Here are Ways on How Winning the Lottery Changes a Person. The Last One Hurts.

They say that the best way to really know the person is to marry that person. While that’s true, there’s a better gauge of a person’s moral qualities – him winning the lottery. You may think that someone is in line for canonization, but everything changes when he strikes it big in the lottery.

A Lot of Money can Change a Person, or Just Show Who He Really is

Imagine yourself with a thousand dollars. Surely, your personality will change a little. Now, can you imagine someone winning hundreds of millions of dollars? The changes in him are unimaginable. Fortunately, we’re able to get ahold of a few family members and friends of lottery winners and they spilled the beans on how winning the lottery showed the real personal moral qualities of the person.

How Lottery Winners Changed

Here are some changes observed on the winners:

1. They became more materialistic.

There’s no clear study to back it up, but you can bet that a good number of lottery winners bought materialistic things like a bigger house that they don’t need, more supercars that they can drive, and jewelry that they won’t really wear. Worse, they spent almost all their winnings on these materialistic things. According to reports, 70% of lottery winners spent all their winnings within 5 years.

2. They became greedy.

They’ve beaten the odds once. Of course they’re going to try again. They won’t be contented with their winnings. They’re going to try again and they’re pretty much convinced that they’ll win again.

That’s generally okay. We can’t blame them for trying again after winning the lottery. However, the greed is observed in other things. Very few lottery winners donate to church or charity. They even hire a high-priced accountant so they can lower their taxes on everything.

Worst of all, they forget to help family members and friends who are really in need.

3. They develop vices.

Now that they can buy the most expensive liquors and cigars, they develop vices. A lot of them even turn to expensive drugs. To make matters worse, they start to gamble, and since they’re greedy, they’re unable to stop. This explains why a lot of winners lose everything within 5 years of winning the lottery.

4. They try to buy everything, including things that can’t be bought by money.

They try to buy friends by throwing lavish parties after lavish parties. They try to buy love by showering their target with expensive gifts. They try to buy quality time with family by showering them with expensive toys and gadgets.

It seems that now that they have the money, their answer to everything is money.

5. They forget their real friends.

They feel that they’re too good for their old friends, so they forget about them. Part of this is their fear of their friends exploiting them, but real friends wouldn’t do that. Instead of sticking around to find out who their real friends are, a lot of lottery winners just dump them all and just look for new friends that they can buy.

6. They forget about their family.

A lot of them are under the impression that as long as they’ve bought a 10 bedroom house for the family and a car each for every family member, they’ve done a good job already as part of that family. They leave home for vacations for weeks at a time. They cheat on their spouse. They miss PTA meetings and soccer practices. They forget important dates and occasions.

Winning the Lottery is a Test

Of course, you’d love to be tested this way. However, it’s a good idea to prepare yourself just in case you win the lottery. There are some things that you can do so you can pass the test so that your personal moral qualities wouldn’t be compromised. Here’s what you can do:

1. Be private about it.

Don’t go announcing to the world that you won the lottery. Stick to your family and just a few very close friends.

2. Hire a trusted lawyer and accountant.

They should be able to help you manage your money so you can make the right decisions.

3. Take annual payments instead of a lump sum.

This gives you some leeway just in case you “fail” the test. If you become too greedy or you develop vices and lost your annual payment for the first year, you can learn from your mistakes and recover in the succeeding years.

4. Family first.

They’ve been with you through thick and thin. Nothing should change except for the fact that you’re a multi-millionaire.

Winning the lottery allows you to show that you’re a person with unquestionable moral character. Don’t fail the test.