More Than You Know for the Win Lyrics
Everybody needs money to survive. Information technology's a fact nosotros may not like, but it's still a fact. Another inescapable truth is that most of us could use more money for the things we need as well every bit 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 money. The choices and mistakes she made after winning ultimately resulted in losing it all. Her story reminds us all to never forget that coin doesn't buy happiness.
See Marie Holmes
When she was 26, Marie Holmes was living a difficult life in North Carolina. She was a hard-working, single mother of four with 2 low-paying jobs. On acme of this, one of her children had just been diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
Considering of her child's special needs, Marie was forced to quit both of her jobs to care for him total fourth dimension. Apparently, the $188 million lottery windfall seemed like a Godsend when Marie won, just unfortunately, she made a series of poor decisions that resulted in her losing it all.
Marie made some promising comments about what she planned to do with the lottery money — $127 one thousand thousand after she chose to go it in a lump sum. "Start I'grand going to pay my tithes, because I wouldn't have none of information technology if it weren't for God."
"After that, I'm going to fix accounts for my kids…I'thou going to buy a house for me and my kids, so brand sure my family is all expert." Marie also told WGN-TV, "I don't accept to worry about the word 'struggle' no more than and neither do [my children]."
The Waiting Game
Although most lottery winnings are not life irresolute, 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. Even so, at that place is a lengthy process involved in claiming large lottery winnings.
The ticket has to exist verified by a scanning machine. Next, there is a waiting flow for the money to be awarded, and the winner must fill out some identification paperwork. Last, the winner must decide if they want all the money in a lump sum or take it dispersed in installments for 30 years (on average).
Choices, Choices
One of the more than difficult choices when a person wins millions of dollars in a lottery is whether to get the money in a lump sum or in installments. The dilemma occurs considering there is a large penalty for getting all the money faster in a lump sum.
Marie had the option of collecting the entire $188 million over 30 years or forfeiting $61 meg and collecting the remaining $127 million much sooner. Financial experts commonly recommend taking the lump sum and investing the coin. That allows yous the opportunity to make money on your winnings instead of the land. Marie chose the lump sum.
Uncle Sam's Cut
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 lot. Although the entire tax amount wasn't reported in Marie Holmes' case, she definitely paid millions to the government.
In the U.South., lottery winnings are considered income past the IRS, on both the land and federal levels. Therefore, Due north Carolina would accept taken five.viii% of Marie'south $127 meg, and the Federal Authorities would have taken anywhere from 25% to 39.half dozen%, depending on taxation subclass and other factors. Almost people pay the highest rate.
Setting an Example
When Marie won the lottery, she had plans that all sounded very honorable. She said she would donate first to her church and and so movement out of her mobile home and buy a new house for her children. She also planned to ready college funds for them.
Marie told NBC, "All the struggle that I ever went through, it was all for [my children]. I want them to understand that money doesn't alter you lot, simply it can assist you." The public fell in love with Marie after hearing about her history of poverty and hard knocks before she became wealthy.
Could She Handle It?
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 1 indicate, she had two jobs — Walmart and McDonald's — to support her iv children. Therefore, nobody expected her to make poor decisions about where the money would go.
Of course, no one took into business relationship that Marie was inexperienced and uninformed about 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 Advisor, Please?
When people who aren't wealthy win a lot of money, it's highly recommended that they seek professional help about how to manage the money, including what NOT to practise with it. The average American has admittedly no feel handling large amounts of coin.
Fiscal advisors warn that even titanic amounts of money can disappear rapidly if it isn't invested wisely. In the case of Marie Holmes, it seemed like her heart was in the correct identify and she was doing what she thought was right, just some adept communication definitely would have helped her out.
The Bad Judgment Begins
The showtime thing dubbed a poor judgment call past the public was the $15,000 Rolex that Marie bought her boyfriend, Lamar "Hot Sauce" McDow. The scout was more jewelry than a timepiece and was reportedly "dripping with diamonds."
That aforementioned boyfriend ultimately cost 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 go arrested throughout their human relationship, and Marie spent millions on his bail and defence.
The Saga Continues
Before being 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 after serving his sentence, he lived in the $350,000 home that she had purchased later on winning the lottery.
According to the Daily Postal service, of the original amount of $188 one thousand thousand, Marie was left with virtually $88 million after deciding to take her winnings in a lump sum and paying taxes. This is still a very large corporeality of money, simply a loss of $100 meg is obviously very significant.
