This is rather sad

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MissVelvetDress_75

MissVelvetDress_75

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[q]Wife regrets husband's $314M lottery windfall
‘I wish I would have torn the ticket up,’ she tells paper

The Associated Press
Updated: 11:07 a.m. ET Dec. 14, 2004


CHARLESTON, W.Va - The wife of the lottery winner who took home the richest undivided jackpot in U.S. history says she regrets his purchase of the $314 million ticket that has thrust her family into the public spotlight.

“I wish all of this never would have happened,” Jewel Whittaker told The Charleston Gazette for Tuesday’s editions. “I wish I would have torn the ticket up.”

Since winning the lottery two years ago, her husband, Jack Whittaker, has been arrested twice for drunken driving and has been ordered into rehab. He also faces charges he attacked a bar manager, and is accused in two lawsuits of making trouble at a nightclub and a racetrack.

There have been several thefts involving Whittaker’s vehicle, his office and his house in Scott Depot. One of the thefts occurred at his home in September on the same day an 18-year-old friend of Whittaker’s granddaughter was found dead there. The death remains under investigation.

Last week Whittaker, 57, reported his granddaughter missing. Putnam County sheriff’s Sgt. Lisa Arthur said the granddaughter is not considered a kidnapping victim.

Whittaker took his winnings in a lump sum of $113 million after taxes. He has donated more than $20 million to charity, said his lawyer, Norm Daniels.[/q]
 
I've often said if I ever came into a signifcant amount of money, the first thing I'd do is hire a competent (and trustworthy) financial planner/accountant. Then I'd start giving away large sums of money to family, friends and charities...that way anyone interested in just separating me from my money will have more than one target to choose from! :lmao:

Seriously, this should show that money is not the answer to all of life's problems. It brings plenty of its own.
 
This is usually why people this wealthy move into highly secured mansions. A big house and a gate is likely more to ensure security and prevent theft, more than a show of excess...although the latter makes such virtual imprisonment enjoyable.

Melon
 
But think of this, they could still have those problems and be POOR! My husband has more than 2 DUI's, and we're broke! I also know a family stalked by a robber who always cuts their phone line first. I remember what Pee Wee Herman once said, that he heard people with money still have problems, and he said yes, but it was better than having problems and not having the money.
 
I often think with these mega lotteries that instead of giving one person / family 300 million that it would be better to give 3000 familys $100,000 each.

$100,000 would get rid of a number of financial issues eg pay off the credit cards, the bills, trade in the bomb for a more reliable car, have a little holiday and put a bit on the mortgage.

But everytime I talk about that people say no one would buy the tickets cause its not sexy enough :sigh:
 
100,000 will not make anyone financially secure. You can't quit work on that. You need at least a million. But I could never hoard 113 million with so many people around who have nothing. I'd keep about10 to keep myself and my family secure for life and give the rest away.
 
i know lots of people with multiple DUIs that are broke

what does the lotto ticket have to do with this?

these people are just stupid.
 
The Sneak said:
100,000 will not make anyone financially secure. You can't quit work on that. You need at least a million. But I could never hoard 113 million with so many people around who have nothing. I'd keep about10 to keep myself and my family secure for life and give the rest away.
Click to expand...

No it wouldnt make anyone financially secure but it would take the edge off. Thats what I meant. People would still need to work but at least with the pile of bills reduced day to day living would be less financially stressful.
 
Studies have shown that many lottery winners end up bankrupt anyway. If you don't know how to manage a little bit of money, chances are you'll mismanage more of it. By giving 100,000 to 3000 families, you might help out, but if they are in debt because of mismanagement, all you'll be doing is delaying the inevitable.

There are quite a few people who believe the Lottery is bad news anyway. In general only poor people play it, and so all you're doing is pooling all the money in the poor community over to one person. Having lived in a ghetto-like neighborhood right after college, I noticed that far more people stood in line for the lotto then when I moved away to a more middle-class working neighborhood.

Richer people tend to invest their money in the stock-market (a different form of gambling :D ) instead of buying lotto tickets. So all the lotto does is redistribute wealth. Kind of like our tax system :ohmy: :wink:
 
starsforu2 said:
By giving 100,000 to 3000 families, you might help out, but if they are in debt because of mismanagement, all you'll be doing is delaying the inevitable.
Click to expand...

Debt does not mean mismanagement. It can be. It can also just be a fact of life. Most people would not be able to afford a home or school without a mortgage or student loan.
 
beli said:


Debt does not mean mismanagement. It can be. It can also just be a fact of life. Most people would not be able to afford a home or school without a mortgage or student loan.
Click to expand...

I qualified my answer by saying "if they are in debt because of mismanagement, all you'll be doing is delaying the inevitable.
"

The If is very important part of my answer. I got into debt for college and I have a mortgage, I've even carried large balances on my credit cards, and at times, I've even mismanaged my money. In debt doesn't necessarily mean mismanagement, but if you mismanage your money eventually you will be in debt.

There will be a portion who learn from their mistakes and would appreciate that they have 100,000 to put toward a home, or bills. But there are some who grew up like Mike Tyson, who have made 100's of millions and still end up broke.
 
If people mismanage their money they will most likely be repeat offenders. Like me, and the US Government :lol: But I swear, if I got rich now I'd be so afraid of being poor there would be no way I'd blow it and be poor again. The first thing I'd do is set up trust funds for my kids so they'd never have to work or worry about money (and hope they don't end up blowing it!)
 
My husband gets drunk because he's poor and miserable. If he was rich he'd get drunk because he was happy and wanted to celebrate and party all the time. Either way if you're a drunk you're gonna drink :drunk:
 
but get this , you have one million to spend every year , for the rest of your days , you become a god or a groundhog......
 
deep said:

these people are just stupid.
Click to expand...
This guy Whittaker has been in the news many times, stories of his car being robbed outside strip clubs of briefcases with over $100,000 cash in it, and the car unlocked. On more than one occasion.
The money hasn't caused this guy's problems, he has...it just becomes newsworthy cause he hit sucha big jackpot.
 
um with that much money couldnt you hire a driver for when you go out drinking?

i agree, its not the money, she married an idiot, and the money just allows him to do more idiotic things
 
I don't know this for sure, but I think I remember which jackpot this refers to. If I remember right, this guy was *already* a millionaire before winning. Maybe he only had one or two million from being a business owner or something, but I think that the moral is that money didn't cause his problems here.

Melon
 
That's something else my husband would do, set everybody in the bar up to be loved. He did it on trips for his job when he had an expense account. They loved the booze and joked on him behind his back. If you go around flashing the big rolls of cash somebody might just kill you for it.
 
melon said:
I don't know this for sure, but I think I remember which jackpot this refers to. If I remember right, this guy was *already* a millionaire before winning. Maybe he only had one or two million from being a business owner or something, but I think that the moral is that money didn't cause his problems here.n
Click to expand...
yeah, didn't he mention the first thing he'd do was give 10% to his church? i remember this because they kept going on and on about how west virginia was the poorest state in the nation.

if so, he was already rich from business. like you said, the lottery ticket had nothing to do with it. if they hadn't bought the ticket, he'd be a drunk millionaire instead of the drunk multi-millionaire he is today. :rolleyes:
 
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