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19 yr old who won powerball 2 yrs ago.

JayKim

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Anyone see this article?

Powerball Winner Uses Money to Fund Bikini Wrestling Show - Asylum.com

Is this why lotto winners go broke years later or good investment? I would try to stay more under the radar. His story is below, I never heard about it. What would you do with that much instead?




$35 million 'exciting, still shocking'
Lucky guy! 19-year-old S.C.'s first Powerball winner


Jonathan Vargas, 19, of Gaston, picked the winning Powerball numbers using a combination of the ages and birthdays of his family members. It was the first time he had ever played the game.

Nineteen-year-old Jonathan Vargas bought his first lottery ticket, along with gasoline and an iced tea, Saturday at a Cayce Raceway station.

His errand made history.

With the ticket, the Gaston construction worker became the first South Carolinian to win the S.C. Education Lottery Powerball Jackpot.

North Carolina residents bought the previous four winning tickets.

While Vargas won $35.3 million, he is choosing to take a lump sum of $17.3 million instead. The Airport High School graduate should have his money within two weeks, lottery officials said.

“I have a mixture of feelings. Scary. Exciting. Still shocking,” Vargas said. “I’m still telling my mother to pinch me.”

Vargas said he was working a construction job Saturday morning when “this weird feeling came over me.” He said he heard the lottery numbers in his head, jotted them on a napkin and called his mother to tell her to write them down so he could buy a ticket later that afternoon.

Vargas used the upcoming birthdays and ages of his four siblings to determine his winning numbers. His three younger siblings will turn 12, 14 and 15 this year, and his older brother will be 21. The fifth number he chose was for his mother, Patricia Richardson, who turned 43 on Sunday.

But the final Powerball number?

“Thirty was a lucky guess, I guess. It’s a blessing from God, man.”

He said he watched an 11 p.m. drawing on TV on Saturday and knew he won after the first three numbers were correct.

“I was jumping up and down.”

With the win, Vargas became one of the Midlands’ most eligible bachelors. (Patricia Richardson says her son is neither married nor in a relationship.)

Vargas intends to invest a lot of the money and go back to school, but his first purchase will be a new house for his mother, sister, three brothers and stepfather Anthony Richardson.

“We’ve been looking at houses on the Internet,” Patricia Richardson said. “We’ll buy a brand-new, big house.”

Vargas also wants to set up trust funds for his sister and brothers.

“He’s very close to his siblings,” Patricia Richardson said.

Vargas’ mother is a homemaker, and his stepfather, Anthony, 45, has been a custodian at a local hospital for five years. He declined to say which one.

“This is wild and great, and we thank God for him,” Anthony Richardson said. But how he spends the money is “his choice, his responsibility. The choices he makes, I’ll support.”

Before he starts spending his new fortune, Vargas said, he will get a lawyer and financial consultant to help him manage his millions. He’s still not sure whether he’ll keep his construction job or quit.

“I’m so young, and I just don’t want to go in the wrong direction. I have a lot of family and a lot to protect.

“So I’m not going to spend all my money. Investing is very important.”

His philosophy on how he’ll spend his money could be summed up in Psalm 41, he said.

“He who helps the poor shall be blessed.”
 
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Russ H

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His philosophy on how he’ll spend his money could be summed up in Psalm 41, he said.

“He who helps the poor shall be blessed.”

And he's funding a bikini wrestling TV show-- what the article describes as "fulfilling his dream"?

Is it just me, or does anyone else have a hard time making the connection between Psalm 41, helping the poor, and funding a TV show where girls with big boobs try to rip swimsuits off other girls with big boobs?

-Russ H.
 

Russ H

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Hmm . . .

After serious contemplation on this, I've come to the following conclusion:

His original comment about Psalm 41 reflected the fact that he'd spent his entire 19 years helping the poor.

So this $19M powerball win was his "blessing".

And the part about girls w/ big boobs and wardrobe malfunctions?

All part of his grand plan to give back to the poor.

