Win Tickets to Paris Fashion Week
Everybody needs money to survive. Information technology's a fact we may not similar, but it'due south still a fact. Another inescapable truth is that most of u.s.a. could use more money for the things we need as well as the things we just want. That probably makes the hope of winning the lottery sound like a dream come true, just the reality is much more complicated than that.
Consider this cautionary tale of a woman in desperate need who won an unbelievable amount of coin. The choices and mistakes she made afterwards winning ultimately resulted in losing it all. Her story reminds us all to never forget that money doesn't purchase happiness.
Meet Marie Holmes
When she was 26, Marie Holmes was living a hard life in Northward Carolina. She was a hard-working, single mother of four with two low-paying jobs. On pinnacle of this, 1 of her children had just been diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
Considering of her child'southward special needs, Marie was forced to quit both of her jobs to care for him full time. Obviously, the $188 one thousand thousand lottery windfall seemed similar a Godsend when Marie won, merely unfortunately, she fabricated a serial of poor decisions that resulted in her losing information technology all.
Marie's Original Plans
Marie made some promising comments about what she planned to practice with the lottery money — $127 million after she chose to get information technology in a lump sum. "Starting time I'grand going to pay my tithes, considering I wouldn't have none of information technology if it weren't for God."
"After that, I'k going to set up accounts for my kids…I'1000 going to buy a house for me and my kids, then make sure my family is all good." Marie also told WGN-TV, "I don't have to worry about the discussion 'struggle' no more and neither do [my children]."
The Waiting Game
Although most lottery winnings are not life changing, lottery jackpots are huge, and there are rules for claiming those winnings. If a person wins less than $599, the institution that sold them the ticket pays them their winnings. However, there is a lengthy procedure involved in challenge large lottery winnings.
The ticket has to be verified past a scanning auto. Side by side, there is a waiting period for the money to exist awarded, and the winner must fill out some identification paperwork. Last, the winner must determine if they want all the money in a lump sum or have information technology dispersed in installments for xxx years (on average).
Choices, Choices
1 of the more difficult choices when a person wins millions of dollars in a lottery is whether to get the coin in a lump sum or in installments. The dilemma occurs because there is a large penalty for getting all the money faster in a lump sum.
Marie had the selection of collecting the entire $188 million over thirty years or forfeiting $61 one thousand thousand and collecting the remaining $127 one thousand thousand much sooner. Fiscal experts commonly recommend taking the lump sum and investing the money. That allows you the opportunity to make money on your winnings instead of the state. Marie chose the lump sum.
Uncle Sam's Cutting
Many people don't know how much taxes people have to pay out of lottery winnings in the U.S., and so we'll break it down for you. Although the entire tax amount wasn't reported in Marie Holmes' instance, she definitely paid millions to the regime.
In the U.S., lottery winnings are considered income by the IRS, on both the country and federal levels. Therefore, N Carolina would have taken 5.8% of Marie'due south $127 million, and the Federal Government would have taken anywhere from 25% to 39.6%, depending on tax bracket and other factors. Most people pay the highest charge per unit.
Setting an Instance
When Marie won the lottery, she had plans that all sounded very honorable. She said she would donate kickoff to her church building and and then motility out of her mobile home and purchase a new house for her children. She too planned to ready college funds for them.
Marie told NBC, "All the struggle that I always went through, it was all for [my children]. I want them to understand that money doesn't alter you, but it can assistance you." The public fell in love with Marie later on hearing most her history of poverty and hard knocks before she became wealthy.
Could She Handle Information technology?
The reputation that Marie had in her hometown and elsewhere was that of a hard-working, single mother who, according to her family and friends, "understood the value of a dollar." At i signal, she had two jobs — Walmart and McDonald's — to support her four children. Therefore, nobody expected her to make poor decisions about where the money would get.
Of course, no one took into business relationship that Marie was inexperienced and uninformed nigh how to handle large amounts of money. When she started deciding how to spend the lottery money, the public viewed her every bit immature and irresponsible.
Fiscal Counselor, Please?
When people who aren't wealthy win a lot of money, information technology's highly recommended that they seek professional help about how to manage the coin, including what NOT to exercise with it. The boilerplate American has absolutely no feel handling large amounts of money.
Financial advisors warn that even titanic amounts of money can disappear rapidly if it isn't invested wisely. In the instance of Marie Holmes, information technology seemed like her heart was in the right place and she was doing what she thought was right, but some adept communication definitely would have helped her out.
The Bad Judgment Begins
The first thing dubbed a poor judgment call by the public was the $15,000 Rolex that Marie bought her boyfriend, Lamar "Hot Sauce" McDow. The watch was more jewelry than a timepiece and was reportedly "dripping with diamonds."
That same young man ultimately price Marie much more. The Port City Daily reported Lamar was a gang member and a drug dealer after he was arrested and charged with "conspiracy to traffic in opium or heroin" in April 2016. He continued to get arrested throughout their relationship, and Marie spent millions on his bail and defense.
