So you've won the lottery - poor you!
Jasmine Birtles from Moneymagpie.com says that coming into big money isn't always the stuff of dreams. It could be your worst nightmare
Spare a thought for poor Angela Kelly, who has just won £35 million in the Euromillions lottery. The single mother and former postal worker became Britain's biggest lottery winner after buying a £1.50 ticket, defying odds of one in 76 million.
It's going to be a hard road for Angela over the next few years as she and her family learn to adjust to a life of luxury. If you're not used to money (and sometimes even if you are) winning or earning millions can be a terrible shock to the system and can bring on family break-ups, violence, illness and even death.
We all accept, theoretically, that money can't buy you happiness, but most of us would like the chance to find out for ourselves. We quickly forget that mega-bucks can sometimes give you more misery than joy. The untimely death of former Playboy model, Anna Nicole Smith, and Robbie Williams' re-entry into rehab are just two of hundreds of similar stories.
An American winner, William Post, scooped $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988 but now lives on Social Security. 'I wish it never happened. It was a total nightmare,' he said.
A former girlfriend successfully sued him for a share of his winnings, then one of his brothers was arrested for hiring a hit man to kill him, hoping to inherit a share of the winnings. Other siblings pestered him until he agreed to invest in a car business and a restaurant which both lost money and drove more of a wedge between him and his family. Within a year, he was $1 million in debt and deserted by family and friends. He eventually declared bankruptcy and now lives on $450 a month and food stamps.
In the US, there is even something called the 'Sudden Money Institute' which deals with people who have suddenly had a windfall. 'In our culture, there is a widely-held belief that money solves problems,' says Susan Bradley from the Centre. 'People think if they had more money, their troubles would be over. When a family receives sudden money, they frequently learn that it can cause as many problems as it solves.'
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