Leeches Coming Out of the Woodwork
Predictably, lots of people immediately started asking Marie and her boyfriend for money after they heard she won the lottery. The people included friends, family members and numerous others, all requesting various amounts of coin for all kinds of reasons. Unfortunately, this experience is common for lottery winners.
Marie and Lamar were constantly harassed for coin handouts, and it became very stressful for them. Marie was quoted as saying, "When money comes, there are more bug," according to reports.
Racial Intolerance in Their New Home
Another problem that plagued Marie and her family 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 unit was an intolerant, primarily white community, and much to the family'southward chagrin, the residents were not interested in changing.
Co-ordinate to Lamar, "One neighbor ready a camera to record everything we were doing. If I was driving down the route and going at the speed limit, they would wave at me for going too fast. They did not want us at that place. They were prejudiced." Lamar reported these disturbing events to the Daily Mail.
The Church Donation
Marie stayed truthful to her give-and-take, which was reported in a press release as "The first thing she promised was to tithe — give a 10th of her winnings to clemency." Marie donated a full of $700,000 to her hometown church, Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church building, located in Shallotte, NC.
The church reportedly used the coin for much-needed renovations. Marie told the press the church building was an important part of her life and her faith and that she had been attending that particular church building since she was a kid.
Pastor Disaster
Unfortunately, a different pastor made contact with Marie and her family 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 believed him and allowed him into their lives and their home.
Soon after meeting Marie, Pastor Matthews asked her for $i.5 meg so he could build a retreat. According to him, Marie verbally agreed to fund the project, although in that location is no evidence to back up that. He then went ahead and began construction on the retreat using his own money. Marie did non contribute.
Wicked Intentions
Citing a verbal understanding in which Marie allegedly promised to donate $1.five million for his retreat, Pastor Kevin Matthews announced publicly that he was suing Marie Holmes for $10 meg. The corporeality of money named in the suit was baffling, because the amount he was allegedly promised was much less.
The public believed Pastor Matthews was beingness 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 agreement with Marie for a money donation and compensation for "emotional distress."
Public Outrage
Every bit soon equally the media caught wind of the lawsuit, they uncovered that Matthews did not appear to be affiliated with any church. This led to a astringent, angry public backlash. People shamed Matthews for being a fraud and trying to scam a prissy lady out of her rightful winnings.
One YouTuber, "Donald the Repentless," was so mad virtually this that he put out videos entitled, "F*** You Pastor Kevin Matthews." Public stance was clear that this and then-chosen "pastor" was nothing simply a money-grubbing scam artist preying on a nice lady to get his hands on a lot of undeserved money.
To Tiptop It Off: Infidelity
In more bad news for Marie and her children, the media reported that her ex-convict fellow was existence unfaithful. Unfortunately, it was also reported that she herself paid Lamar's mistresses hush money to get abroad instead of getting rid of him.
In more reputation dissentious news, a video surfaced on Facebook of a woman who claimed that in addition to Lamar cheating on Marie, he was too stealing money from her to pay prostitutes for "sexual favors." Unfortunately, the video went viral, as juicy gossip often does.
Powering Through
Instead of withering under the scrutiny of the media and the public, Marie decided to accept drastic measures to better her circumstances. She gathered her strength and took matters into her own hands by turning to a well-known life coach to get some advice near how to better her life.
Marie contacted Iyanla Vanzant, who has her ain testify advising people nearly their relationships on the Oprah Network. Vanzant is a renowned author and motivational speaker with a huge post-obit due to her reputation for irresolute people's lives for the ameliorate.
The Truth Revealed
In another surprising twist, when Marie went on the Iyanla: Fix My Life talk bear witness, her female parent, Fontella, came out and revealed that the numbers she chose for the winning lottery ticket were really hers and that they had a very special significant.
"I kept dreaming nigh your brother that we lost. His birthday, he was the third child, he'd have been 25 that twelvemonth. Those were the numbers." When Marie asked her female parent why she didn't claim the money 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 plenty to stay in Marie'due south good graces long plenty to fight jail iii times, to the tune of millions in bail and legal fees. The first fourth dimension Marie bailed him out, it cost her $3 million in bond coin.
