Which lottery winner are you? A tale of two players
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Willie Winner and Larry Loser both won $10 million jackpots at the same time.
And, as you might guess from their names, they both did different things with their winnings.
Larry had always envied the rich. Now was his chance to live like them. So what do the rich buy, he wondered?
The latest copy of the Robb Report magazine showed him:
A seaside mansion
Several expensive European cars
A luxury yacht
Lavish tropical holidays
Larry wanted it all, so he went on a spending spree, and it was fun while the money lasted.
But he wasn't prepared for some unusual problems.
First, his house cost more than he expected. You don't get many serious mansions for less than ten million these days, and this one cost half his winnings, $5 million.
He found it a couple of miles back from the beach. It was selling at a discount because it only had a 2 car garage, and most other buyers wanted a 4 car garage.
A bargain, surely!
And Larry didn't think twice about plunking nearly $2 milllion down at that fancy city showroom for a Ferrari and several other high-end vehicles for his family.
Pity the Bentley had to stay outside in the fierce Florida sun all year round because of the lack of garage space.
And so his new life began. He booked vacations on exotic islands, taking along most of his family members - and the many friends he had managed to make since his win.
Willie looked at his windfall differently.
He didn't even wait to collect his $10 million dollar check. He asked the lottery people to put it straight into a deposit account at his bank. And it was locked up so he couldn't touch it for 3 months.
Then he and his family sat round the kitchen table one night, and made a wish list of everything they wanted out of life.
They reviewed the list on the same day every week. And each time they met, they crossed off some items that had lost their appeal, and added other items they wanted.
For example, Willie's wife would have liked expensive diamonds and jewelry. But as Willie said, diamonds don't go up in value. And they also advertise the fact to others that you've got money... not the wisest move to make in recessionary times.
So gifts of diamonds were crossed off the list. And after a while they became not so important.
Gradually - over the 90 day cooling-off period they had given themselves - the list settled down and reflected what Willie and his family really wanted.
When the time was up, Willie got moving.
He visited his bank and moved his money into long term deposits so that it was earning some serious interest. Turned out this move would return them almost a million dollars a year.
Then he got a mortgage guaranteed by the $10 million capital he had locked up. That bought him a nice house in a good area.
The beauty of this strategy was that part of the interest he was getting now paid the mortgage off each month. And it still kept his ten million dollars intact.
There was plenty more spare cash coming in from the interest payments, and over the months ahead Willie used this to buy the cars and furniture they had planned for.
Fast-forward two years later...
The two winners were facing entirely different futures.
Larry was broke. His mansion was costing a fortune in maintenance - as most large homes do. And he had run out of cash to maintain it.
As well, he couldn't sell this house either... the small garage and distance from the water was only a couple of the problems in his poorly researched purchase.
Ever heard someone say they are asset rich but cash poor?
That was Larry right now.
He was cash poor because all his capital was tied up in his possessions, and none of them produced an income.
Worse, his expensive cars - like the new Bentley that cost him over $300k - were only worth half that amount now because of new-car depreciation.
And the dealer would only give him a fraction of the new price to buy them back.
Larry wasn't used to keeping expensive automobiles, so his cars were never cleaned or serviced.
The second-hand price reflected their poor condition. Way low.
But he had vacation memories, right?
Wrong.
The Caribbean vacations were great at the time. But all those expensive weeks for his dozens of so-called friends in 5-star hotels on the beachfront had cost him a lot of his winnings.
He had also celebrated a lot at the time, and the constant drinking had made his memory hazy. In a few year's time, he would remember little of those exotic trips.
On the other hand, Willie - to his surprise - found his net worth had actually increased.
He was worth almost $1,000,000 more two years later... and that was on top of his winnings.
Not only was his house worth 10% more than he paid for it, but since the mortgage was coming out of the interest on his capital, it was costing him nothing to pay it off.
And he had also paid $300k off the house with 'free' money plucked from thin air - his $10 million winnings, which were still sitting in the bank.
It got even better for Willie.
Because he had bought cars that were already one or two years old, unlike Larry he avoided the heavy depreciation loss.
But the best was to come...
Willie's income stream was never going to end. He would never have to work or worry about an income again. He was set for life because he had got sound advice and used a bit of common sense.
Can you see yourself in this story?
Are you a Willie or a Larry? (Sorry to exclude you women - use Wilema or Lara if it helps you there).
Could you plan well, as Willie did? Or will you squander this once-in-a-lifetime chance? You generally only get these kinds of opportunities once. Pays not to mess it up.
So what will you plan to do this week to start your winning streak?
