Sandra Hayes won millions in a Powerball jackpot, and now she is warning others to be careful what they wish for. She says she was both blessed and cursed with the big win.
"I make it a point to go to Hawaii every year," she says.
Traveling is a passion Sandra Hayes could not afford when she was a single mother, studying for her second master's degree.
"Three student loans to repay, I'm like man there is no way I can do it," she said.
That all changed in April of 2006, when Hayes and a dozen of her co-workers hit a record setting $225 million Powerball jackpot. It was the first time she'd ever played the office lottery pool.
"I felt like I was dreaming, that's how I felt," said Hayes. "I'm dreaming I'm going to wake up any minute now."
Her share of the winnings after taxes was roughly $8 million. It was a reality check that came with a hidden price.
"I had people calling me at work begging for money and people sending faxes with letters and sob stories and I'm like, 'I do not know these people,'" said Hayes. "I was under so much stress, I thought I was going to explode."
Even worse, people Hayes did know wanted a piece of the pie, including a close friend who fabricated a financial crisis.
"People trying to use me as if I'm a personal bank or ATM machine. That was what I had to cut out of my life," she says. "You have to learn to say no."
At times, Hayes has had to say no to herself, to avoid squandering her life savings like so many lottery winners do.
Money management expert Fred Hiatt says, "People are envious. People are greedy and we're all human."
Hiatt knows getting rich quick can be a blessing and a curse.
"Hire professionals and, if you don't, you're going to end up as a statistic that already indicates that the majority of these winners end up broke or dead or live a miserable life of some sort," said Hiatt.
"Even though I have money, I'm still conservative. I still budget," says Hayes.
She says she has to budget, in order to pay her quarterly taxes!
"That's my duty as an American, to pay taxes. That's not the problem. The problem is the amount! I'm not used to writing such big checks to the government!" Hayes explains.
She doesn't like writing big checks, period.
"I love Hawaii. My God, I'd love to move to Hawaii, but it's too expensive," she says.
For now, her Missouri home is bought and paid for. Her debt, and her childrens' debt are paid off. And she does make it to Hawaii at least once a year, while treating her entire family to trips of their own.
"That's a blessing that makes me feel good because when I'm long gone they will remember that," she says.
Hayes, no doubt, considers her windfall a blessing, but she didn't expect her fortune to come with a hidden cost.
"The money is not evil. It's the people that are evil," Hayes says. "This journey, it teaches you a lot of things. You see people for who they are and it's like this no matter what you do for some people, some people — I'll put it that way — it's not enough. It's not enough."
Hayes wrote a book about hitting the jackpot, the good, bad and ugly. She's working on a second book, and hopes one day to retire in Hawaii. And get this: she won the lottery two months before she finished graduate school. She not only completed those classes, she also continued working — at least until she got her check.
Thanks to rdgrnr for the tip.
Earned my first MBA in NO (To address family members and close friends who come back for seconds)
Earned my second MBA in HELL NO (To address fair weather friends and complete strangers)
do you have a picture of her? i think i know who this is if this is the same girl.
hey we posted at the same time,
It's a rat race - lol
Here's to both of us earning some big cheese in this new year!
So she is complaining about having to write big checks to pay taxes on the free $8 million that she has in her pocket. Really?
Hawaii is not that expensive. I am sure she can find a place for $500,000 to $1,000,000. She is by herself, she does not need to live in Buckinham Palace or anything like that.
Here is an idea, take some of the money, buy a McDonald's or something else, have her kids who live off her run it and pay them from that and live off the profits as well as her interest income from other investments.
Even a borderline idiot should be able to make at leat 3% off of $8million, way more than enough to live a fantastic life if you don't have any debt, even if you did.
I am confused by her statement. Is there any job that pays you a lot of money that you don't pay taxes? If so, I want in.
Better than government cheese, no?
you should know
I got friends in low places,
Where the Whiskey drowns,
And the Beer chases my blues away,
But I'll be okay,
Now I'm not big on social graces,
Think I'll slip on down to the oasis,
Oh I got friends,
In low places.
-Garth
Another winner hounded by the Greed Of Envy!
Congrats! Sandra Hayes on spending all your money now trying to sell your books
At least she is not trying to "hawk" them off on LP by starting bogus threads filled with bad predictions
I won't name names - lol!
my numbers are good guarantee to hit within a year
win BIG!
#realtalk
$8 million does not go that far for a young mother. It's an investment in a sound, secure retirement, college for the kids, a new vehicle every few years, etc. It is not a save the world fund. My guess is people think (without really thinking) that she won $225 million when reality is $8 million.
