I am getting harassed by family over a $5,000 lottery win. :(Prev Topic Next Topic

New Topic New Poll

grwurston

100

Same digits. Different games.

United States
Member #90,245
April 24, 2010
17,027 Posts
Online

Jul 10, 2026, 1:11 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Artist77 on Jul 10, 2026
Well that varies in regard to professional degree jobs and lower end jobs. Attorneys and accountants can always find jobs as long as your license in in good standing. People who have minimum wage jobs can always find something else.

I was thinking more along the lines of blue collar jobs where you leave one job for something that seems better and it doesn't work out as well as you thought. Or maybe you go to another company and then a couple years down the road they have a lay off and you're the new guy so you go out first, and you decide to go back to your old job because other places in the area don't pay as much as your original job.

Before you play there are 2 choices to make. Low sum or high sum and consecutive pair or no consecutive pair. Choose correctly and you go from 120 combos down to 30. Not a bad starting point.
grwurston

100

Same digits. Different games.

United States
Member #90,245
April 24, 2010
17,027 Posts
Online

Jul 10, 2026, 1:14 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Lotto Motto on Jul 10, 2026
Somebody reached out to me in private message regarding the $5,000 win/family betrayal/family harassment and I responded twice but for some reason I seem to not be able to send private messages.

Maybe their mail box was full or maybe they blocked you.

Before you play there are 2 choices to make. Low sum or high sum and consecutive pair or no consecutive pair. Choose correctly and you go from 120 combos down to 30. Not a bad starting point.
HoLeeKau

Idaho
United States
Member #94,277
July 17, 2010
2,525 Posts
Offline

Jul 10, 2026, 6:44 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Lotto Motto on Jul 9, 2026
Already told her to keep the $500 and never contact me again after that dastardly stunt she pulled on me.

Good for you! I'd thank her for telling me who she is, then cut contact.
KY Floyd

NY
United States
Member #23,834
October 16, 2005
5,147 Posts
Offline

Jul 11, 2026, 2:22 am

"not so fast. not many people know what to do. "

3, 2,1

"a $5,000 jump in annual income could put you over your next threshold and count against you for the next 12 months and be very costly. "

It's hard to write posts about tax issues that aren't filled with nonsense when you misunderstand the basic concepts.

Almost every state with an income tax has multiple tax brackets and regardless of which state you live in you'll also have federal taxes to deal with. Each state's brackets kick in at different levels of taxable income than federal (maybe some are the same, but I'm not going to check all 40 states with no tax on lottery winnings), but depending on your other income even $1 more in taxable income could push you into the next federal or state (regardless of which party has power in your state) bracket. If that happens you pay the higher rate on only the amount in that bracket. The worst case scenario would be already having income up to or in the threshold for the highest bracket for both federal and state taxes in NY or HI. In that case you'd lose 48% so an extra $5000 from a lottery prize would increase your after-tax income by (only) $2600. It's a lot less than the full 5k but I don't know how anyone could describe an extra $2600 as costly. That higher tax bracket will affect your taxes for 12 months, but it will be the 12 months in the year you win, not "the next 12 months".

"That right there is where your problems begun "

Everybody wants to be anonymous, but this is incredibly far from being the only story where a winner outs themselves somehow. It may be hard to hide sudden wealth from people who know you if it's a very large amount of money because it's going to be natural to indulge yourself a bit. Unless you expect to be dead fairly soon anything under perhaps a million shouldn't be a problem because you probably shouldn't be spending the principal in a way that tips your hand.

"I'd thank her for telling me who she is, then cut contact. "

There's the silver lining. My wife once loaned a former coworker that she thought she was friends with a paltry sum ($20, IIRC) that she never got back. It turned out to be money well spent.
Lotto Motto

Miami Florida
us
Member #251,069
March 16, 2025
80 Posts
Offline

Jul 11, 2026, 4:51 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Artist77 on Jul 10, 2026
Be cautious with private messages. Someone might have you marked for easy money based on your posts.

You have a good point about me possibly making myself a target for easy money by posting about the $5,000 win/family betray/family harassment, but the moment anyone on here asks me for any money I will DRB. Deny, report, and block. I am refusing to give my family members money who asked me for it, I sure as hell am not going to be giving complete strangers that I only know on the internet money.
Artist77

United States
Member #121,737
January 16, 2012
10,993 Posts
Offline

Jul 11, 2026, 6:11 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Lotto Motto on Jul 11, 2026
You have a good point about me possibly making myself a target for easy money by posting about the $5,000 win/family betray/family harassment, but the moment anyone on here asks me for any money I will DRB. Deny, report, and block. I am refusing to give my family members money who asked me for it, I sure as hell am not going to be giving complete strangers that I only know on the internet money.

It is not too late to change going forward.

If someone tries to argue with me when I say no, I say that no is a complete and final answer and I do not repeat myself.

If someone asks nosy financial questions, offer to help them find a debt counselor. Trust me, they will run away.

You do not have to answer any question just because you are asked a question.

Once you go no contact, stick with it.

Do not justify or explain or debate any personal decision .

