$9.5M lottery win difficult for Canadian chef

hope hes still on good terms with the rest of his family

sorry, but hard to feel sorry for this overweight canadian buffoon. inasmuch as he had to disclose, he didn't have to buy a candy apple red dodge ram and tool around town in it. he should have moved to manitoba since all his relatives and townsfolk despise him, why stay there. he could have shaved off that hideous white beard and kept a lower profile anywhere else but there. i know you're all going to say he shouldn't have to move unless he wanted to, but it would have alleviated 90% of his issues if he did. he was eccentric before he hit and didn't change much apparently. health issues nonetheless it sounds as if the worst is over for him (as far as being harrassed). hard to believe that his brother's house was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that he wanted him to pay off. come on now. gee, deleting a facebook account must be the end of the world for some people, but he doesn't appear to be the type who had one to begin with. the guy invested half his winnings at least so feeling sorry for him seems foolish.

I'll give him credit for the Make a Wish donation, but he's really dumb for doing another interview. The smart thing to do is keep the wealth low key.

I think the claim anonymously position oversimplifies the issue of wealth possession.  Claiming prize anonymously will not help one avoid attention if the person lives in a small town or city and chooses to remain there (WHY?!), immediately displays evidence of newfound wealth in blue-collar neighborhood, quits a job without previous talk of transition to something else.  I think best advice lottery winners can be given is as follows:

1.  Get personal and business affairs in order before claiming prize (includes legal and financial consultations).

2. Claim prize in timely manner.

3. Get house sale ready and put on market as soon as possible (renters just need to move out and break lease).

4.  Get a P.O. Box for all mail (biggest one or ones Post Office has to offer).

5.  Put all belongings in storage.

6.  Go on a 1 to 3 month vacation. Visits to family in other areas should be limited to a day or two (see how quickly requests for money will come your way and gauge if this is different from past experience. If visit only 1 or 2 days, kinfolk won't think you "left" just because they hit you up for money and fact cash may not have hit your bank accounts yet gives you honest reinsert of "no I don't have that kind of money on me and you would be better off getting a loan from your bank for that amount of money.").

7. Spend part of 1 to 3 month vacation scoping out places you want to live.  This should be a part of your initial conversations with your legal and financial team.

8.  Move to an income appropriate area (I.e. if you want to drive a Bentley, don't try to live in a trailer park, the hood, or even in cookie cutter suburbia!). 

9. Move away from California.

10.  Don't move to California.

11. Do visit California.

12. Avoid living in any place Obama has lived (I.e. Chicago, Hawaii, D.C., Indonesia, and Kenya) for various reasons.

13.  Don't buy a Lear jet if you only won sub 9 figure after tax jackpot (they are expensive). Using Net Jets or flying first class is more practical.

14.  Scrutinize the charities to whom you donate.

15. Become like Donald Trump, Bill Gates, P Diddy and don't be afraid or feel bad about making tough decisions such as who you allow around you. Learn from the mistakes of broke lottery winners, athletes and celebrities who allowed people they knew and trusted to bleed them dry. Remember, the only real vampires exist in your life only if you let them. Just be like a toddler and relearn how to say NO and mean it!

lol ok ... here i am reading your post... and i am with you through #6... #7 even makes sense but it might take longer than 1 to 3 months to make a 'perm' move choice for those who are picky...

then i get to 9,10 & 11 and i started laughing...  ok i will take your word and wipe california off my list (darn! and it was #47 too!!!)

#12... now you lost me.  i LOVE chicago (granted only visited the 'windy' city - long enough for locals to correct my meaning of WHY its called the 'windy' city... although either reason seem valid to me)  and hawaii is another place that i truly love (ok i have only vaca'd there... but it is the #1 vaca spot for me with DREAMS of posting on Lottery Post from my beach front villa/condo/shack)

but 13-15 - again you have me on track with you.  a lear jet (50M$+???)... um no... how about a nice diamond?  or cessna 182? (not a fan of cirrus's... too much active pull for me) ... that would slow travel down, but its more fun (LOTS) and the costs are pennys on the dollar compared to owning a jet... and i would rather own my own NEW plane rather than the VERY old one now :(

but you got a great list there OSPa!

"12. Avoid living in any place Obama has lived (I.e. Chicago, Hawaii, D.C., Indonesia, and Kenya) for various reasons."

I'd like to hear those reasons.  Specifically, I'd be interested in finding out whether they are legitimate reasons or just more Obama-hating bullsh!t that doesn't belong on a lottery forum.

Good advice. My wife and I were talking about this earlier, and one thing I think I'd do is actually wait around 6 months before quitting my job, after the excitement of a big win in my area had died down. That way, it's less likely someone will think it's me as opposed to if I quit my job right away.