I mean, seriously, before his altruistic TV show, how many poor people could watch Hooters-quality women get their clothes ripped off on a regular basis? :rolleyes:

-Russ H.
 

hatterasguy

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Poor people don't know how to handle money, thats why they are poor. He will be back working construction before he is 30; after he goes bankrupt and all the people around him steal whatever money he hasn't blown.
 
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Nathan

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Good timing. I've caught a couple episodes in the past few days of this show on TV called The Lottery Changed My Life. They profile a handful of winners. From the show, about 90% of them lose it all within a few years. There is a a good number that are worth the same amount or more years later. The downfall to most of them seemed to be bad business mistakes. One guy won about 3mm and lost just under 2mm in hotel deal. He partnered with a guy....and that guy then put the title up as collateral for funding other business deals. Obviously the guy failed. So the lotto winner pretty much lost out on 2mm from the get go. Some had failing businesses they just sunk money into and surprise....failed. Interesting.
 

hatterasguy

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Just because he said he was going to "invest" it doesn't mean he will make money.

The wrestling show sounds like a nice sound venture.:rofl:
 

maximus20895

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yes, but I think people here on jumping to conclusions. He said invest so that's a start. How many other big lottery winners say they are going to invest as oppose to "i'm going to buy a mansion, island etc."

He is heading in the right direction and that all starts with the right mindset, which I think he has.

Just because he is holding a bikini contest doesn't mean he is going to blow all his money. I'm sure not a single person on this forum or else where wants to make a ton of money just so they can invest it. People also want to buy stuff that they like too.

He has millions that he didn't have before. I think he deserves the right to blow a little on something he wants. After all what's the point of investing when you can reap the rewards of it.
 

hatterasguy

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We will see.

Statistically if you bet for him your taking on very long odds.
 
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LightHouse

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Good timing. I've caught a couple episodes in the past few days of this show on TV called The Lottery Changed My Life. They profile a handful of winners. From the show, about 90% of them lose it all within a few years. There is a a good number that are worth the same amount or more years later. The downfall to most of them seemed to be bad business mistakes. One guy won about 3mm and lost just under 2mm in hotel deal. He partnered with a guy....and that guy then put the title up as collateral for funding other business deals. Obviously the guy failed. So the lotto winner pretty much lost out on 2mm from the get go. Some had failing businesses they just sunk money into and surprise....failed. Interesting.


This seems to happen a lot even to people who get smaller funds. It clouts their visions of actually seeing if things work.

Say i want to make a website thats 50k, i dont have 50k so theres two things i can do. Get it from someone or bootstrap it till i make it. Which do you think will have a better outcome on average? Say i didnt know anything about websites actually because that makes a huge difference. I would probably spend that money willingly on a ton of crap i really didnt need right then because i had the money available rather than starting slow and seeing what the site really needed as it grew.
 

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I fall into the camp that he will be broke in another 2 years. More money doesn't solve money problems. There is a reason why this guy was playing the lottery and that reason will always win out, at least until he makes better financial decisions. And right now, I don't see it. Buying a big house and houses for all your siblings? Did he win $250 million? $17.3, then taxes, I doubt he has $10 million left. $10 million for the lifestyle he *thinks* he can have won't last longer than a few years ... TRUST ME!

To call his venture an "investment" is a reach albeit on the risky side of business, you really never know what will work.
 
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He is 19 years old... suddenly with a bunch of money... he has no life experience. The odds are against him... I wish him the best but, it is completely up to him. He will have hundreds of people contacting him for business deals, medical problems, loans..etc. He will have family come out of the woodwork he didn't even know about.

The best thing is to hire an expert in finances.. and then you doubt if they are in it for hte money.... the odds are against him.

Now, if he said. I put my money away.... until Iknow what to do with it and I bought a bunch of business books and enrolled in some classes... then I would think he had a shot. But, he didn't.... he will return to his normal spending habits... and that's only if a teenage boy with money doesn't realize all the chics will be after him.

