David Johnson, a 56-year-old truck driver from Brooklyn, New York, is ready to start a new life after winning New York’s $298.3 million Powerball jackpot, reports CBS News.
On Dec. 26, Johnson, a truck driver for Iberia Foods, reported to work to collect his paycheck, despite being sick that day. Following his normal daily routine, Johnson stopped at a local service station in Brooklyn to buy $5 worth of lottery tickets. The next day, Johnson said he received a call from a colleague who said, “Dave, somebody won the Powerball at the gas station.”
“I told him, ‘No bro, that’s not me man,” Johnson said. “That’s not my luck.”
It wasn’t until the following Friday morning that Johnson decided to stop at the service station again to check his numbers and see if he did, in fact, win.
“I looked at the board and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, Jesus, oh my God,'” he said. “I jumped up and down in the store… I got back in my car, turned the music up and zoomed on home.”
Johnson will take home $114 million after taxes, according to CBS News. With the money, he says he plans to quit his job, buy his family a new home, buy himself a red Porsche and work with a team to help him manage his financial investments.
“Don’t get me wrong, the job pays good,” he says. “It’s hard work. So I always wanted to quit. Now, I get a chance to quit.”
While Johnson’s new $114 million fortune may sound like a hefty sum, experts advise anyone who wins the lottery to think strategically about how they spend their money. According to the CFP Board of Standards, nearly one-third of all lottery winners eventually declare bankruptcy due to poor management of funds. That’s why “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary says that even after winning the lottery you still want to put yourself on a budget.
“Just Google ‘lottery winner goes bankrupt’ and you’ll find dozens of horror stories about lottery winners who strike gold, only to lose it all within a year or two,” O’Leary told CNBC Make It in October. He adds that “blowing through hundreds of millions of dollars might seem like an impossible task, but it can happen quick with bad habits.”
“Is your lifestyle going to change? Indubitably,” says O’Leary. “But ease into it, and don’t stop paying attention to your budget.”
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