Mo. woman describes aftermath of lottery jackpot

Numbers 1. and 2. I might do but those letters might make a nice read for folks interested in those kinds of things.  I would published them in a book "Letters to a lottery jackpot winner".  I could have a best seller, right up there with the Harry Potter books.   I would remove the names to protect the innocents.

Unfortunately they end up dealing with leaches of a different sort. I used to work in Sun Valley, Idaho which is such an area. Lots of Hollywood types, Microsoft millionaires, etc. Bruce Willis lives there full time and ownes several businesses in the area. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a place there, his billionaire neighbor refers to him as the poor foreign guy with the tiny house next door. Most of the businesses that provide services to the rich up there are all run by crooks. They mainly hire illegal immigrants, bill for workers that wern't on site and for extra hours the job didn't take, things like that.

I've always thought if I won a big pile one of my investments would be in my own firm up there. I'd love to run all those guys out of business by charging honest rates and treating workers fairly. I bet you could make a very nice profit at the same time too.

The first time they see your gun should be when they hear the safety clicking to the off position.

And then it's too late - for them.

Great point GiveFive...I would definitely have plane tickets for the same day in my jacket pocket - from the lottery office and the announcement straight to the airport....out of the country for 60-90 days.

From the OP,

" But she's had to weigh those pluses against the minuses, like having to find new friends."

There have been discussion here on LP about would you remain anonymous, if you had the choice, and some said they would "shout it from the roof tops." I wonder what they think after stories like this one.

am sure the most stubborn and or fool hardy would still go public

the smart ones know better

All you have to do is dress up like rdgrnr and wear a yosemite sam backoff shirt. One look and they will just walk away.

yeah laughing

Dadgum straight, I gotta git me one of them shirts.

Or they live in a state where you have no choice but to have a press conference.

All of this is so true. It scares me. I don't want to think of this as a gift and a curse, but it could surely end up that way. That's why no one will know, maybe one person whom has guarded my darkest secret and trust the must...but he's not even family lol. Other than that, its my investment and i won it fair and square!

I already have my press confrence speech written.

It goes like this...

"To all my friends and family that have been supportive of me , I say thank you and there will be a little something extra in your Christmas stocking this year. And to my friends and family that have not been supportive of me in thinner times, I say, na na nah na na !!!"

mum's the word. tell no one... peoiple lose life long friends and money can be a powerful motivator.

I failed to understand why these winners feel the need to talk... keep ur mouth shut & handle your biz accordingly.

Want to share the good news? Send a bunch of checks to your favorit charities and they wuld be Delighted. 

Spread the joy and abundance.

This is a topic that I've thought a lot about.  I cannot say exactly how I would react to the begging. So many folks are out of work, yet so many also think that you owe them something simply because you won the money, and will be mad because they are jealous.   Any services I get from companies, they'll think they should be able to over charge.    First, I would fear for my childrens' safety - we would have to move to a gated housing arrangement,  and put them in schools that have some special security.

"I failed to understand why these winners feel the need to talk..."

Some people feel the need to strut their stuff even when they ain't got any stuff to strut.

And having newly acquired big bucks would only exacerbate that problem.