Even after winning big, many Texans lead same lives
Published: November 7, 2005
Nesbitt said he always cautions new winners to choose advisers carefully and not succumb to every request for money.
Typically, if winners were irresponsible with money before they won, they tend to be irresponsible with their winnings. The same is true in reverse, said Nesbitt, who is helping at least one lottery winner who went into bankruptcy.
Other winners have divorced or lost friends after winning. When Roden won, her group included about half of the office — leaving half of them without. None of the winners immediately quit their jobs and for a while, going to work was tense.
“It was very sad for the people who didn’t win,” Roden said.
And the old cliché is true: Money doesn’t buy happiness.
Roden recalls one winner in her group who had a drinking problem before winning, which became worse afterward. He finally had to quit his job and, soon after, was found dead in his home.
“Having more than you thought you would have is great, but I’m certainly not happier now than I was, other than a ‘Wow, this is great!’ type of deal,” Roden said. “In many ways, it was a blessing that we won the amount that we did and it wasn’t an up-front payment. It’s not like we won $45 million apiece. I can’t even wrap my mind around that.”
Melton said winning the lottery has helped him do the same things he was planning to do already, like retire. Still, he waited a year and a half to retire after winning.
And when he stops in the store, he still buys a lottery ticket, just like he has every week since the Texas lottery began in 1992.
In fact, Melton said he recently won $2,800 after picking five of the six correct numbers.
But he also knows the pain of losing. Before he won anything, he picked five of the six winning numbers — and his sixth number was a mere digit off. The winner, who picked all six correctly, walked away with $18 million.
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