It's a hard lesson. I wish him the best. I hope we are wrong.

I do know one lottery winner but, he was much older when he won and know the value of money.. when I met him he won over 10 years ago. It does happen. -- (wanted to end on a happy note)
 

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Buying a big house and houses for all your siblings? Did he win $250 million?
Based on their ages, I'm assuming that they all still live at home with Mom and Dad. So one 5 BR house can easily be purchased in that part of the country for $400k. Not a stretch.

I'm afraid you're all right. Altho, I wouldn't say he's made a ton of other bad financial decisions up to now, considering he's just 19. There's really no way to know. He's working in construction, which can be pretty good $ for a 19-yr-old. Better than most, who are stocking shelves or waiting tables. It's not college. But I know a dozen or so people who skipped college, started out in construction, and are now VERY successful building contractors/developers.

So I'm gonna cut the kid some slack... and HOPE he didn't invest more than a $200k into this little "venture" of his. Crazier things have made money! But I think I'd just write that one off as a lesson learned, then anything that comes from it will be gravy!
 

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I agree with most that he will be broke, but I took a look at his website : Welcome to Wrestlicious
and it says that he hooked up with Jimmy Hart who was involved with the WWF years ago. Wrestling make a ton of money and there use to be something called the glow girls of wrestling or something like that. I think it could work, but better suited for Vegas and maybe a live show. Just my 2 cents.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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I agree with most that he will be broke, but I took a look at his website : Welcome to Wrestlicious
and it says that he hooked up with Jimmy Hart who was involved with the WWF years ago. Wrestling make a ton of money and there use to be something called the glow girls of wrestling or something like that. I think it could work, but better suited for Vegas and maybe a live show. Just my 2 cents.

The website is pretty good and he's aligned himself with someone who has had success. Thats an awesome start. However, more money doesn't solve a poor financial acumen. Look at the other article I posted about Scott Storch ... he was snorting through $250K a month and burned through $70 million.

Perhaps he will do just fine but "fine" starts with a basic grasp of finance. Money In must be more than money out + taxes.
 

qwerety

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Good timing. I've caught a couple episodes in the past few days of this show on TV called The Lottery Changed My Life. They profile a handful of winners. From the show, about 90% of them lose it all within a few years. There is a a good number that are worth the same amount or more years later. The downfall to most of them seemed to be bad business mistakes. One guy won about 3mm and lost just under 2mm in hotel deal. He partnered with a guy....and that guy then put the title up as collateral for funding other business deals. Obviously the guy failed. So the lotto winner pretty much lost out on 2mm from the get go. Some had failing businesses they just sunk money into and surprise....failed. Interesting.

I think one reason for failures like the guy you mentioned is because, since they won the money and didn't earn it, they aren't as careful with how to do a deal or who to partner with. I bet there are lots of people who may hear success stories or hear some kinda pitch something similar to buy this hotel and do this and that and you will make money and they are like yeah that's great but I don't have that start up capital. They don't think into it as much. When it comes to a partner, they prob pick someone who talks a good game but can't back it up. Of course they don't look into the guy much at all and take him at face value. Say that type of person wins the lottery or inherits a bunch of money or whatever, its easier to not be as careful with it, cause lots of people have that hurry and spend it, be spontaneous attitude, more risky cause its not money earned. Its like if you were walking around and saw a 100 buck bill on the ground. Most wouldn't put it towards savings or a bill or something, they would go to that part of the mind that tells them to buy something fun.

If you earn that kinda money that made you wanna go into a hotel biz, actually made the money and set it aside like some day I'm going to have enough to start a biz with, no way you wouldn't look into that shit seriously, or really be weary of who you would team up with. Took way too much time and effort to F*ck it all up.

All that aside you can still fail, but you will be more likely to use that failure as a stepping stone and learn from your mistakes, rather than failing and just being like damn oh well, I'm not gonna do that again. Or even worse put all the blame on the bad partner and try again not looking at the mistakes you may have made yourself.

