Quote:
Originally Posted by polak
Move away from the leechers.
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Yeah, so you can enjoy the high life by yourself. With no family or friends. Sounds wonderful.
I'd cap the amount I need to be happy for the rest of my life at about $4 mil. Anything beyond that would strain the fabric of my life in ways that would mean a net loss of happiness. I like my family. I like my friends. I like my neighbourhood. I like the lifestyle I give my kids. I don't want to dramatically change all that stuff so I can have better houses and cars and more extravagant vacations.
I watched a documentary on lottery winners, and besides the predictable train wrecks (dumb poor people with terrible lifestyles blowing it all in a boozy haze), the one that made a lasting impression was a middle-class family who won tens of millions. They moved into a mansion in a community where they didn't know anybody (and where presumably they were regarded with contempt as nouveaux rich). They no longer had anything in common with their friends, who couldn't relate, and couldn't afford to go out with them. They had to cut off family who mooched. They worried about people wanting to date their kids just because they were rich. Sure, they had a nice big house and nice stuff. But they didn't strike me as especially happy. They struck me as very isolated.
Though I suppose if you hate your life already (and it seems a lot of lottery players do) you have nothing to lose anyway.