It is easy to assume that if a person wins the lottery that they will be set up for financial success for the rest of their life. In fact, if a Tennessee resident wins big and pockets millions of dollars in a lottery windfall, then they may foresee a future where their children, grandchildren and other descendants may live without any economic concerns. However, this is often a fallacy. Many lottery winners end up filing for bankruptcy due to financial mismanagement, unwise investments and victimization by unscrupulous individuals.
A recent study adds to this phenomenon, though, by finding that the neighbors of people who win the lottery also have higher than average bankruptcy filings. There are different hypotheses for why this might be true, but it seems easy to follow that individuals want to “keep up with the Jones’s” and live the same lifestyles as their newly rich neighbors.
Individuals who live near lottery winners tend to buy more and live larger than they did before their neighbors won big. This can cause them to find themselves in financial hardship and facing bills that they cannot pay off.
However, as readers of this bankruptcy and debt relief blog know, filing for bankruptcy is a legal and protected way to work out pending financial problems. Whether the debts were incurred from overspending, unexpected medical bills, the loss of a job or another cause, a person can seek help from the bankruptcy courts. In order to begin a bankruptcy filing, individuals are encouraged to learn more about their options. With the help of dedicated bankruptcy attorneys, individuals can avoid making costly errors in the preparation of their bankruptcy cases.