As for purchases, my car is 3 years old and runs great, so I won't be getting another one, but my wife would like a new car, but she's looking more at Toyota or Suzuki, not Mercedes.

Well, since overly sensitive, "mainstream" mediabrat asked, here are all the reasons I would not want to LIVE in the places I listed that also coincide with places Obama has lived:

Chicago - too dang cold, too much snow, too much corruption (and Obama has nothing to do with 2 of the 3)!

Hawaii - great place to visit but not sure I would want to live there! Traveling anywhere else would always be a long plane ride.

D.C. - most everyone who lives in D.C. have no choice but to live there. If people were polled and asked to rank their top 10 places to live out of Myrtle Beach, D.C., Miami, Seattle, San Diego, Tampa, Houston, Denver, Atlanta, Tucson, and Nashville, I suspect D.C. would rank near the bottom and likely outside the top 10.

Indonesia - too much radical Muslim presence. Why they even ruined Bali which rivals any tropical ideal of paradise.  They are also the main reason people avoid other places as well.  I am not hating on Islam...just pointing out problem with radical Islamists.  I would do the same if the perpetrators of terror were radical fundamental Christians, Buddhists, Jehoviah Witnesses, Catholics, Hindus, or Wiccans.

Kenya - ok I am not a "birther" and I actually like Kenya (I have actually visited Kenya on more occasions and for longer durations than I have the country of my father's birth, Jamaica, so that is me backing up my words with substance). But the fact I do disagree with current administration policies and tone of leadership would make conversations with most Kenyans awkward because they ADORE Obama. So that would be a reason I would just choose to visit Kenya vice live there...at least until Obama becomes "former president Obama".

So are any of those reasons BS to you media brat? And I think any lottery winner who lives in less desirable cities would want to consider where and where not to live. The fact I threw Obama in the same sentence was mainly coincidental...I don't live my life for Obama, even though he does seem to think the men and women of the Armed Forces serve HIM, and that Air Force One is HIS private jet. Newsflash! The men and women of the US Armed Forces serve their God, their country, and their family, and it is a privilege for the Commander In Chief to know that his orders puts their lives into harms way on behalf of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!  Oh, and Air Force One is actually owned by the taxpayers of the USA, because last I checked, Obama wouldn't be able to afford 3 hours of flying time if it was he who was paying the tab.  Those are the facts and not BS.

Also, don't hate on me because I didn't list any place in NY as being a top 10 destination to live.  Only New Yorkers think NY is a great place to live.  I appreciate visiting NY and flying through NY...but to live in NY, I don't think so.

Ivan, it's good to hear that things are going much better for you and your partner nowadays.  It is good to have cars, houses, and people that you're enjoying and helping.  This should probably be your last interview now. 

Congratulations on your recent weight loss, your success is encouraging!  Once you've released your final 120 lbs., or so, of extra weight, you could treat yourself and your partner to a luxurious feeling spa weekend.  You could follow with a facial hair trim and haircut from the 'hippest barber' in your chosen town, and end with a clothes shopping spree for you and your partner. 

Ivan, as you begin traveling again, you and your partner will be thrilled to begin always flying either business or first class (which ever your chosen airline offers)!

I pretty much agree with you, OSP, except for DC.

I like DC a lot just cuzza the history.

And the burgers at the Capitol Brewery.

And not that I'd want to live there long-term cuz I don't like any city that much that I can deal with large concentrations of Homo sapiens (they grate on my nerves).

I much prefer (and indeed require) the solitude and serenity of my peaceful hidden holler in the mountains. But I would love to spend an entire Spring or Fall in DC, exploring and taking in all the history (while staying in a Penthouse Suite, of course).

And whatshisname'll be gone after 1/20/13 anyway.

Wow.  Such anger, and all because I called you out for inserting politics into a discussion where it wasn't needed and it doesn't belong.

You claim "I don't live my life for Obama", but your posts prove otherwise.  Why else would you have phrased it "Avoid living in any place Obama has lived" rather than saying "avoid living in places that are expensive and/or have cold weather" and "avoid living overseas in areas that may be unfriendly to Americans"?  It would have been simple to offer your advice without reaffirming your membership in the Obama-haters club, but apparently that was too much for you.  What a shame.

For the record, I wouldn't want to live in any of those places either, but not a bit of it is at all related to the President of the United States.

No offense taken.

I wouldn't want to live in NYC or Long Island... too crowded and too expensive.  I wouldn't want to go too much to the west of here; before long you start running into lake effect snows, and I already don't like the amount of snow we get in the eastern part of the state.  (This mild, almost snowless winter was quite nice.)  I'd have to think about north; the farther north you go, the lower the temperatures drop and it seems like there's more snow up there.  I'm happy living where I am... most of the time.