It's nothing to sneeze at, but still....
Venom, I think you are a bit harsh on Sandra. She did not say she did not want to pay taxes, just that the amount she has to pay is overwhelming. I'm pretty sure the checks she writes to the government are much larger than the salary the government was paying her as a social worker. That is overwhelming, even after 6 years of writing those checks. It sounds to me like she's done a lot of things right, including saying "no" when warrented. Her biggest issue seems to be the beggers rather than family. As dpoly says "hounded by the greed of envy".
Maybe we all will be lucky enough to suffer problems like Sandra's.
When I win the Powerball and Mega Million Jackpot I will be able to handle my new wealth. I will screen people well and give to those who need it. I will use a Foundation as my means of distribution for this and you just have to have the ability to say NO! And never change who you are!!!! Simple.
The story says she "won $8 after taxes" so if she is writing huge quarterly checks to the IRS, it must be on interest or dividends. Or maybe it's income from the lottery advice book she wrote.
It's not that difficult to change her phone number and have it unlisted. I agree with you about her wanting to live in Hawaii too. Bet she is hawking her book.
I have no problem saying NO!!!!
I see nothing wrong with her writing a book about her win and what happened
to her, the aftermath, she's being productive and keeping herself out of trouble.
GO SANDRA!!!
Yes helpmewin, I found a picture of Sandra Hayes. Here's the lucky lady with 2 masters degrees:
"I had people calling me at work begging for money and people sending faxes with letters and sob stories and I'm like, 'I do not know these people,'" said Hayes. "I was under so much stress, I thought I was going to explode."
I'm not doubting that part of the story, but by granting the interview and saying "That's my duty as an American, to pay taxes. That's not the problem. The problem is the amount!", her problems with people begging for money will continue. Basically she is saying she still has lots of money, so much in fact she has to write a huge check quarterly to to the IRS for the taxes on her investment income.
The story also says Sandra shared the jackpot with 12 of her co-workers, but makes it sound like she was the only one singled out at her work place with all the calls and faxes asking for money. The obvious reason to me for drawing even more attention to her lottery win six years after is because she is hawking her book.
She was part of a pool so we can rule out her books being "Strategies to win a lottery jackpot" and rule out "How to become anonymous after a jackpot win". I'm not knocking her, but just pointing out that it's odd for someone to say "I was under so much stress, I thought I was going to explode" and then create even more reasons for more attention and have more stress because of it.
Personally, I believe Sandra Hayes is very intelligent and will be a lottery success story.
Nothing wrong with writing a book on the ups and downs of winning the lottery. Maybe it will incline more people to claim and/or more states to allow anonymity, as almost all the negative consequences of winning seem to have to do with other people knowing about it.
As a Texas lottery winner said on one of those shows,
"Money doesn't change you. It changes the people around you."
My thought/plan/suggestion is to not tell anyone we know, including our (young) kids. Then invest some of the money (or just some initial interest off the principal) into some sort of business you would enjoy, to provide a "cover story" for your increased wealth. Even if you can just break-even on the actual business, other people don't need to know the details, and you act like it's going very well whether it is or not. Plus, having business interests keeps your mind focused and engaged, which keeps you healthier into old age so you can enjoy your wealth. Of course, this takes much more effort, and you would have to slowly increase your spending versus a blow-out spending spree. But that's to your benefit anyway.
If you can't keep it quiet, which is more difficult the larger it is, here's my thought on giving. Clearly, have a plan/fund for annual charitable giving, choosing areas that are important to you. But have this rule: Anyone who asks is automatically disqualified. No debate, no discussion. (Other than generic funding raising/requests that are to everyone and not specifically directed at your wealth.)
This sounds pretty much like the same story as before about her... She should just set up a display that repeatedly says "buy my book" with a copy of it being held by the display's moving arm.
"Money doesn't change you. It changes the people around you."
That may be true, but money can help people realize their potential, and a lot of people have the potential to be world class idiots. It's easier to be successful when you have plenty of money to start with, but it's also easier to be a loser.
Completely agree!
If you were irresponsible before, lots of money helps you be excessively irresponsible.
If you were an ass restrained by budget, you then have the potential to be a real A$$.
Her book was an overpriced pamphlet and had bad reviews. If she even made a thousand dollars from it (it is self published), I'd be very surprised. The comments on her book are interesting since buyers wanted real details and an actual book on what it was really like.
The original author and source article provide more information...
http://www.americanownews.com/story/20015425/woman-blessed-and-cursed-after-powerball-jackpot