The Saga Continues
Earlier beingness sent to jail on drug charges in 2014, Lamar McDow lived with Marie Holmes and her children in her trailer. When he was released from jail later on serving his sentence, he lived in the $350,000 home that she had purchased after winning the lottery.
According to the Daily Mail, of the original corporeality of $188 million, Marie was left with about $88 million afterward deciding to take her winnings in a lump sum and paying taxes. This is still a very big amount of money, just a loss of $100 1000000 is plain very meaning.
Leeches Coming Out of the Woodwork
Predictably, lots of people immediately started asking Marie and her fellow for money after they heard she won the lottery. The people included friends, family members and numerous others, all requesting various amounts of money for all kinds of reasons. Unfortunately, this experience is common for lottery winners.
Marie and Lamar were constantly harassed for money handouts, and it became very stressful for them. Marie was quoted as saying, "When money comes, there are more than problems," according to reports.
Racial Intolerance in Their New Home
Another problem that plagued Marie and her family unit in their new life in their new home was harassment from neighbors due to racial prejudice. The neighborhood that Marie moved into with her family was an intolerant, primarily white community, and much to the family's chagrin, the residents were not interested in changing.
Co-ordinate to Lamar, "One neighbor ready upward a camera to record everything we were doing. If I was driving down the road and going at the speed limit, they would wave at me for going too fast. They did non want united states there. They were prejudiced." Lamar reported these disturbing events to the Daily Post.
The Church building Donation
Marie stayed true to her word, which was reported in a printing release as "The first thing she promised was to tithe — give a tenth of her winnings to charity." Marie donated a total of $700,000 to her hometown church building, Pleasant Loma Missionary Baptist Church, located in Shallotte, NC.
The church reportedly used the coin for much-needed renovations. Marie told the press the church was an important role of her life and her religion and that she had been attending that particular church since she was a kid.
Pastor Disaster
Unfortunately, a unlike pastor fabricated contact with Marie and her family unit with an evil ulterior motive. Pastor Kevin Matthews claimed that "God led him to them," and although they certainly regretted it later, Marie and her family unit believed him and allowed him into their lives and their domicile.
Before long after coming together Marie, Pastor Matthews asked her for $1.5 million then he could build a retreat. According to him, Marie verbally agreed to fund the projection, although in that location is no evidence to support that. He then went alee and began construction on the retreat using his ain money. Marie did not contribute.
Wicked Intentions
Citing a verbal agreement in which Marie allegedly promised to donate $1.v million for his retreat, Pastor Kevin Matthews announced publicly that he was suing Marie Holmes for $ten million. The amount of coin named in the suit was baffling, because the amount he was allegedly promised was much less.
The public believed Pastor Matthews was existence ungrateful and greedy. His behavior seemed unbecoming of a Christian leader to most people of faith. The justification for his lawsuit was that he had a verbal understanding with Marie for a money donation and compensation for "emotional distress."
Public Outrage
As soon as the media defenseless wind of the lawsuit, they uncovered that Matthews did not appear to be affiliated with any church. This led to a severe, angry public backlash. People shamed Matthews for being a fraud and trying to scam a nice lady out of her rightful winnings.
One YouTuber, "Donald the Repentless," was and then mad about this that he put out videos entitled, "F*** Y'all Pastor Kevin Matthews." Public opinion was clear that this so-chosen "pastor" was nothing but a money-grubbing scam artist preying on a nice lady to go his hands on a lot of undeserved money.
To Pinnacle It Off: Infidelity
In more than bad news for Marie and her children, the media reported that her ex-convict beau was being unfaithful. Unfortunately, information technology was also reported that she herself paid Lamar's mistresses hush coin to go away instead of getting rid of him.
In more reputation damaging news, a video surfaced on Facebook of a woman who claimed that in add-on to Lamar cheating on Marie, he was besides stealing money from her to pay prostitutes for "sexual favors." Unfortunately, the video went viral, equally juicy gossip often does.
Powering Through
Instead of withering nether the scrutiny of the media and the public, Marie decided to take desperate measures to meliorate her circumstances. She gathered her strength and took matters into her own hands by turning to a well-known life passenger vehicle to get some advice well-nigh how to improve her life.
Marie contacted Iyanla Vanzant, who has her own prove advising people about their relationships on the Oprah Network. Vanzant is a renowned author and motivational speaker with a huge post-obit due to her reputation for changing people'due south lives for the better.
The Truth Revealed
In another surprising twist, when Marie went on the Iyanla: Fix My Life talk evidence, her female parent, Fontella, came out and revealed that the numbers she chose for the winning lottery ticket were actually hers and that they had a very special meaning.
"I kept dreaming near your brother that we lost. His altogether, he was the 3rd child, he'd accept been 25 that year. Those were the numbers." When Marie asked her mother why she didn't merits the coin for herself, Fontella replied, "I just wanted you to better yourself for the babies."
The Scoop on Lamar McDow
Lamar "Hot Sauce" McDow was fortunate enough to stay in Marie'south skillful graces long enough to fight jail 3 times, to the tune of millions in bail and legal fees. The beginning time Marie bailed him out, it cost her $iii meg in bail coin.