Before a yr had passed, Lamar was arrested again, and Marie bailed him out again for $6 million. The 3rd time Marie bailed out Lamar, it was $12 1000000. Yous would remember she would have been repulsed by his criminal behavior, but she but 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 finish up with criminal charges herself. Unfortunately, that'south exactly what happened. One night, Lamar violated his parole curfew. When the police came, they discovered marijuana in the house.
Tragically, Marie was arrested for possession in front of her children. Marijuana remains illegal in Due north Carolina, but at that place is a pregnant racial bias about who is criminalized for it, according to the ACLU. The same number of white people every bit blackness people use marijuana, only blacks are 3.73 times more probable to be arrested.
The Boyfriend Defence force
Lamar somewhen got angry at the people criticizing Marie for spending her money bailing him out of jail, and he lashed out. To the Daily Mail, he asserted, "We are a couple, and I am the father of her youngest child. This is what people practice for each other."
Lamar went on to say, "She has the coin, and she can do what she wants with it. If I had that money, and so I would exercise the same for her. People are just jealous because of how much she won, and people want to run into me locked in jail."
The Wolf Pit
During the taping of the Iyanla show, the bad headlines but kept rolling in. Marie's family and even former friends started accusing her of actually stealing the lottery ticket from her mother, despite Fontella freely admitting on television that she had given the ticket to Marie.
To add to the stress and drama, Lamar went to jail at this time on a vii-yr sentence for charges related to possessing and selling heroin. Truthful to class, Marie persisted in pushing forward and moving on with her life, demonstrating her strength and resilience.
A Goal Met
Despite poor gustatory modality in partners, Marie did make some good decisions about what to do with some of her money. She ended upward giving $9.seven 1000000 to various charities. Part of that money 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 before she won the lottery.
Practise Christians Gamble?
Marie was raised a devout Catholic, and she leans heavily on her Christian faith. 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 information technology comes to Christians gambling.
Ane pastor said this to the Christian Post: "You can't be against the lottery, only your youth department is doing a RAFFLE! Same affair, pastor. Same Matter!" The stigma remains almost gambling being an irresponsible coin-waster. Others argue that there is nothing specific said about gambling in the Bible, so information technology'due south okay when information technology'due south not abused.
The Root of All Evil
Other religious people, such as one pastor cited in the Christian Mail, pointed out that the Bible says that money is where evil originated. He scolded Marie for buying the lottery ticket and went on to say, "Showtime, nosotros must guard against our love of money."
Information technology should be noted that when the Bible does mention "casting lots," it's not usually talking about textile gain, just well-nigh God. In an example of this, Proverbs 16:33 states, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord."
Some Friendly Advice
We recommend that others read the unfortunate story of Marie Holmes in case they observe themselves in her shoes. It's non at all piece of cake to go from rags to riches, and similar versions of her story have happened to others.
It's important to empathise 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 good professional financial adept to help you decide how to manage your money to avoid reckless decisions.
A Cautionary Tale
If you ever happen to find yourself in the unlikely position of winning the lottery some things to watch out for include government laws, lottery rules, land and federal taxes and your previous unpaid debts. These things can help you calculate your expendable income.
Information technology may be unwise in the initial excitement to promise lots of charitable giving, like Marie did, without get-go doing the math to see what your have-home amount actually is. Multiple millions of dollars may seem like an enormous amount, but as Marie discovered, it's like shooting fish in a barrel to burn through it speedily if yous are uninformed.
Further Drama
Some think that Marie had a run of terrible luck after she won the lottery, while others think she brought her woes upon herself with poor conclusion-making. A few remember the truth lies somewhere in the center of those two black-and-white judgments.
Aside from spending millions on her boyfriend — who eventually concluded upwardly in federal prison anyway — Marie also fabricated another questionable decisions after winning the lotto, such as ownership her boyfriend a concern of his ain and buying her mother a house. She also had harassment charges filed against her for allegedly calling a adult female repeatedly to threaten her.
The Bottom Line
The ending of this story is generally grim, although Marie Holmes did practice some positive things with a lasting bear on before the last of her coin 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 yous e'er hit it big: Don't trust anyone asking for money, even if they seem to take a very respectable social status (like the pastor who sued Marie Holmes). Remember the skilful that money can do, simply don't forget the bad. No matter what, don't make bold promises immediately later winning.
Source: https://www.reference.com/business-finance/what-not-to-do-if-you-win-lottery?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740005%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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