Lottery's biggest winners, losers
Take a look at some previous winners of huge lottery jackpots. For some, money does not bring happiness.
Lottery officials in New Jersey say someone won the $338 million Powerball jackpot in the drawing Saturday night. It's the fourth-highest payout in the game's history.
Lottery officials in New Jersey say someone won the $338 million Powerball jackpot in the drawing Saturday night. It's the fourth-highest payout in the game's history.
Take a look at some previous winners of huge lottery jackpots. For some, money does not bring happiness.
Three winning tickets were sold for the March 30, 2012, Mega Millions drawing that had a record $656 million pre-tax payout. The Kansas and Maryland winners chose to remain anonymous. The Maryland winners were three public school employees known only as the "Three Amigos."
Merle and Pat Butler, a retired couple from Illinois, had the third winning ticket.
Winning numbers for the Nov. 28, 2012, Powerball drawing were chosen in Arizona and Missouri. The $587.5 million prize was the largest in Powerball history.
The Hill family had one of the winning tickets. Cindy Hill said bought the ticket from the Trex Mart truck stop in Dearborn, Mo.
For some, the money brings unwanted tragedy. Andrew Jackson Whittaker Jr., a West Virginia businessman, won $314.9 million in the Powerball in 2002. At the time, it was the largest jackpot ever won by a single winning ticket. But Whittaker was robbed several times, was accused of bouncing checks at casinos and his granddaughter was found dead from a drug overdose.
For others, the money slips through their fingers like water. Evelyn Adams won the New Jersey lottery twice -- in 1985 and 1986 -- for a total of $5.4 million. But according to Bankrate.com, she lost it all and now lives in a trailer park. "Everybody wanted my money. Everybody had their hand out. I never learned one simple word in the English language -- 'No,'" she said.
Bankrate said such sad tales are all too common with lottery winners. "For many people, sudden money can cause disaster," said Susan Bradley, a certified financial planner in Palm Beach, Fla., and founder of the Sudden Money Institute, a resource center for new-money recipients and their advisers. "Money can cause as many problems as it solves."
Bill Pomeroy, a certified financial planner in Baton Rouge, La., has dealt with a number of lottery winners who went broke. He told Bankrate that many winners make the mistake of thinking they know what they're doing. "They are willing to plunk down large sums on investments they know nothing about or go in with a partner who may not know how to run a business," he said.
Bradley told Bankrate that she recommends lottery winners set up a "DFZ," or a "decision-free zone." "Take time out from making any financial decisions," she said. "Do this right away. For some people, it's smart to do it before you even get your hands on the money." Pictured is retired house cleaner Geraldine Williams, of Lowell, Mass., who won $294 million in 2004.
Bradley also said winners should consider investing before making a big commitment like buying an expensive home. Pictured is Rebecca Jamison, who found out she won $162 million when she picked up her local newspaper on New Year's Eve, 2003.
