. The Worst Two Years
Willie Hurt won $3.1 million, but he also got divorced, lost custody of his children, was charged with attempted murder, and developed a drug addiction. It's the kind of story that has us wondering: What does it even mean to be a winner?



#20. The Disappearing Wife
Denise Rossie won $1.3 million and left her husband, disappearing without a trace. He divorced her, but eventually found out the truth. He sued Denise, and the judge ordered that she pay him everything she owed in alimony.

#21. The Risky Philanthropist
Janite Lee won $18 million, but donated it all to charity. Unfortunately, she should have kept some of the money for herself: Her credit card debt and gambling problem left her bankrupt.



#22. The McMillionare
Luke Pittard won almost $2 million in 2006. He spent his winnings on travel, a wedding, and a nice home. Now, he works at McDonald's and lets the rest of his winnings collect interest.



#23. The Unprepared
Alex and Rhoda Toth won $13 million, but inexplicably lost it all within 15 years. They were also accused of tax evasion. Alex died, and Rhoda served two years in prison.



#24. The Fashionista
Vivian Nicholson spent all the money she won in 1961 on high fashion for her closet. Now, she is unemployed, a destitute Jehovah's Witness that has been married five times. Life comes at you fast.




#25. The Teenager
When Callie Rogers won $3 million in the UK, she was only 16 years old. Her youth led her astray: She blew all the money, had two kids, and now works as a cleaning lady. She also filed for bankruptcy.

#26. The Other Sex Offender
Alex Ahsoak spent his $500,000 winnings by donating it to his own non-profit that helped victims of sexual abuse. The only problem? Ahsoak was a sex offender. No one knew about his past until he won the lottery.


#27. The Immigrant
Jose Antonia Cua-Toc won $750,000, but gave it to his boss because he was afraid of being deported. His boss stole the money (but Cua-Toc eventually won it back at court).




#28. The Ill-Fated Young Millionaire
Stuart Donnelly won a lot of money in the lottery, but soon became a recluse after the pressure of having money got to him. He was found dead in his home in 2010.




#29. The Showboat
John McGuinnes won $10 million while he was living on his parent's floor. He spent the money on family members, bought cars, and traveled. He basically did all the best things that a lottery winner can do, and he did so without going broke.




#30. The Broke Baker
A baker who died due to financial worries

Keith Gough won the lottery in 2005, but spent it all on alcohol and gambling. The former baker then lost his wife, suffered from poor health, and then eventually became an alcoholic. Gough said it best: "My life was brilliant. But the lottery has ruined everything. What’s the point of having money when it sends you to bed crying?”

#31. The Welfare Case
UK resident Peter Kyle won the lottery in 2005, but tried to collect welfare shortly thereafter. He also ended up in debt, and the last time the media caught up with him, he was living in a rented guesthouse.



So, now that you've read the stories: What would you do if you won the lottery?

http://www.lifebuzz.com/lottery-fails/7/?li_source=pm&li_medium=trending-mobile&li_campaign=related_test

just in case

Hmm.... Lottery money blood money if that's the case

Chai! Reminds me of those guys from fast 5 gambling in Monaco

Whatever happened to that guy that won $1million etisalat money that year?


If na me win lottery,i go just jejely return to naija,lets say i win $5m i go press my 4 siblings $500k,popsi and mumsi $500k as well.

For clarification; if you win a lottery in the US, the federal and state government will take their cut usually around 30-50% of the money depending on your state. For example Federal tax is 39.6% on any income above $1m and if you live in California that is another 10% on top. At the end of the day, you are left with 50% of the winning.

Honestly, I don't know what I'll do if I win the lottery.

TopKol:
For clarification; if you win a lottery in the US, the federal and state government will take their cut usually around 30-50% of the money depending on your state. For example Federal tax is 39.6% on any income above $1m and if you live in California that is another 10% on top. At the end of the day, you are left with 50% of the winning.

All the same the rest is free money

Atk01:
Honestly, I don't know what I'll do if I win the lottery.

Start planning now! You never can tell.

Educative post, it is clear that it is not the amount of money that you have that makes you rich.

Nice
The Giver Was Kind Of Better Than The Rest.
Money Seem To Have A Bad Spirit

9JABET,BABAIJEBU,,2SURE una don dey hear,,free money is bad for Ur health,it will surely eat u up like cancer