CAMDEN POINT, Missouri — Three months after winning half of the biggest Powerball lottery jackpot in U.S. history, Mark Hill still meets friends for morning coffee at a local convenience store.
And that Camaro sports car Hill considered buying with his winnings? He got a pick-up truck instead.
While some lottery winners fritter away their fortunes or meet tragic ends, not much has outwardly changed for Mark and Cindy Hill since they won half of a $587 million Powerball jackpot in November. They netted $136.5 million in a lump-sum payment after taxes.
"They are very conservative people," said Walt Stubbs, a friend and former high school classmate of the Hills. "They are doing some really nice things for the community and they've taken care of their family."
The Hills are giving money to civic projects in Mark Hill's hometown of Camden Point, Missouri, and still live in nearby Dearborn, Missouri, as they did before winning the jackpot.
The Hills will pay for a new Camden Point fire station and ball field and gave the town more than $50,000 to buy land for a new sewage treatment plant that will eventually allow residents to give up individual septic tanks, Mayor Kevin Boydston said.
"I've said all along that these lottery winnings could not have gone to a better couple," Boydston said. "They are giving back to the community, just like they said they would."
Camden Point has fewer than 500 residents and is wedged into hills in a rural area about 30 miles north of Kansas City. Its downtown has a series of mostly empty brick buildings.
Stubbs, chief of the area's volunteer fire department, said the new station is planned to connect directly to main roads, a major improvement on the current fire hall, which does not have quick access to highways.
"It's a situation where if we had to do it ourselves, it would take 25 years," Stubbs said.
The winning couple graduated from North Platte High School in Dearborn and have donated to a scholarship fund at that school.
The Hills, in their early 50s, told reporters at a news conference after winning the lottery they would stay in the area and give a lot of the money away. Mark Hill quit his job as a mechanic. Cindy Hill was out of work at the time.
"I'm real proud of them," said Shirley Hill, Mark Hill's mother. "They have stayed grounded. That's their nature."
Winning can be a burden
History is replete with lottery winners whose lives have gone sour after becoming rich.
The National Endowment for Financial Education cites research estimating that 70 percent of people who suddenly receive a large sum of money will lose it within a few years.
In 2002, Jack Whittaker — already a millionaire — won $315 million in a lottery in West Virginia. Just four years later he claimed to be broke. Whittaker gave away millions of dollars, but people also stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from him and he lost a granddaughter to a drug overdose.
Last year, Urooj Khan died just two months after winning $1 million in the Illinois lottery, from what initially appeared to be natural causes. Toxicology tests run at a relative's request found cyanide poisoning. Police are now investigating his death as a homicide.
Maintaining a stable life such as the Hills are attempting is difficult, said Don McNay, author of "Life Lessons from the Lottery" who has studied winners of big money for 30 years.
"They are beyond exception," McNay said.
Most ordinary people who come into large sums of money become victims of their own lack of financial savvy or discipline, McNay said. People also come under great pressure from friends, relatives and a host of others wanting money.
Missouri Lottery spokeswoman Susan Goedde said the vast majority of lottery winners from the state were "doing great" and if they were good money managers before, they would be after.
"Circumstances may change, they may not work anymore and they have the freedom to travel," Goedde said. "But if they clipped coupons before winning the lottery, they will do it after winning."
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Thanks to rdgrnr for the tip.
Such a lovely couple, may GOD protect them & watch over them.
I'm glad that the massive half-split Powerball jackpot winners, the Hills, are doing well 1.5 months after receival into their checking account of all lottery monies. They have certainly been dispersing very large millions of dollars during this time.
Possibly, the Hills are now at the point of being done with those local charity works spendings, and now have less demanding focuses of a: clothes shopping spree with family and friends, quarterly time share luxury housing in San Diego, bigger local home construction, upgraded home furnishings, and larger family vehicle to dispense monies towards the rest of this year. Come next year, they'll probably, happily, be able to create the conservative consistent monthly/annual budget (and maintain that with a 3% increase each year over the next 50 years) that they'll soon be craving!
I seek to become financially independent, like them, this year.
This is the first time I've seen an estimate of how many suddenly wealthy people go broke. Seventy percent sounds high to me. That's kinda shocking.
