Shop keeper in my town won £148 Mill on the lottery

[Essex_boy]

Lucky guy !

[news.uk.msn.com...]

[piatkow]

Makes me think of the story of the guy whose business was failing and he prayed every day to win the lottery to save it and keep is workers in jobs.

Finally a voice came down from heaven while he was on his knees = "Meet Me half way - buy a ticket!"

Personally, I can imagine winning one million or even ten but above that?

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

The record winners in the UK were a couple from Scotland, Colin and Grace Weir, who won £162M. The wife in the couple who won last week was also Scottish.

I am Scottish, why can't I win something?

Actually I did win £25 in each of the last two monthly Premium bond draws. They say it comes in threes so fingers crossed. :)

[creeking]

I like this part,

"The couple, ..... spent the rest of the night on the internet deciding how to spend the money."


in their situation, that would be fun.

[lucy24]

If I won 148M in the currency of your choice, I wouldn't need no steenkin Internet to figure out how to spend it.

[engine]

Congrats to the winners!

>I wouldn't need no steenkin Internet to figure out how to spend it.

Yeah, I have it all planned out, too.

In the meantime, it's back to work.

Oh, and what would you do with 148 Million?

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

At my age I would give much of it away, just like the Weir's are doing.
[thelotter.com...]

I think it would be quite enjoyable spending my time looking for deserving recipients. :)

[Shaddows]

We were talking about it in the office, about what various amounts would mean to us.

£1m would be investment money- nice regular income for life. Life-changing, but probably not lifestyle changing.
£10m would mean you could choose not to work again
£20m is where lifestyle is unlikely to compare to anything that went before. "You've changed, man"
£50m is where you start wondering what you would do with it all. Surely there should be a limit for lottery wins around this point?
£100m is where I'd maybe look to open a foundation for good causes instead of contributing to others'
£150m... just looks like £100m with more work :p

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

£1m would be investment money- nice regular income for life. Life-changing, but probably not lifestyle changing.

Really? I could change my lifestyle with a million quid! ;)

[Old_Honky]

They should have resisted the temptation for publicity, not told anyone then quietly moved away to a new area or new country.

Their lives will be hell now with all the begging letters and long forgotten friends and family suddenly looking them up each one with a sob story.

Giving it away to friends and family is also fraught with problems, who do you give it to and how much? Uncle Charlie might get upset because you only gave him 500K but you gave his brother Ted £1M and so on and on and on.

Best to move away and stop and think about it for a while then if you do want to give any money to friends, family and charity do it anonymously. Then tell all your friends and family that you received an anonymous gift also (but tell them you received less than they did so they feel good about it) and no one will know it came from you so they won't feel they have to suck up to you and they won't try and tap you for more.

[Shaddows]

Really? I could change my lifestyle with a million quid!

Depends if you want to blow it or not. Or if you have/want a (dependant) family or not. And at what point in your life you win.

I reckon you could buy a decent house for £450K, buy three trendy flats for about $120K and rent them out for £2.5K total a month, maybe a net 1.5K after prorata expenses for maintenance. Thats £18K/yr before tax. That would make things a lot easier, without necessarily changing the way you approach life, the type of things you enjoy etc. Of course, you would be mortgage-free too.

so they won't feel they have to suck up to you and they won't try and tap you for more.

A touch cynical, but I agree. I'd sit on it a while, then tell my intended beneficiaries that I'd won a much smaller amount.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

I reckon you could buy a decent house for £450K, buy three trendy flats for about $120K and rent them out for £2.5K total a month, maybe a net 1.5K after prorata expenses for maintenance. Thats £18K/yr before tax. That would make things a lot easier, without necessarily changing the way you approach life, the type of things you enjoy etc. Of course, you would be mortgage-free too.

I tried to read that but all those currency conversions were doing my head in. ;)

[buckworks]

long forgotten friends and family suddenly looking them up each one with a sob story

I remember a comment from someone who won a large lottery in the US:

"I don't think I've changed, but my friends sure have."

------------

Publicity about lotteries always glosses over the fact that for every person who wins a million dollars, a million other people lost their dollar.

[scooterdude]

I think i am going to buy a ticket today, I saw them on TV, great for them :)

[Shaddows]

woops, slipped a dollar in there. All should be good old Pounds Sterling.

Invest:
£450K house
3x £120K flats

Receive:
£800ish per flat per month = £2500ish pcm gross
Set aside £1000 per month for maintenance = £1500 net = £18K per year.

£18K per year is nice, but not going to make a family feel they're in the big time.

[piatkow]

Really? I could change my lifestyle with a million quid! ;)

Depends on how old you are. It would mine but a guy 30 years my junior might find inflation changing his lifestyle back again after a while.

[Essex_boy]

They should have resisted the temptation for publicity _ thats what every one says they have two very young children = Anti kidnapping security etc etc.

Anyway the guy has reopened his shop ! I was very tempted to call in and ask any chance of a discount/free credit etc etc

[lucy24]

Do they have the option of remaining silent, or does the lottery itself announce big winners?

for every person who wins a million dollars, a million other people lost their dollar.

Two to three million, depending on type of lottery. State lotteries in the US tend to be split three ways: 1/3 to winnings, 1/3 to lottery operator, 1/3 Official Recipient (generally schools).

And, again depending on lottery, winning a million may mean either 50K a year for 20 years, or 500K in a lump sum.

[SevenCubed]

1) I would buy a nice sea kayak, a good fishing rod, and a well stocked tackle box
2) Sell Facebook shares short
3) With profits from short-selling I would then buy Google and shut them down
4) Then go fishing and live happily ever after

[Leosghost]

I would paint sky, and sculpt laughter..in Polynesia..


which I will do when I quit doing "this" and the rest of the ..anyway

[Old_Honky]

Do they have the option of remaining silent, or does the lottery itself announce big winners?

Yes winners have the right to anonymity but Camelot who run the lottery try very hard to persuade them to go public.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

[scotsman.com...]

By coincidence, this is in the press again today. This couple appear to be enjoying making other people's lives better. :)