Maybe There's a Reason They Call it "The Lottery"

While I was writing my last post about people dying early after suffering a large financial setback (see “Death by Wealth Shock”), it occurred to me that the researchers who uncovered the phenomenon misnamed it.  “Wealth Shock” does not elicit a mental picture of someone with an empty bank account.  It sounds more to me like the condition of someone who has just unexpectedly come into a large sum of money—like a lottery winner.

 

In fact, lottery winners make perfect case studies of what happens when sudden wealth comes to someone.  We’ve all seen the pictures of smiling men and women holding a hugely oversized check in the company of state lottery officials.  What happens when they go home?

 

Jeffrey Dampier won $20 million in the Illinois lottery.  Though he unselfishly shared his wealth with family and friends, it was not enough for his sister-in-law and her boyfriend—who are now serving life sentences for kidnapping and murdering Dampier for his money.

 

Forty-six year-old Urooj Khan had the winning numbers in a $1 million drawing but didn’t live to enjoy his newfound wealth.  He dropped dead the day after winning, with an autopsy showing it was from cyanide poisoning.  There were suspects in his murder but no charges were ever brought.

 

One year after taking home $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery, William Post III was $1 million in debt.  His brother was arrested for hiring a man to kill him.  And Post eventually was jailed for firing a gun toward a bill collector.  He was quoted as saying the whole affair of winning was a nightmare he wished had never happened.

 

Even people who seemed to have it all together and wanted to use their money for good fell under the lottery curse.  Jack Whittaker of West Virginia came into a whopping $315 million in a multi-state lottery.  He built churches, contributed to Christian charities, and founded the Jack Whittaker Foundation to offer food and clothing to low-income families.  But he was arrested for drunk driving and again for threatening a bartender; was sued for groping a woman; robbed twice of tens of thousands of dollars; divorced; saw his granddaughter (to whom he was giving a $2100 weekly allowance) die of a drug overdose; and finally told others he wished he’d torn up the winning ticket.

 

Nearly 70% of lottery winners end up broke in seven years or less.  Indeed, they are MORE likely to declare bankruptcy than the average American within three to five years of winning the jackpot. 

 

One winner who did manage to avoid the fate of these others told the Associated Press, “These (family and friends) are people who you’ve loved deep down, and they’re turning into vampires trying to suck the life out of me.”

 

And it’s not just lottery winners suffering from this wealth syndrome.  How about those rich sports stars?  Sports Illustrated did a study of former professional athletes and found that after only two years of retirement, 78% of NFL players were either broke or struggling financially; and within five years of retirement, 60% of NBA players were flat broke.

 

Extravagant spending?  Greedy friends and relatives?  Bad investments?  Theft and fraud?  Each case will have its own twists and turns.  But this week’s Scripture, advice from the wisest man to ever live (and who fell victim himself to great wealth), should be our own prayer.

 

Until next time,

 

Roger

 

“Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say ‘Who is the Lord?’  Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”  Proverbs 30: 8, 9 NIV®*

 *Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®

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