I would'nt need the fancy stuff. Never having to work for someone else is my favoriate perk. The only thing i would give my town is a
.
there have been some that have frittered it away and these people are overly conservative at the other spectrum. 50k for land for a sewage treatment plant? why not spring for the sewage treatment plant itself if they are so eager to help the community. the ball field will cost peanuts (for them). the fire station would seem to be a bigger donation but what is the point of playing the lottery if you don't at least indulge in blowing 3-5% of it (especially at their age) on some foolishness, considering the large amount of dough that they have. you don't have to be a jack whittaker or allow yourself to be poisoned if you win but there must be a middle road somewhere that allow you to pour some of it back into the economy. i'm sure whoever inherits their fortune will help spread the cash around a little better than these belt tightening conservative midwesterners. it would seem that the interest alone on this 136 million would allow for some extravagent spending. it is their right of course, but sitting in their yard staring at their mine stripped countryside every day seems to be a waste. why not invest in those closed storefronts in that backwoods town and give people jobs to boost the economy to take the blight out of that community since they are hell bent on continuing to still live there. i guarantee that there is some resentment in that community about them not sharing the wealth at the very least to a small degree. some financial planner is probaby making more off them and spending more than they and the entire town is.
what are you talking about... they ARE spreading it around and ARE being generous... to whom are you comparing them to that you are saying that they are NOT being generous? and the list that was printed... it never said it was the definitive list of what they did/were doing with their money, the couple may very well be planning other activities - also altruistic in nature.
Good for them
GIVE wisely
That line about investing in those empty storefronts only make sense if they have done due diligence to identify a viable business plan. To do otherwise and pour good money into those empty shells would be the socialist approach Obama is taking in throwing our tax dollars to those failing green energy companies. Not smart at all. I would not criticize them since at least it seems they are being responsible and even keeled...much more than can be said of our president.
There are still a lotta good people in this country.
God bless these nice people.
Hopefully they can continue with the normal day to day and have their privacy.
OH come on now. This is not a 3rd world country and I am sure the city will get tax breaks for building a plant and I give the winners credit for getting this whole thing going. Giving to charity is not always about just writing the biggest checks but using the money wisely so it will have a followup effect ("seed" money). I think they seem to be making deliberate and wise choices. Would you prefer they throw millions at starting their own movie studio and attempt to "brand" themselves like Cynthia Stafford? A jackpot win allows you the freedom to make your own choices. I would approach it in the exact same way the are doing.
Amen.
it's not like they only have 10 million to throw around. they have 130 million. they could rebuild that entire town if they so desired. get a tax credit in a town of 400 people. i don't think it matters one iota. they need to loosen up the grip on this money somehow somewhere. i know they don't have to if they don't want to but they should release the valve that holds the cash.
Good for the winners. Passing up the Camaro for a pick up shows he's using his head. Both might have cost the same, or the pick up may have been more, but it will prove way more versatile.
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This, from the OP:
Winning can be a burden
History is replete with lottery winners whose lives have gone sour after becoming rich.
The National Endowment for Financial Education cites research estimating that 70 percent of people who suddenly receive a large sum of money will lose it within a few years.
Makes me wonder. Let's say you won enough that you got $100M after taxes, and just for the sake of discussion you decided to give six people $1M each.
70% of 6 is 4.2 so we'll call that 4 people. Statistically, according to this anyway, 4 of the 6 you gave $1M to will lose it. Guess what theyr're going to do when they lose it. They're going to come back yto you and ask for more.
"Man you still have tens of millions, slap another mil on me, be a buddy."
They sound like real nice people, I wish them the best.
how about buying both the truck and the camaro. it would help the car dealership(s). i'm just saying stashing the money with some investment firm only helps the investment firm who will probably befuddle them on their profits. what they should do is build a tornado sound warning signal tower since they live right smack in the middle of tornado alley. it seems they are trying to help out the town in dribs and drabs so they aren't bad people. the paltry amount to resurrect some storefronts would have the impact of sticking a common pin into a pumpkin on their bankroll. if they did it right and got the right people to run the right type of businesses they would probably even make some money out of it if they used their heads like you think they are doing. instead they probably have 95% of it invested with some capital investment firm.
You cannot reestablish small businesses (that closed) in small towns when everyone shops at walmart and can get a better deal.. It sounds like you want them to establish a company town run by them....that would not benefit anyone. It is not the free market.
i don't want them to do anything but spend some money on something rather than have it hoarded in some foreign investment fund. a coffee shop or town offices or a pool hall comes to mind. anything to refurbish the downtown would give residents some pride rather than looking at boarded up old decaying storefronts. you seem to want them to make investments to make them richer or to save their money for a rainy day. i don't know where you get the company town idea from. no one expects them to open up a mine and force people to shop in their downtown stores, and live in row houses that they would build. what they could do is finance a condo complex to get more people into the town to help it thrive. not that far from kansas city for commuting is it. they have too much money to sit on. they are in no danger of becoming the next jack whittaker.