BTW to the person who said poor people don't know how to handle money, I say that's not true at all. People are poor for many reasons. I grew up poor and still kinda am, I'm moving from that, but thats beside the point. My uncle is poor. My uncle became disabled and couldn't work anymore, he gets all his money from SSI and such. He is extremely good with money, budgets his a$$ off, he can do more with his little money than another could do with double or more. Bottom line is poor people could be poor, because of growing up that way, all the sudden losing their job, becoming disabled, or personality things like, no confidence, no drive etc. Or they suck with handling money. Lots of poor people are too broke to not know how to handle the money they got, I mean if you barely making enough to eat, its not very likely you gonna go around pissing away your money poorly. Granted I still see some people living in bad spots, with crappy cars, yet they buyin nice rims for it, but they the exception.

The big thing is environment, bad education, and a lack of confidence and drive. Confidence and drive are 2 of the biggest reasons why the poor stay poor. Handling money ain't got shit to do with it most of the time. You gotta have money to not handle it properly.
 

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I think back to my level of financial intelligence when I was 19, hell, even when I was 25, and I would've been flat broke in 2 years after winning the lottery too. If all people know about money is that it buys stuff, they are doomed. If all people know about investing is from their parents (401k/CDs/Mutual funds) and financial advisors, they are doomed.

(To cite Kiyosaki) If people don't realize that they need to recognize the difference between gold and fool's gold (what is an asset and what is just something that looks like an asset), and to buy assets, they are doomed.

This info is just not common knowledge...which is why the world needs your book MJ. :)
 
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WildFlower

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I remember when I was 17 working at my first job... one of my co-worker's husband... (they were close to my age) .. thought they were going to retire because she had an inheritance coming in at $100,000 ... which did seem like a lot of money.. but, I was thinking.. what? That's not enough.. they talked about how they were going to 'spend' it ... no investing.. just spend.
 

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I remember when I was 17 working at my first job... one of my co-worker's husband... (they were close to my age) .. thought they were going to retire because she had an inheritance coming in at $100,000 ... which did seem like a lot of money.. but, I was thinking.. what? That's not enough.. they talked about how they were going to 'spend' it ... no investing.. just spend.
Typical 17 yr old. There needs to be a requirement for all young folks that come into money to review this forum before receiving their dough. Maybe it will open eyes, and the money won't be frittered away quite as much.
 

PaulRobert

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Typical 17 yr old. There needs to be a requirement for all young folks that come into money to review this forum before receiving their dough. Maybe it will open eyes, and the money won't be frittered away quite as much.

Agreed, most kids my age crave money. They chase it and when they get it, they spend it on unnecessary crap. I'll admit it, I too just wanted to do something to get paid, but through almost 2 years of extensive learning, life experiences and being on this forum I learned that chasing money will get you nowhere. If your goal in any situation is to solely make money, you will fail. Your greed takes over your better judgment and people will see what you want from them. The trick is to make people happy and charge them a small fee for their happiness.

Back on topic- I wish this kid much success but the category he falls under is notorious for: from gloom to boom to doom stories. Maybe he can beat the odds, only time will tell.
 
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qwerety

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Agreed, most kids my age crave money. They chase it and when they get it, they spend it on unnecessary crap. I'll admit it, I too just wanted to do something to get paid, but through almost 2 years of extensive learning, life experiences and being on this forum I learned that chasing money will get you nowhere. If your goal in any situation is to solely make money, you will fail. Your greed takes over your better judgment and people will see what you want from them. The trick is to make people happy and charge them a small fee for their happiness.

Back on topic- I wish this kid much success but the category he falls under is notorious for: from gloom to boom to doom stories. Maybe he can beat the odds, only time will tell.
Another reason, why I disagree with poor people not knowing how to handle money. I can't speak for everyone of course, but since I never really had much money at all until after I was already done with high school, I would have never bought pointless shit with what I had. It kinda forced me to be smart with money. Plus, I had seen things like my older brother make mistakes with the money he had, and seeing my parents have this or that thing to pay. I learned from their mistakes.