Before a year had passed, Lamar was arrested over again, and Marie bailed him out again for $six million. The 3rd time Marie bailed out Lamar, it was $12 million. You would recall she would have been repulsed by his criminal behavior, but she just kept spending the money, resulting in widespread criticism.
Misery Loves Company
Marie was warned by many people that if she continued her relationship with Lamar, she could end up with criminal charges herself. Unfortunately, that'south exactly what happened. One dark, Lamar violated his parole curfew. When the police force came, they discovered marijuana in the house.
Tragically, Marie was arrested for possession in forepart of her children. Marijuana remains illegal in Due north Carolina, but there is a pregnant racial bias nearly who is criminalized for it, according to the ACLU. The same number of white people as black people use marijuana, only blacks are iii.73 times more likely to be arrested.
The Beau Defense
Lamar eventually got angry at the people criticizing Marie for spending her money bailing him out of jail, and he lashed out. To the Daily Mail service, he asserted, "We are a couple, and I am the father of her youngest child. This is what people do for each other."
Lamar went on to say, "She has the money, and she can exercise what she wants with information technology. If I had that money, then I would do the aforementioned for her. People are just jealous considering of how much she won, and people desire to see me locked in jail."
The Wolf Pit
During the taping of the Iyanla prove, the bad headlines just kept rolling in. Marie'southward family and even quondam friends started accusing her of actually stealing the lottery ticket from her mother, despite Fontella freely admitting on goggle box that she had given the ticket to Marie.
To add together to the stress and drama, Lamar went to jail at this time on a 7-year sentence for charges related to possessing and selling heroin. True to form, Marie persisted in pushing frontwards and moving on with her life, demonstrating her forcefulness and resilience.
A Goal Met
Despite poor taste in partners, Marie did make some proficient decisions nigh what to practise with some of her money. She ended up giving $ix.vii meg to various charities. Part of that coin went to the brand-new Marie Holmes Foundation, which was established to provide for children in need.
Marie's foundation provides necessities for underprivileged children. It also holds community events, which are how some children get their school supplies and their Christmas presents. The foundation helps struggling young mothers like Marie was earlier she won the lottery.
Practice Christians Gamble?
Marie was raised a devout Catholic, and she leans heavily on her Christian organized religion. Some people criticized her for playing the lottery at all, because it tends to be frowned upon by the church building. People have mixed opinions when it comes to Christians gambling.
One pastor said this to the Christian Post: "You can't be against the lottery, only your youth department is doing a RAFFLE! Same thing, pastor. Same THING!" The stigma remains well-nigh gambling being an irresponsible money-waster. Others contend that there is nothing specific said about gambling in the Bible, so it'due south okay when it's not driveling.
The Root of All Evil
Other religious people, such as one pastor cited in the Christian Post, pointed out that the Bible says that money is where evil originated. He scolded Marie for ownership the lottery ticket and went on to say, "First, we must guard against our love of money."
It should exist noted that when the Bible does mention "casting lots," it's non usually talking about cloth gain, just about God. In an example of this, Proverbs 16:33 states, "The lot is cast into the lap, merely its every decision is from the Lord."
Some Friendly Advice
We recommend that others read the unfortunate story of Marie Holmes in example they find themselves in her shoes. Information technology's non at all easy to become from rags to riches, and similar versions of her story have happened to others.
It'southward of import to understand tax laws for the long term, the rules of the lottery and investment options if you ever find yourself in the position of receiving a large windfall of money. Be sure to hire a proficient professional financial skillful to help you decide how to manage your money to avoid reckless decisions.
A Cautionary Tale
If you e'er happen to discover yourself in the unlikely position of winning the lottery some things to lookout man out for include regime laws, lottery rules, state and federal taxes and your previous unpaid debts. These things tin help you calculate your expendable income.
It may be unwise in the initial excitement to promise lots of charitable giving, similar Marie did, without first doing the math to run into what your accept-home amount really is. Multiple millions of dollars may seem like an enormous amount, only as Marie discovered, information technology's easy to burn through it quickly if you lot are uninformed.
Farther Drama
Some think that Marie had a run of terrible luck later on she won the lottery, while others think she brought her woes upon herself with poor determination-making. A few think the truth lies somewhere in the middle of those 2 black-and-white judgments.
Bated from spending millions on her swain — who somewhen concluded upwards in federal prison anyhow — Marie also made some other questionable decisions afterwards winning the lotto, such as ownership her boyfriend a business of his own and ownership her mother a firm. She besides had harassment charges filed against her for allegedly calling a woman repeatedly to threaten her.
The Bottom Line
The ending of this story is by and large grim, although Marie Holmes did do some positive things with a lasting touch on before the concluding of her money was gone. She didn't seem to realize that she would be under a microscope with the media and the public.
Here are a couple more tips, just in case you lot always hit it big: Don't trust anyone asking for money, even if they seem to accept a very respectable social status (like the pastor who sued Marie Holmes). Think the good that money can practice, but don't forget the bad. No thing what, don't make assuming promises immediately after winning.
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