Winning the lottery might well seem like the answer to all our problems at least on a financial level, but sometimes having more money than you ever dreamed of can bring with it a new and completely different set of challenges and problems. In fact, sudden windfalls have been known to spell disaster for the recipient in many ways.
For instance, £1 million might seem to be a huge amount of money, and indeed it is for most of us, but when you are not aware of the pitfalls that come with investments and expenditures your new-found wealth can easily be lost. Most people don't have the necessary experience needed to deal with large amounts of money, furthermore poor financial planning and false expectations can soon lead you into poverty and even debt.
It might seem that £1 million would easily last a lifetime, and if you continued with your normal spending patterns then it probably would, however, most people who win large amounts of money almost immediately buy large, expensive items such as cars, houses and exotic holidays, and not only for themselves but also for friends and family.
Flashing The Cash
Since 1994 the lottery has created 3,000 millionaires with the average win being £2.8 million. One of the first purchases for many is a new home with the average spend being £900,000 and with a new car costing on average £46,000 it’s easy to see how a large hole can appear in your bank balance quite quickly. Many lottery winners buy several properties and numerous cars.
One of the youngest people to win the lottery was Callie Rogers who was just 16 in 2003 when she won £1,875,000, less than 10 years later she has little money left and is training to be a nurse. Her win having been frittered away on parties, holidays, gifts and cosmetic surgery.
Losing It All
John McGuinness, one of the largest winners to lose all of his money won over £10 million in 1996 and it took just eleven years for him to work through it all. Today he is in debt, unemployed and facing bankruptcy.
With 70% of UK adults playing the lottery regularly, that’s 32 million people, with the odds at 350 billion to 1 of actually winning the jackpot perhaps the worry of being the next millionaire may seem unnecessary, but you never know?
In this infographic from Credit Angel, we take a look at lottery winners who have made mistakes and, literally, paid the price!
Author Bio: Ruth Walker writes on behalf of Credit Angel.
About Credit Angel:
Credit Angel’s mission is to provide UK consumers with the tools to understand their credit rating and to empower them to make the right credit decisions. Credit Angel offers great services and provides information in an understandable and usable format, empowering customers to proactively manage their credit like experts.
