This is exactly why Americans spend close to $70 billion dollars each year on lottery tickets. Why not take a chance on luck when you seem to be always reading about some guy who won the lottery in the news. Truth be told, the odds of winning the lottery are about 1 in 175 million. Do you still want to buy a lottery ticket now? Those odds don’t seem as favorable anymore.
The problem with actually winning the lottery is that it’s not only about fulfilling your own dreams anymore, every family member and fiend wants a piece of the action. Especially that friend from middle school that you haven’t talked to since. He really wants a slice of the millionaire pie. Out of 3,000 lottery winners in England, 3,700 mortgages for friends and family members were paid off. That is a lot of good karma right there.
Lottery winners however tend to be very frivolous with their money. The Floridian lottery winners were estimated to have gone broke within 5 years of receiving their money. People just don’t know how to hold onto that kind of cash especially when they are not used to dealing with so much money. Still, I’m sure we would all like to be given that test. Stacey was only 20 years old when she won the lottery. From working at a gas station cashier to a multi millionaire with multiple properties, you’re going to want to hear how she used her money an interesting way.
I won, I won!
Meet Stacey Lowry. She won five million U.S dollars in the lottery. When she found out that she had won the lottery back in 2000 she said that “I started crying, my legs were shaking and I couldn’t even stand up.” She was a gas station cashier in Primeville at the time and only 20 years old. She was the one who actually sold herself a winning ticket at the gas station. The first thing she did was call up mom and dad screaming, “I won! I Won!”
Parents’ response
Gilbert, Stacey’s dad picked up the phone. He didn’t believe her. Gilbert handed the phone to his wife to deal with his daughter. He couldn’t imagine in his wildest dreams that his 20 year old daughter had 5 million dollars in her possession. Stacey could have chosen 250,000 dollars for 20 years. But she chose to take the five million in cash right away. Little did she realize that the money would cause her a lot more trouble than she could have possibly imagined.
What to do with all that cash
So what would any 20 year old do with 5 million dollars. Spend it of course! Her parents’ claim that she didn’t blow it all away or go crazy and wild. But that might just be because she spent a nice fortune on them. Stacey sent her mom on an all expenses paid trip Arknasaw to visit her aunt Donna and then she took her sister shopping to buy her anything she wanted. Stacey got herself a brand new Mustang, a Mustang convertible GT for dad and a mini cooper convertible for mom.
Level headed mom
Stacey admits it herself that she went crazy in the beginning, buying tons of clothes and purses. We think that might be an understatement. She calls herself a “Designer handbag collector.” Stacey had 80 purses lining her closet amounting to $20,000. She quickly realized that she needed her fortune to last. She didn’t want to blow through their money so quickly. So Stacey and her husband devised a scheme. They invest some money that returns them a monthly stipend to pay bills, while the rest is in savings.
Brielle will be set for life
Stacey has an interesting and unique investment plan that she hopes will pay off. She said that her collection of rare and expensive Goofy and Cinderella Disney case is worth about $100,000 right now. Her favorite is the cinderella piece, there are only 1,500 of them made over the world. Stacey and Jared believe that these collectibles will only go up in value and will set their daughter, Brielle, for life. They have 3 Walt Disney cases of collectibles. She even started collecting before she won the lottery!
Other lottery winners aren’t doing as well
While this is definitely an interesting and unique way to put aside money for Stacy’s daughter, we are not sure it will actually keep the millions within the family. Statistics say that lottery winners are likely to declare bankruptcy within three to five years from winning. We still applaud Stacey for trying. It is not easy to come into that much money all at once. Especially coming from working as a gas station cashier and coming into millions at only 20 years old.
House number one and two
Jared and Stacey decided not to live an overly lavish life. They bought a modest yet beautiful home together instead. She wanted her fortune to last a lifetime. Her house is definitely upscale, but it didn’t break the bank. She did however buy a second house in Portland. But not for the reasons that you would think. The house in Portland has approximately 2,500 square feet. They moved into their new Portland house and decided to put their hardships behind her. But what happened that forced them to flee to Portland?
The hard truth
Stacey takes us back to her small hometown called Primeville to explain to us what it was like being only 20 years old and winning $5 million dollars. She says that It wasn’t exactly as fun as you would imagine. Stacey actually said that it was a nightmare. Stacey confided that “People get jealous and do stupid things, especially when it comes to money.” She said that her main challenge was finding out who her true friends were.
