19-Year-Old Son Says Dad’s Offer To Share Half Of His Lottery Winnings With Him ‘Isn’t Really Fair’ Because He ‘Might Need The Money More’
Does winning the lottery make your life better or worse?
Roman Samborskyi | Shutterstock Winning the lottery is so rare that most will never experience it. That doesn't mean we don't all dream about the possibility.
All that glitters isn't necessarily gold, however. As it turns out, with all things that seem too good to be true, there are always negatives to consider, especially when it comes to unexpected windfalls.
One man was lucky enough to actually win. Unfortunately, his victory caused quite a bit of contention in his family despite his desire to help loved ones.
A dad’s plan to help his son financially by gifting him a portion of his lottery winnings didn’t go according to plan.
A dad took to Reddit to share his dilemma regarding his lottery winnings and how to share them with his son. He wondered if he was in the wrong, even though he made a very generous offer.
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“I won the lottery,” he said. “$1,000 a day for life. I’m 58. My son is 19.”
Because of his love for his son and his desire to put him in a good financial position, the dad decided to strike up a deal if his son was willing.
The dad offered his son a very generous split of his winnings, but the 19-year-old didn't think it was enough.
“I went to him and told him that I wanted to make a deal,” he said. “I would give him the ticket. In return, he would give me half of the money until I die. Then he gets all the money.”
While many people would jump at this chance, his son was more hesitant.
“He said he needed to think about it,” he continued.
His son did think about it, and came back with a pretty shocking counter-offer. Even though the lottery winnings rightfully belonged to his father, he wanted more.
“He came back and said it wasn’t really fair for me to want half,” he explained. “He said that I could live another 40 years. That he might need the money more and that I should take 20%.”
Despite how unreasonable his son’s proposal was, this dad didn’t immediately say no.
“I said I would think about it,” he said.
The dad decided he couldn’t go along with his son’s request for more money.
This father decided taking only 20% of his winnings wasn't equitable just so his son could have a larger portion of the winnings. Instead, he went down a different route.
“I signed the ticket and claimed the lump sum,” he stated.
Even though his son acted very selfishly, this dad still wanted to help him out, just in a different way.
“I’m seeing a lawyer to set my son up for life,” he continued. “His education will be paid for, when he gets older he will be able to purchase a home for free basically [and] a trust fund will be set up so he gets a good amount of money for the rest of his life.”
Even though this man is doing all that he possibly could to help his son and make life easier for him, it still wasn't enough.
He explained, “Now he is pissed that I went back on my offer. I thought I was being smart but I didn’t realize how greedy he was.”
Despite the problems this family is facing, winning the lottery does not necessarily mean life will go downhill.
This family is going through a crisis because of a lottery win and the uncertainty of handling the money.
However, this isn’t true for all lottery winners. Wealth management expert John Jennings pointed out in an article for Forbes how pervasive the belief that winning the lottery can ruin your life is. He said it is furthered by the media, who latch on to any story about a struggling winner.
“This is what two recent research studies confirm what common sense suggests: Winning the lottery is usually great,” Jennings wrote.
While this particular man’s family is having a hard time grasping his newfound wealth and how it will affect their lives, they are apparently in the minority.
Winning the lottery, as one would suspect, actually makes life better in most cases.
The problem, in this case, isn't about the money. The problem is that this man's son has an entitlement problem. Most people would be more than grateful for the generosity this dad showed.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.