A person has a 1 in 300 million chance of hitting a jackpot. The lucky ones seem to be living the dream, but for some, the big bucks changed their lives forever—and not for the better.

People fascinated by this have started several discussions online, asking others to share how their own or someone else’s win turned into a tragedy. Scroll down to read the most surprising stories that prove money can’t buy happiness after all.

#1

Ex gfs Aunt and Uncle have won three times. Odds say that if you are within two degrees of knowing someone who won it, your chances are pretty beat. These guys won three times. 1$ million, $50k, $1.2 million. All in the span of four or five years. Bought a brand new Suburban, Mercedes and Dodge ram. Remodel the house, finish the basement, do a lot of nice work. Didn't pay off any debts, didn't pay off their house or cars. They are currently in more debt than they were before the lottery. People can be stupid.

Image credits: timwontwin

#2

My brother came into a lot of money. 140k to be precise. He spent 50k on a car and wrecked it within a month. He is now back to zero and living paycheck to paycheck. He did however pay for his uni upfront.

Image credits: DeCoYDownUnder

#3

Mom's uncle won a couple million in the regular state lotto. He blew it on a huge house and fancy cars. He forgot that property taxes on a mansion are outrageous.
Within ten years he was a broke alcoholic, living in a trailer with his younger vietnamese wife who frequently beat him.

Image credits: shtring

While it might seem impossible to spend tens of millions of dollars, many winners have found creative ways to pour them down the drain.

Such behavior is often called a “lottery curse,” and its main cause is the mindset that the funds will never end. Ironically, it has the opposite effect, making people lose all of their money.

Sometimes, the lucky ones don’t think about the obligations that come with such a sum. For example, taxes on lottery prizes are much more costly than some realize, making the payout much smaller than expected. Even the highest jackpot of $1.5 billion paid a little over $900 million after the government took its rightful portion.

#4

My Aunty won about 600k (Australian) in 1992. She gave a little bit to every family member (kids got $200 - it was *awesome*). She bought a house, went on a trip, and that was about it. We think she gambled it away, she has *nothing* to show for it, not even a house. She rents. The house she did buy would be worth a *fortune* now if she hadn't sold it.

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#5

I went to college with a girl who won around half a mil lump sum from the lottery. By the time I met her, she already had to sell one of the two houses, the boat, and two of three cars. I guess it ended better than expected, but not as well as it should have been.

Image credits: anon

#6

A highschool teacher of my younger siblings had won (about a year after my two siblings who are twins had already graduated).

He won 21 million Canadian, didn't know he had a winning ticket for something like 4 months and found out after he got back from a trip to asia or something. Had to leave his job teaching (which he loved) because students and fellow teachers were harassing him for money. The school faculty apparently got upset because after he won, he only gave the entire staff $100 gift cards to Starbucks and felt they were entitled to more.

Image credits: Envy_MK_II

In addition, others might feel generous and give money to friends and family. Of course, it’s a nice gesture, but the money isn’t unlimited, and giving marvelous gifts can add up, especially with gift taxes and all.

#7

My Dad's neighbor won about 500k from the lottery. Within 2 weeks he had bought a new double wide trailer, a brand new dually truck, and a MASSIVE ring for his brand new girlfriend (for some reason she showed up as soon as the money hit his bank account. Weird right?). A month after that he had added a new 4-wheeler, a new car for his girlfriend, and an RV. Fast forward a little over a year later and his trailer was already dumpy, his truck was totaled, his girlfriend had suddenly disappeared and he was wondering where all his money went. Now he's an alcoholic.

Image credits: SpookyBowser

#8

I have been lucky enough to know several people who have received life changing amounts of money all at once. Most of these were musicians. I will not be giving names although some of you may recognize them from the actions. The absolute worst catastrophe I saw from it was one friend. He received $2.3 million as an advance. He immediately spent $1 million as the down payment for exotic cars, yes just down payment they were not bought fully for that amount. They were all custom ordered and would be arriving in months. He then proceeded to spend $50,000 a day on hookers, drugs, and alcohol for his friends. Of course his label heard about it, but before they could even file an injunction to make him actually make the record with the money he had to make a record he ODd and died. Less than a week. 

Image credits: holomntn

#9

An ex-coworker of mine Won 24,000. he immediatly quit his job and came back for an other 1week later. he obviously didint get his old job back.

Image credits: marcoux32

After hitting the jackpot, the majority of people buy big mansions or luxurious cars. But when the reality of high recurring mortgages, insurance payments, and other bills sets in, this lifestyle doesn’t look as glamorous anymore. Besides, if the person ever runs out of money, they risk losing all of their assets.

#10

A friend of my boyfriend's parents apparently won a jackpot at the casino when she went in on a whim.... she became addicted and eventually gambled away her winnings, and then hers and her husband's savings.