Only thing that sets me apart is that I took a non required Econ class in college, it was business math. I never had any kind of economics class in any school. One reason I always hated school until I got to college was because I felt so much of it was a waste of time. Here I am taking algebra 3, advanced geometry, my 3rd year of Spanish (which I didn't actually learn any Spanish at all until I decided later on to learn on my own) along with poetry interpretation class, and no class on how to handle money, which is the only thing everyone has to do after leaving high school, as well as during or even before. So, I could identify a trapezoid (very useful lol), know what some poet was trying to sayin a poem, know how to say I smoke in Spanish and I was ok at plotting points on graphs and the x and y crap. Didn't know shit about loans, interest rates or really anything about money or the economy. Considering how lots of people are around me, I have a feeling lots of schools in the poorer areas had no kind of economy class. Later in life it really had me wondering if somehow it was done on purpose just to keep poorer people ignorant.

I took one basic business math class in college (which was 7 weeks in the spring) and I knew more about money than my parents. I kept the textbook, had my mom reading and learning all kinds of stuff. When I explained basic stuff, she was surprised at how simple it was.

I'm wrong about the econ class being the only thing that sets me apart from other people around me, another thing that sets me apart is that I am more aware of things. More aware of people, why things are like they are, why people do certain things and what their intent might be. I am good at observing and reading people and I still have that kid trait of always asking why. Only thing that had me still set back until a few years back was underconfidence and a lack of drive. I still have issues with underconfidence, but I am much better and I can say confidence I think is one of the most important parts of being successful, however you define success that is. When I was more afriad I always had a reason why so and so was a bad idea and that there are too many obstacles in the way for me to succedd, fear of failure made me not even try (which now I see not trying was the real failure). If I couldn't do it perfectly or for sure then I wouldn't bother. I still struggle with it sometimes, but I realize now that was the wrong way of thinking. I know once I overcome that, everything else will all be put into place in time. Its all on me, its like hearing success stories from people who grew up dirt poor and now they are rich. They went through similar struggles or worse, but they didn't let their environment define who they are. Mindset is the most important tool and I think one of the biggest reasons poor people stay poor.

I know I kinda drifted offtopic, and still speaking on the poor people comment, I think I started with a short answer and it just branched off because I think its related to the thread loosely. idk maybe I am just venting a bit. I hate the educational system where I am. I did enjoy college though. My grades as a kid were A's and B's, middle school A's B's C's maybe 1 D, high school few A's B's lots of C's and some D's, 1 F. College got a overall 3.76. Was on the Deans List 3 semesters I think. I knew why I had 95% of the classes in college and I cared then. High school all I heard was :blah2:

About the kid I wish him success. I just hope he doesn't hang around too many people who may rub their bad habits or ideas off on him. All he needs is a couple people to keep him grounded and smart with it and he may be ok.
 

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When I was more afriad I always had a reason why so and so was a bad idea and that there are too many obstacles in the way for me to succeed, fear of failure made me not even try (which now I see not trying was the real failure). If I couldn't do it perfectly or for sure then I wouldn't bother.


I can so relate to that.
 

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Some people sabatoge themselves... it's a self worth issue. deep down inside they think they don't deserve it.. why me... etc. Most of those don't even realize they are doing it. I know many like that

I was at a bar with my friend.. and I got to speaking with one man... he owned a pawn shop.. well.. his parents were running it because as it turns out. He explained how he would build his business up to make like $250k a year... then he runs himself into the ground.. to nothing.. he explained how he liked to build it back up. I simply said .. "so, you like to sabatoge yourself?" .. it was an aha moment for him. he had never thought of it that way. We talked for a couple of hours.... he was very sad deep down inside. I wish him the best.
 
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Its fun to play once in awhile.
 

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I just read that article and he lives on millionaire road lol.
 
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