Why Lottery Winners Lose it All

The statistics are pretty resounding - over 70% of lottery winners lose all of their winnings within 5 years. 

Why is that?

It comes down to two things:

1. Education

Here's an example. Imagine being a pregnant woman 500 years ago, a first time mother. All you know is what you're experiencing. All the pre-emptive work you can do to ensure a healthy birth is follow the advice of the people around you. Imagine spending 9 months in this kind of limbo, not knowing what to expect other than what your mother, grandmother, best friend told you.

Today, a pregnant woman will see her doctor every few weeks. She'll have her baby's growth monitored and tested. She'll have her health tested with a battery of tests. She'll have antenatal classes that will teach her everything she needs to know. She'll have the internet and every expert available to her.

This kind of education doesn't mean that she'll have the perfect birth, but it gets rid of 80% of the doubts, the misinformation, the guesswork and the stress of having a baby.

That is the power of education. It changes our trajectory as we learn from the successes and failure of others. The average lottery winner's excessive earnings doesn't attract mentorship. It attracts money hungry opportunists that will give the lottery winner a thousand ways to spend the money...not keep it.

If you think education is expensive, look at the real cost of no education.

2. Relationships

Real wealth lies in relationships. Think about the wealthiest people in the world. Successful wealth that spans generations is transmuted through families. Mothers and fathers teach their children the principles of wealth. They teach them how to create it, how to maintain it, how to grow it and how to pass it on to the next generation.

For this to be successful, you need to be able to hold a relationship down. It's no wonder why Jordan Petersen emphasizes that the number one responsibility you have as a parent is to raise a socially acceptable kid by the age of 4. If you can do that, they'll integrate into society. If anything happens to you, they'll be sociable enough to slot into a family, contribute and eventually become law-abiding members of a community.

Relationships create leverage. They allow us to combine the efforts of a few, channel it all, and reap expontential rewards. Being able to truly connect with another human being, listen to them and help them improve themselves is a life skill.

The Case of the Lottery Winner

Now let's imagine the ideal lottery winner. We'll call her Rebecca. One day, Rebecca wins $5.2 million. She's ecstatic. She's ready to quit her job, buy a yacht and sail the world, buy a jet so that she can chase Summer for the rest of her life...

But before she can even finish these thoughts, she hears her father's reasonable voice in her head. 
"Hasty decisions are pricey," says that voice.

So Rebecca heads over to her parents and tells them the good news. They're just as happy, but they're also cautious. They brainstorm the best way forward, as a family. After some research they find that there are a few financial literacy courses for lottery winners online. Wow, who would've thought that. 

Rebecca attends the courses. She learns, she finds a few mentors and she plans her next moves. She knows that she has to be disciplined with her winnings. She's frugal, almost secretive about her good fortune.

A few years later, Rebecca's $5.2 million has grown to $15.74 million. I could tell you about how she's also safeguarded the money in trusts and invested in multiple businesses that have the potential to tripe this sum in the next 10 years, but that would be unnecessary.

Rebecca understands the value of Education...and Relationships. 

FinLend's Approach to Creating Wealth

At FinLend Academy, we understand that true wealth lies in these two pillars of growth. You don't need $5.2 million to get started. You don't even need $10,000. What you do need is an openness to learn, a work ethic to consistently put in the time, and an excellent system of education and relationships to guide you along the way. 

In this sense, FinLend has you covered. Contact [email protected] so that we can get you started on your journey.

 Because there's more than one way to win the lottery.