DO NOT BE AFRAID.

How Great Thou Art. God has blessed America.
Tone43

Los Angeles California
United States
Member #222,867
June 10, 2022
243 Posts
Offline

Yesterday, 1:21 pm

Charity in a person is a great character
knowledge on how to be charitable is wise

had I been in your position

I would have sent her $500 in a check form as an anonymous donor

with a note, handwritten by someone else in the event she could read handwriting and can tell who the person is

in the note I would have expressed the $500 is to help and not to be spent for parties or drinking

like I said charity is a good character to have
Artist77

United States
Member #121,737
January 16, 2012
10,993 Posts
Offline

Yesterday, 2:21 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Tone43 on Jul 12, 2026
Charity in a person is a great character
knowledge on how to be charitable is wise

had I been in your position

I would have sent her $500 in a check form as an anonymous donor

with a note, handwritten by someone else in the event she could read handwriting and can tell who the person is

in the note I would have expressed the $500 is to help and not to be spent for parties or drinking

like I said charity is a good character to have

Now be serious. This is so unwise. She would know where the money came from and he has said he needed the money. Involving another person in this matter would subject them to demands for more money. You cannot control how the money would be spent with a silly note. It is not enforceable.

A deadbeat grifter is not a place to start with charity. Try making a donation to a food bank or other 501c3 charity if you are looking to be charitable.

DO NOT BE AFRAID.

How Great Thou Art. God has blessed America.
Tone43

Los Angeles California
United States
Member #222,867
June 10, 2022
243 Posts
Offline

Yesterday, 3:32 pm

Every experience we have ,whether it be family member or stranger, is a learning opportunity

every opportunity of charity. That present itself is an opportunity to learn

in this particular case lotto Moto has learned to try a different way of being charitable

and by posting this experience has caused people to think about how they can be charitable

one cannot predict the future, which is why is always better to learn from each experience
Artist77

United States
Member #121,737
January 16, 2012
10,993 Posts
Offline

Yesterday, 8:05 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Tone43 on Jul 12, 2026
Every experience we have ,whether it be family member or stranger, is a learning opportunity

every opportunity of charity. That present itself is an opportunity to learn

in this particular case lotto Moto has learned to try a different way of being charitable

and by posting this experience has caused people to think about how they can be charitable

one cannot predict the future, which is why is always better to learn from each experience

Sounds like you have had a few too many of something.

His post had zero to do with legit charity but having told the wrong person about his win. He clearly learned his lesson going forward. Charity is not people demanding and harassing him for a share of a lottery win.

DO NOT BE AFRAID.

How Great Thou Art. God has blessed America.
Il2c

United States
Member #247,665
November 23, 2024
2,096 Posts
Offline

Yesterday, 11:11 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Tucker Black on Jul 9, 2026
Tell that one person that you need your $500 back.

💯
Ronnbee

Oakmont pa
United States
Member #170,947
December 25, 2015
357 Posts
Offline

Today, 7:09 am

I dont even tell my wife when i hit !!!
FrostyGambling

Southwest USA
United States
Member #255,292
September 9, 2025
23 Posts
Offline

Today, 11:23 am

I would ask for the $500 back and tell those people begging for free money that they cant have any.

The more seeds of opportunity you plant the luckier you will become!
Fantasy876

us
Member #260,976
May 11, 2026
6 Posts
Offline

Today, 5:42 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Tone43 on Jul 12, 2026
Charity in a person is a great character
knowledge on how to be charitable is wise

had I been in your position

I would have sent her $500 in a check form as an anonymous donor

with a note, handwritten by someone else in the event she could read handwriting and can tell who the person is

in the note I would have expressed the $500 is to help and not to be spent for parties or drinking

like I said charity is a good character to have

I like this idea with a few tweaks. Instead of a check, a money order and instead of involving a third party, type the note and print it out. But I would not give instructions. Because if she was in dire need then no way would she be using it to party etc she'd take care of the thing she needed the money for. And if she did "splurge" then that's on her and a lesson you would learn about her and how to deal with her in the future. If she was so desperate she must have told a bunch of people her problems so she would not know where the money came from or cared where it came from. She'd just be grateful.

If the family member had kept her promise it could have been the universe giving LM the win so that the family member could be helped. But since the family member did betray the trust then it was the universe using the win to weed out people from LM's life. Money has destroyed so many relationships throughout history. It reveals who people are. Everything happens for a reason.

I also like your take on charity which is the selfless act of giving resources: time, money, skills to support those in need. In this case a family member who desperately needed $500 was indeed charity. I just hope this bad experience doesn't prevent LM or anyone from being charitable in the future. You just go about it differently if you feel compelled to help the less fortunate and you're in a position to help.

Never begrudge the fortune of others. When it's your time it's your time. So just keep trying until you have no more time.

"Lottery games operate purely on chance"

"Your numbers are a train and the random number never walks on the track"
Tone43

Los Angeles California
United States
Member #222,867
June 10, 2022
243 Posts
Offline

Today, 6:24 pm

You phrased it much better than I did