California Lottery: California lottery millionaire tries not to change
71-year-old still calls himself 'a thrifter at heart'
Money has a way of changing people, but not all people.
Charles "Chuck" Bush has plenty of money, but he's fine with the way things are.
Well, almost.
Bush won a $44 million California Lottery jackpot in July. The 71-year-old longtime Lindsay resident opted to take the cash option of his payout and received about $26 million before taxes.
But two months after Bush became an instant millionaire, the only things that have changed are his address, the car he drives and the number of telephone solicitors who call him.
"The biggest hassle, if you want to call it that, are the financial institutions," Bush said. "They want me to invest money in their companies."
Bush said he has received calls from financial planners such as Merrill Lynch and AG Edwards. But Bush said he's not interested because he has already got someone he trusts to manage his money.
"I was really fortunate that I got somebody that handled it for me," he said. "My luck was still holding."
Luck was definitely with Bush in July when he, his son and three great-grandchildren stopped at a gas station in the Riverside County community of Coachella. The group was returning from a trip to New Mexico, and Bush decided to buy $5 worth of lottery Quick Picks.
Days later, that $5 investment afforded Bush the opportunity to make more cross-country trips.
"We did have a trip with my son and daughter-in-law," Bush said. "We went back to Texas and Arkansas."
Soon, Bush won't need to worry about telephone solicitors bothering him when he's home. Bush, who has lived in Lindsay since 1970, said he has sold his house and is temporarily moving in with a friend. He said the move was something he had already considered before he won the lottery.
Next month, he'll take an extended trip and will start by exploring California. He'll do so in a new dark gray Ford Expedition that he recently bought.
"It's basically the first and last thing I've bought with the money," he said.
Winning the lottery may change many people's spending habits, but not Bush's. A former sawmill worker, Bush said he hasn't been wasteful with his money.
Shortly after Bush won, he said he still considered himself "a thrifter at heart" and preferred to run a swamp cooler in his home instead of an air conditioner. He did admit Wednesday he ran his air conditioner a few times this summer.
Bush said he bought the Expedition so his family could accompany him on next month's trip. The sport utility vehicle, he said, in-cludes all the available options.
"We decided we'd go in luxury," Bush said.
Bush has two sons, 12 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. The family patriarch said he wants to use some of his winnings to pay for his grandchildren's college educations. One grandchild, he said, entered the University of California, Davis, this fall.
"There's a lot of things I couldn't do before that I can do now," Bush said. "I just haven't found them yet."