Image credits: [deleted]

#11

Someone in my small hometown won the lottery once. Years ago. I don't remember how much. Lots. It went right to their heads. I remember they bought a red Ferrari, crashed it a week later. It was a write off. So they bought another one. They currently have nothing to show for it. Which is sad, because it was enough to change lives.

Image credits: Whoneedsyou

#12

My moms ex husbands mom won the lottery. I'm pretty sure it was at least a million before tax. I was probably 4 at the time. She passed away when it was 6 and he was an only child so he got most of it. All I know is that I'm 22 now and by the time I was 12 that money was long gone. If I was older I would have slapped both my mom and my stepdad in the face and told them to stop being idiots and save it or at least invest in something worth while. On the plus side I got everything my little childhood self ever wanted

Image credits: Srosel927

#13

There was a girl I went to high school with whose parents had won the Power Ball in Kentucky.

Something ridiculous like 80 million.

Unfortunately, it was a really stereotypical story. They moved to a classy part of South Florida, bought a huge house and filled it with stuff.

The girl was 14 or 15 when she came to our snobby private school with a butterfly already tattooed on her pelvis. She seemed really sweet from the few times I spoke to her, but within a year or two she vanished. Apparently her family had spent all the money on drugs/stuff, and had gone completely bankrupt within 5 years or so.

From what I can see on her Facebook now she's in a steady relationship with two cute kids. So I hope things ended well for her.

Image credits: coffee_spoons

#14

I had an uncle who won and his whole family got really into coc***e and now they are broke as expected.

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#15

A secretary at work who is in her early 70s won $100, 000 five years ago and then $50,000 two years ago. She has none of it left and is always hitting me up for pay advances and raises. Apparently she bought her kids vehicles and blew the rest of it.

Sad that an older person who won that much money has nothing in the bank and still has to work everyday to make ends meet

Image credits: anon

#16

I know a guy who won 1.4 million euro's about 8 years ago. He had to close down his restaurant before that time and wan't doing really well. After winning the prize he bought a bunch of cars and a house or two. Last I heard he had to sell his cars and is basically where he started. According to the other comments this happens a lot. People think winning >1 mil means you can spend it on whatever and it will last you a lifetime.

Image credits: aSomeone

#17

Good friend's parents won the lottery when he was in grade school. I didn't know him then, but I know they had to basically "hide" under the wife's maiden name because of all the people that came out of hiding. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to manage their money well. I think it was a $12 million payout. My friend and his younger sister are both now adults, but are under the assumption that money will fall in their laps the way that it did to their family. Sad, really.

Image credits: Leeloo_Sebat-Dallas

#18

I met a guy who won over 5 million. I worked in a courthouse at the time and was in the courtroom when he entered his guilty plea for possession of drugs and guns. As I recall, he got a 10 year mandatory minimum sentence. He said that winning the lottery ruined his life.

Image credits: gnujack

#19

My dad won the lottery. $6.5 million to be exact back in 1991. He did this payment plan where he got about a quarter of a million every year for the next 20 years. He also ended up quitting his job. I spent most of my life living in a 4,000 square foot house. Now the money stopped coming in. He spent too much and is now in $100,000 worth of debt. He works as a janitor now at a college and I have major student loans to pay because I gave my college savings to help pay for s**t. Moral of the story, don't be stupid with your money, and keep your job after you win the lottery. Retire earlier in your 50's maybe.

Image credits: rememberzack

#20

I know a man who has won and it got really bad. The whole family wanted to have a piece of the cake, all they did was having fights about the money.

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#21

A former neighbor won one million dollars three, maybe four years ago by getting the five white balls on Powerball. She took the lump sum and ended up with roughly $550,000 after taxes and fees.
She promptly started buying cars and giving people money like she had won $550 million and not $550,000. She didn't get a new roof or siding on her house like she needed to.
About 10 months into it the cars were gone and replaced with a 5 year old Honda. The roof and siding still needed repaired. Thankfully she sold and the new owners really fixed the house up.

Similar to winning the lottery, my wife had a coworker whose very wealthy grandmother passed away. He was the only grandchild and she spoiled the s**t out of him for being 30 years old with a fairly well paying job. When she died, he didn't even wait for the will to be read, he just quit. Packed up his stuff and walked out. About 2 weeks later, the news makes it to the office that she only left him $50,000. He assumed she was going to leave most of it to him, but she left the majority of her estate to different charities. He tried to get his old job back a month after he walked out, but they said no.

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#22

My husbands mother met a couple on a cruise who had won the lottery (quite a sizable amount) they had a huge huge mansion to live in designer clothe, cars, you name it but were completely miserable. They said that it's tore their family apart because they are all after their money if they don't give them any they are considered stingy (mean) if they give it out they are looked upon as showing off their wealth. The thing is i never understood this. If we won the lottery, we would give a lump sum to close friends and family who we felt deserved it (9i.e those who aren't arseholes, who like stirring s**t up) wed pay off our mortgage, quit our jobs, but just continue to live more or less how we do now, not going crazy but living very comfortably without leaving our comfort zone.

Image credits: ste4296