I don’t even want it
Stacey’s true friend Melany Collins tells us the rumors she heard about Stacey that were sparked by Stacey winning the lottery. Melany explains that “The town went crazy, there were a lot rumors,” and there were “Rumors that she died, rumors that she would spend all her money at strip clubs.” They laugh about it now, but it was s very hard time for Stacey. She was called horrible names and her friends started to turn against her. Stacey even said, “If this is what it’s like to win the lottery, then I don’t want it. Take it back.”
Fleeing to Bend
Her friends were asking Stacey why she didn’t buy them presents. Stacy would answer, “Well why are you even asking, are you my friend?” She quickly learned that this wasn’t the town for her anymore. She fled to upscale Bend to to escape the wild rumors and people that were now calling themselves Stacey’s friends because of her newfound money. She thought going to Bend, Oregon would provide them with the anonymity that a bigger town has to offer.
Unsafe and unhappy
The new neighborhood did not offer the sanctuary that she was looking for. People stole money, jewelry and anything that they could get their hands on from Stacey. People she didn’t even know would come into her house and steal from her purse. She even had credit cards stolen. The final straw came one day when Stacey’s best friend and her daughter were over at her house playing in their backyard. Then suddenly, Stacy’s daughter told her that she saw a man peeking through the fence. Someone was watching them!
On the run, again
Stacey followed the man and and saw him running away. She immediately called the police and they arrived within minutes. But they never caught the man. This was enough to push Stacey over the edge. The stalker was at large and Stacey wanted to get away from Oregon, the thieves and the stalker. She wanted to go to a big city where no one knew who she was or how much money she had. So for the second time, the young millionaire was forced to flee her home for safety.
Millions are just a headache
Economists agree that winning the lottery in the USA puts them in worse financial trouble than before they won. Another lottery winner named Jack Whittaker won $315 million in the lottery, now that’s a lot more than Stacey did. But Jack wishes he tore the lottery ticket up and never took the money, just like Stacey felt. The lottery can surprisingly be more of a curse than a gift. Jack tells that he was robbed of $545,000 after he won. Another struggle that Stacey also faced was having to say no to her friends.
One thing led to another
By moving to Portland Stacey was able to remain completely anonymous. She bought her second house in 2002. But she needed some roommates to fill up the four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. Her husband Jared was only friends with her at the time and moved in with her as a roommate. Jared says that “One thing led to another and now were married.” They are happy in Portland with her new handsome protector and prince charming.
Happily ever after
Stacey was finally getting the happily ever after that she always dreamt of. Far away from the stalkers and the thieves Stacey was free to marry Jared and move on from the rocky start. But soon, Stacey started to get bored. She had a big house and beautiful daughter but she needed some way to keep herself busy. What do millionaires do for a living, she thought to herself. Up until now she had only been working at the gas station until she won the lottery.
Millionaire Starbucks barrista
Stacey loves coffee and she loves Starbucks even more. So this 20 year old millionaire went and got herself a job at Starbucks. Once Brielle started to get older, Stacey wanted to be around to take care of her child. Stacey decided to quit her job at Starbucks in order to concentrate on her family. Whats the point of being a millionaire if you can’t be a stay at home mom and utilize the opportunity to be with your family.
Extra time
Now that Stacey quit her job she has found a lot of extra time on her hands once again. Looking for another opportunity to keep herself busy, Stacy decided to start volunteering at the zoo. Stacey and her family love animals so she thought it would be a good idea to surround herself with animals all day. But it wasn’t exactly what she imagined it to be. Stacey has been shoveling animal excrements and cleaning up after all the animals. How many millionaires do you know that clean horse poo?
Anonymity
Regardless of what Stacey decides to do with her free time, she is happy living in Oregon. She lives in a beautiful house with her supportive husband and daughter. Stacey is saving and being as money conscious as possible. But the most important thing is that no one in Oregon knows how much money Stacey has let alone who she even is. And Stacey loves it that way. She knows her family is safe and she couldn’t be happier.
Lottery winers
We are proud that Stacey still has her fortune. Especially because 44 percent of lottery winners spent their entire fortunes within 4 years. Most lottery winners win an average of a few hundred million. So we are impressed that Stacey was able to hold on tight to her 5 million. That isn’t including the fact that U.S tax authorities will classify Stacey in the 39.6 percent tax bracket. That means that they will take 25 percent of her money. Stacey, say goodbye to $1.25 million.