I'm always happy to see lottery winners who are unaffected by their sudden wealth. Good for them!
The Hills have given money for good projects around town like a fire station, ball field and land for a new sewage treatment plant. I wonder if they will have a problem saying "NO" to people. Quietly, this could be a couple that might have money troubles later on.
If memory serves me correct- Cindy was the one that said something to the effect" crazy people had better not come out of the woodwork looking for a handout from them"..Glad to see the Hills grounded.
All the best and enjoy your winnings.
Great story, however, trying to keep things normal won't remain realistic. When you've got 150 million (not regular multi millions) how can you relate to issues related to the common man. Over the next few months things will change, watch
It would be pretty dumb to invest in something where there are no customers. The storefronts closed for some reason, most likely lack of customers. Would you consider it a wise investment to open a business without the marketing research needed to determine if there are even any customers? Or do you want these people, blessed as they are with this win, to employ people to sit around and do nothing? That is what labor unions are for.
And good God, give these people some time to figure out where the best place is to 'invest' in their community. It's only been 3 months. They have a lifetime of 'investing' in their community. Just because they don't empty their bank accounts the day after the win does not mean they are being "overly conservative". This is not a community win. This couple won the jackpot, and it is their's to do as they wish. You have no say, and neither does anyone else. They put up the $2 for that number, you did not. What other purpose is there for playing the lottery than to win for yourself?
And please, really, your ignorance about investments is showing. Without investments, businesses do not get injections of cash they can use to expand. When you invest, not only do you and your investment firm benefit, the economy as a whole benefits.
You sound resentful of their win. Why is that? It was not yours to win this time. When your time comes, I sure hope some ignorant dumbass doesn't second guess your financial plans.
It sounds to me these two are being very smart with their win. Congrats to them, and best wishes for the future.
i just like to stir things up for entertainment purposes. my only question is where is the money sitting at after 3 months. no one expects them to "empty"their bank accounts to reconstruct the town, although they seem to have made a committment to do something since they plan to stay there???. i'm sure they will become pariahs and be resented by many for not helping enough. no, they don't have to, but have opened up a can or worms and are pretty much in a no win situation. either shell out major cash to the community or leave it altogether. if they choose to lock down and stay resentment will fester. people will comment that they're making the investment bankers a ton of money and they could do more to help us since they erroneously decided to stay there. this is why most jackpot winners flee their hometown to avoid these situations. they could tear down the storefront and build recreation areas for the kids since no one thinks that a profit can be made from business operations since no one lives there apparently.
Interesting, stimulating, comments to read thus far.
You are really good at stirring the pot. Do you have any friends? LOL.
I will agree with you that there will be resentment from some. I think in a smaller down, that sort of thing will be less because the real 'demand' would be less. Most people in small towns like to be self sufficient, and when these people step up where there is actual need... like $ to build the new fire station that is closer to the highways, or the cost of land for a new sewage treatment plant that may have already been budgeted for except for the cost of the land.
To be effective, you need to identify the real needs vs wants. They are doing a good job so far. I'm sure this is something they plan on continuing for many years.
it's not like they only have 10 million to throw around. they have 130 million. they could rebuild that entire town if they so desired. get a tax credit in a town of 400 people. i don't think it matters one iota. they need to loosen up the grip on this money somehow somewhere. i know they don't have to if they don't want to but they should release the valve that holds the cash.
You sound like one of those who would lose it in a few years. Those "belt tightening conservative midwesteners" have only had the money for 3 months. Let them go slow and make the "right" choices for everyone concerned. It serves no one if they fritter it away in foolishness.
even I, as bad as i am with money couldn't rip through that much ever. yes, their pace is slow and they are being wise, but they are in their 50's. it's like they driving 15 miles an hour in a 30 mph zone. most would agree they shouldn't have stayed there. for what to go down to the convenience store for coffee every morning bring the kansas city newspaper back and sit down and watch the amanda show. i sincerely believe that powerball jackpots should only carryover once. if no one hits it after the 2nd drawing it should be split amongst what is now the million dollar winners (eliminate that power play option) no one needs this much money. it is more of a burden than people realize. spreading it around would benefit the econmy more than one or two giant winners allowing some investment firm to prosper. that benefits no one but the rich.