Lotteries, one year later: How many have crashed and burned?

Interestingly enough, I was discussing lotteries and other windfalls with some colleagues recently, and then this Pit Rant about the recent Powerball winner reminded me.

How many lottery winners actually make a valid go of the winnings? As in, say, a year, or two years down the road, they still have significant percentages of the winnings, healthy investments, etc?

Over the years, I’ve read articles about various winners several months or a year down the road, who, after winning, say, $10 Million, are now working at a Dennys and living in a small apartment. The reasons are, it seems, legion- bad investments, drug/alcohol addictions, divorces, friends, family and even con-men leeching off vast amounts, ad nauseum.

Naturally one hears the “after” stories that are worth reporting- those who now have settled down into a comfortable life of semi-luxury aren’t newsworthy.

Does anyone keep stats, however formal or informal? Lists of winners and how they held up financially over six months, twelve months? Is there a site out there somewhere that details some of the ‘after the fact’ stories? Or what do do and what not to do?

You don’t hear about the good investors, because that story’s not interesting.

The first $1,000,000 winner in Maryland’s lottery was cleaning toilets in Florida rest stops 20 years later because his annuity check was eaten up by creditors as soon as it’s issued.

“And they lived happily ever after” just doesn’t sell newspapers.