Lottery winner doesn’t live like a millionaire

Comment #21

CASH Only — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 21:12:47 GMT

PowerPlay is not that new, despite the wording in the article. It began nearly five years ago.

Comment #20

libra926 — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 20:14:16 GMT

HAPPY THURSDAY CHEWIE LOLOLOL.....YOU must be referring to the high cost of living. housing........In that case don't leave out MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, WASHINGTON(DC)......LOLOLOLOLAnd that's even if you are on Medicare SS......

Comment #19

LOTTOMIKE — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 12:23:28 GMT

did it say her name was.......FAT POSSUM? oops,pat fossum.....

Comment #18

sirbrad — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 03:04:36 GMT

She is not living like a millionaire because she is not one, especially after taxes and paying off the mortgage. But millionaires stay millionaires by staying frugal, and taking care of their money. Not lavishly spending it all. Perhaps they read The Millionaire Next Door? I suppose the media wants you to spend spend spend, and go broke, plus have a ton of other problems along with it. Then they have another story next month...They love Jack.

Comment #17

Uncle Jim — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 02:55:33 GMT

I think it would be really funny if someone wrote a letter to the editor of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader and took the time to explain to them...politely...that Ms Fossum may have won a million dollars but due to 35% Federal income tax she, in point of fact IS NOT a millionaire so it isn't surprising that she doesn't live like on.By the way...how do millionaires live?Oh Jeeves, peel another grape for me would you please.Jim

Comment #16

RJOh — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 22:39:24 GMT

I grew up thinking every body worked even if they weren't born on a farm. I remember at the age of 6 and living in Alabama, I accompanied my mother into the cotton fields and picked cotton. I was too small for the regular bags used by the grown-ups so I used a pillow case.

Comment #15

hsvscubaski — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 22:15:56 GMT

I've had to. I never had a whole lot of money. My dad worked hard for everything he had, my mom worked, and I've worked since I was 6 years old, she said.When her mom worked in a Canton restaurant, young Fossum would tag along and act as a waitress for customers who got a kick out of their young server. She helped her mother as a waitress

Comment #14

libra926 — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 19:45:36 GMT

hi AC ........I gather from the story that she grew up on a Farm....and still owns one. Therefore it's entirely possible that as a child she began working at that age..(6). On Family Farms everyone pitches in from Elementary School Age.....doens't sound unrealistic to me at all....It's nice that she has a very strong and sensible work ethic as well, however I think those winners who live in the Cosmopolitan Cities are more likely to spend their winnings more liberally, because they are expose... [ More ]

Comment #13

tg636 — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 14:52:10 GMT

It takes a smart person to know that $1 million (more realistically, $650,000 after taxes) isn't a huge amount of money. My dream would be to invest it and someday be a real millionaire.If you start living like a millionaire you will soon no longer be a millionaire, or even a thousandaire.

Comment #12

Prob988 — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 02:02:46 GMT

It's nice to hear of a sensible woman. I would do the same thing.

Comment #11

Chewie — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 23:25:12 GMT

If you don't have a supllemental income and haven't met the medicare age, you will be walking on dangerous ground. Maybe in the mountains of Kentucky, or a remote area of New Mexico or Texas, never in NJ/NY area. Taxes, electricity, fuel and gas prices would put you in the bankruptcy courts.

Comment #10

dvdiva — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 23:16:55 GMT

This typifies lottery coverage in the press. There would be no way to retire on 650k in the US. This person was never a millionare through the lottery due to tax and even one million is not enough to even think of retirement unless you already have a large retirement fund and own your house free and clear. If you don't even own a house and have a very small 401k then you had better win a much bigger prize unless by some magical means you are never going to get sick, need nursing care or leave an... [ More ]

Comment #9

Chewie — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 23:10:47 GMT

Thankfully the Democrats won't let Bush change Social Security. Now, those of without the benefits of a lottery win, can still have an opportunity at retirement with a handy check every month. NO sense letting that windfall go to our heads.

Comment #8

RJOh — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 20:54:14 GMT

In my area if she used her million dollars prize to buy a new 3,500 square foot house in a neighborhood of similar houses and put a couple of luxury cars in the garage, she might have enough left to pay her real estate taxes and pay the federal taxes on her winnings before it would all be gone but she would have to keep working to hang on to it.

Comment #7

TheGameGrl — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 19:40:13 GMT

This is going way back in the day, yet I recall one of my first grade classmates being a paperboy with his older brother. They would take turns on the routes in our city. So , yes its feasible to be working at that age and gain an income. Also there are kids that gather aluminum cans in our neighborhood and send them to a recycle place in our town. They literally have wagons they drag over to the factory .It's good to see a lady establish a business and still keep her work ethics with such a nic... [ More ]

Comment #6

acronym007 — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 19:32:31 GMT

point well taken, I was thinking differently. Family farm work is one thing while working for someone else is another. Cheers,

Comment #5

rabbitfoot — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 19:25:16 GMT

If she comes from a farming community, I can easily see her doing age appropriate work/chores. I know that I was paid my first wage at age 7 for tending cows so they wouldn't leave our lane. I also had non paying chores that I had to do like filling the woodbox, gathering eggs, fetching a bucket of water, etc.

Comment #4

Chewie — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 19:17:36 GMT

She was probably refering to chores around the house, gathering eggs from the hen house, picking berries from the bushes, etc.; not digging ditches. Farm children do that type of work as soon as they can walk without help. It is how farm live works. Computers and spoiled parents didn't exist in that evironment.

Comment #3

acronym007 — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 19:03:29 GMT

Worked since she was 6 years old? That sounds like a bit of an exgeration to me? Some of us myself included have worked since we were young but I never heard anyone say 6 years old. Other than that statement they sound like a good, responsible bunch which is good to hear.

Comment #2

hsg2000 — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 15:40:20 GMT

live normally , does money make your head get big, it depends who it is

Comment #1

DoubleDown — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 14:58:04 GMT

Very good head on her shoulders, unlike so many we have witnessed.

Lottery winner doesn’t live like a millionaire

Lottery Post — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 14:24:00 GMT

When Pat Fossum describes her day, it doesn't sound like the lifestyle of a millionaire. We get up in the morning, feed the animals, go to work, work until 5 or sometimes midnight and then go home to bed, said Fossum, who won $1 million in a Powerball drawing in October.The Lennox mother and business owner said the winnings haven't really changed her and her family, and she doesn't expect they will.Fossum became the sixth-largest lottery winner in South Dakota's history after she bought a ticke... [ More ]