Expert’s warning of lotto winners going broke within a few years ahead of $120m draw

Australians are frothing for the $120 million lottery draw tonight — but past winners have some grim words of warning.

With just hours to go until the $120 million lottery prize is announced for Thursday night, a financial expert has revealed a sobering statistic.

“Most lotto winners actually go broke within a couple of years,” Adele Martin, a certified financial planner, said in news.com.au’s ‘I’ve Got News For You’ podcast.

Speaking to podcast host Andrew Bucklow, she added: That’s all around the world, not just in Australia.

“And that’s because, you know, if you’re not good at managing $100,000, you aren’t going to magically be better at managing $120 million.

“It’s the same principles, just more zeros.”

Mr Bucklow delved into that scary fact and it didn’t take long to discover some tragic cases of past lottery winners.

A $120 million Powerball prize is being announced on Thursday night.

Amy McCauley was a bus driver in New York who won US$15 million (A$20 million) in the 1990s.

After the win, she was besieged by friends and family members asking for money. In the end, she fell out with two of her brothers ditched, most of her so-called friends, and moved to a town when no one knew her.

Jane Park £1 million ($1.87 million) in the UK when she was just 17 years old.

She bought an apartment, two cars splashed out on clothes and went on a number of holidays. But she later said the win made her lonely and miserable.

In an even more extreme case, British woman Callie Rogers won £1.9 million (A$3.56 million) when she was just 16.

She gave away half of the money to friends and family, then spent a further £300,000 on clothes and got three boob jobs.

But now 19 years later, she’s completely broke and is relying on government payouts. She tried to take her own life a few times.

One man did actually lose his life over his lottery win.

Abraham Shakespeare was 40 years old when he won US$30 million (A$41 million) in the US in 2006. He was befriended by a woman named Dee Dee Moore.

She was convicted of shooting and killing Shakespeare and hiding his body under a concrete slab in her backyard.

Sixteen-year-old Callie Rogers when she won the huge sum of money. Picture: Phil Noble – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images

But it doesn’t always end badly.

Mr Bucklow spoke to Sue*, a Western Australian gym owner who turned $5 into $80 million in December last year.

She spent just $5 on a lottery ticket with a syndicate of other 54 other women from her gym.

They got lucky and each took home $1.45 million.

“You always hear about lotto winners saying that when you win a lot of money, a lot of people come out of the woodwork, family members, friends and ask for cash. Did that happen to you?” the podcast host asked.

“No, no, not at all,” Sue replied.

“I haven’t had barely anyone who’s asked for cash. I’ve given a little bit to family to help I’ve helped my children out but not one person has come out of the woodwork that you weren’t expecting to ask for money so it’s been great in that way.”

She revealed she still runs the gym, working 12 hours a day six days a week.

The group of gym-goers have entered again into tonight’s $120 million lottery, partly for the sake of those who missed out on entering the syndicate last time.

Many people wished they’d never won the lottery.

As for how to avoid going broke after a big win, finance guru Ms Martin had a word of advice.

If you win the lottery “the first thing you should do is to keep calm and carry on, which I know is easier said than done,” she said.

“The reason why I say that is you don‘t want to be making decisions when you are super emotional.

“Because when you’re very emotional, you aren’t making decisions clearly.

“When you’re too happy, you’re not thinking about all the downside risks or vice versa. If you’re too sad, you’re not thinking about all the positive things.

“So it really is important to try and keep as much as you can, you know in that neutral state and not make big decisions [until a bit later].”

*Last name withheld over privacy concerns

Originally published as Expert’s warning of lotto winners going broke within a few years ahead of $120m draw