Seven-Time Lottery Winner Offers Tips to Powerball Winner | ABC News

winning the lottery can be life-changing of course but not always in the ways you might think sometimes that money can launch a quick trip to Rock Bottom so tonight as one lucky woman takes home a historically huge Powerball windfall ABC's David Wright finds out how to steer clear of costly mistakes there you go it's crazy that big check says 310 million five hundred thousand dollars not all of which will go to factory worker Julie Leach she's taking the lump sum so after taxes she Pockets a mere 140 million are you leaving your job oh I quit automatically I was done who Among Us hasn't entertained that fantasy but as she and her boyfriend would tell you the first emotion is Joy but not far behind is a vague sense of panic you can't believe it just never thought it'd ever happen really no you do when it does and you know yeah you hope you hope it happens and when it does you just yeah what do you do what do you do about that panic and the problems that potentially follow more in a moment but first in case you don't Know leech's full story let's give her some time to celebrate she bought her twenty dollars in Quick Picks at this Michigan Shell station on her way to work the overnight shift about 1am at the McDonald's drive-through on her lunch break she finally remembered to check her ticket under the golden arches she struck it rich I was having a really bad night at work thought well I might as well check my numbers while I'm sitting here waiting for my lunch and that's when I realized that I was the winner I didn't believe it for 23 years she worked at aquatic bathware a fiberglass Factory nasty dirty job her boyfriend Von Avery is a factory worker too I woke him up tell him he got up I said we won he said what we won I said I won the lottery we won the lottery oh get out of here I was in disbelief but listen closely to those shifting pronouns we won I said I won the lottery we won the lottery oh get out of here good there 36-year relationship be about to face a test this is my significant other we have never been married but My Two children are with him a point that came up awkwardly at the press conference where she alone held that check he hasn't by chance proposed in the last day or so I said he'd have to sign a prenup now for some lottery winners all that money can cause greed and jealousy worst case scenario D.D Moore found guilty of swindling and then killing Abraham Shakespeare after he won a 17 million dollar jackpot she buried him in the backyard the lives of lottery winners is so fascinating they even made a reality show about it Lottery changed my life some of them hitting it big on the slot machines others teenage millionaires building the restaurant of their dreams it's going to be unlike any other restaurant in Steamboat studies show that 70 percent of lottery winners that's more than two out of three lose the bulk of it within a few years don't get caught up in Lottery fever okay uh there are people out there they win lots of money and the first thing they do is they start going out and buying fancy cars and throwing big parties Richard lustig has won the grand prize seven times he advises any lottery winner to be careful so the first thing you want to do is hire yourself a good accountant a good financial planner and a good lawyer Julie Leach and Von Avery planned to get themselves some good advice we're simple people we we don't know how to deal with money it's that kind of money anyway you know we get weekly paychecks that we pay our bills with winning the lottery does make you happy for a little while but once that he found that after a few months your overall happiness reverts to what it was before you won Julian Vaughn both insists they don't want their lives to change all that much we don't want it different we want it the same as it was we want to enjoy it we're just going to enjoy it with a little bit more money we'll still be the same people one mistake many lottery winners make is giving all that money to family and friends anybody you've ever crossed paths with is going to call you and and look for a handout and even some people you've never met are going to call you and look for a handout so I think it really takes the pays to take a measured approach on this Julie Leach is thinking ahead for her family I'm going to take care of my kids I don't want them to have to work like I had to work and deal with the kind of things that I had to deal with over life already her 11 grandkids are well aware of the change in their circumstances Grandma's rich I've heard that one she sure is and here's hoping that she and her family beat the odds again and have a good time spending all that money I'm David Wright for Nightline in New York

Channel: ABC News

Views: 7,811,549

Keywords: Powerball Jackpot Winner, Powerball lottery, Julie Leach, Quit automatically, 310 million jackpot, business, ABC News, ABC, Nightline, lottery winner, winning numbers

Id: a-WWMvlQBEU

Length: 5min 33sec (333 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 08 2015