If you ever win a large sum of money and are given the option to take less now or more over time, take less now.
Agreed, feels like the company should have been and should be now required to purchase an annuity or other similar product that protects the winners.
I wonder what happened in 2003. Probably the company’s fortunes were already faltering.
Also the business was probably becoming obsolete at that point. The internet brought easier access to magazine content, magazine subscriptions signups, and sweepstakes. I remember there being a pretty big sweepstakes forum community at that point.
It also seems like the most lucrative customers may have been using the sweepstakes as a form of gambling, and gambling options have just steadily expanded for decades.
mikestew•4mo ago
pkaye•4mo ago
> Mr. Wyllie had been receiving an annual check for $260,000 every January, money that allowed him to retire and buy a home on six acres. But this year, the checks stopped. A few months later, he learned why: Publishers Clearing House had filed for bankruptcy protection without warning.
> Mr. Wyllie, who had not worked in more than a decade, said he had recently found a part-time job, but added, “I won’t make enough money to even pay the mortgage.”
Wow this guy has been getting $260k every year and still hasn't paid off his mortgage. I guess the spending habits of some people expands when they get more money.
CamperBob2•4mo ago
Depending on your mortgage rate and how long you've held it, paying it off might be a really terrible financial decision.
detaro•4mo ago
altairprime•4mo ago
abduhl•4mo ago
bodiekane•4mo ago
The median home price in SF is $1.3. Using the calculator at zillow (https://www.zillow.com/homeloans/buyability/) with an income of $260k, looking to buy a $1.3MM house, you'd need a down payment of over $300k.
So suppose you get your $260k payout and want to live in SF... you have to rent for what... 5 or 10 years to save up the $300k down payment (while living modestly to save tens of thousands per year). Then finally you can buy your average home, watch half your income disappear to taxes and another third to mortgage, and then you'll still have enough to live a comfortable, middle-class life.
You're not buying yachts, getting meetings with senators or buying your kids into elite schools. You're not flying private, hiring personal assistants or buying a vacation home in Aspen. You're not making dozens of angel investments or being courted as a limited partner by VCs or PE funds.
"Upper class" probably starts at around $10-15 million in liquid assets, to be able to really have the freedom, flexibility and power to live a life that's distinct from middle class existence. If you can't give your son a "small loan of $1 million" to start his business (and be able to shrug off a complete loss as a learning experience) then you're not upper class.
abduhl•4mo ago
By the way, the solution to your “I want to buy a house in SF” problem isn’t to move to SF and pay an insane amount of rent for 5-10 years, it’s to keep living like you did and doing your normal job that you were doing before you won 260k/yr for 2 years while you save.
I won’t even bother digging into how warped your view of what it means to be upper class is, I’ll just say stay on that hamster wheel and keep chasing that dream dude.
altairprime•4mo ago
abduhl•4mo ago
altairprime•4mo ago