You don’t have to win a Powerball jackpot to become a millionaire, as one Powerball winner discovered when she quietly and smartly invested her winnings.
Powerball stories are always fun to read about, especially when down-and-out individuals take home life-changing jackpots. It's exciting to see what people do with their winnings. Some buy fancy cars and houses. Others take lavish vacations. And plenty of Powerball winners make significant contributions to various charities and nonprofit organizations.
But not all Powerball winner stories have a happy ending. And we’ve shared some of the most devastating tales of winners losing it all because of lavish spending and wasteful investing. Today, though, we’re sharing a silver-lining Powerball winner story that’s truly inspirational.
In this story, a woman wins a smaller Powerball prize. But instead of boasting, bragging, and spending, this winner kept the news to herself. And she smartly chose to invest her small nest egg for safekeeping. Her wise investment paid off big when she eventually became a millionaire. And it's a reminder for anyone who wins even smaller Powerball prizes that dreams can come true if you play your cards right.
Powerball Winner Wins and Then Panics
One woman, who chose to remain anonymous when sharing her story, says it was 2014 when she became a Powerball winner. She and her now-husband were only dating at the time when she discovered she’d matched a few numbers when playing Powerball. It wasn’t a jackpot win. But it was sizable. And after taxes, the woman said she took home roughly $480,000.
Instead of boasting and bragging about the cash prize win, the woman said she panicked. Having read plenty of Powerball winner horror stories, she instead chose to keep the win to herself. She didn’t tell a single soul about her prize, including her soon-to-be husband. And instead of going on a spending spree, she opted to invest her cash.
The Wise Investment That Paid Off in a Big Way
Because this winner demonstrated a sense of caution, recognizing that substantial cash in the bank could turn her life “upside down,” she did herself a pretty big favor.
She took her Powerball prize and opened an account with her national credit union. She hired a financial advisor who would help her invest in real estate and local businesses. And since 2014, the bulk of that Powerball win has just been sitting and growing.
A Surprised Husband
The woman, now married for nine years, is preparing dinner in the kitchen. Her cell phone rings, but she’s unable to step away and take the call. Her husband checks her phone to see a text from “Larry.” Larry’s text reads, “Congratulations! Your account just hit $1M with one of the energy company investments you just made.”
The husband is stunned and confused, asking first, “Who’s Larry?” Then he follows up again with, “Wait, we have $1 million dollars?” It’s a little secret that just rolled over $1M. And while bewildered at first, it’s not something the husband was all that mad about, either.
Powerful Message for Other Powerball Winners
Usually, when you hear about Powerball winner stories, good and bad, there’s a moral to note. In this unique tale, a young woman wins a sizable chunk of cash and does precisely what most experts suggest to do. She quietly put her money in savings and hired a financial planner. She didn’t spend all her winnings on big houses or fancy cars. Instead, she whittled the little she needed at the moment and let the rest just sit and collect returns and interest.
She didn’t win a million-dollar prize or a multi-million dollar Powerball jackpot. But she took her winnings and turned them into the million-dollar nest egg. And it certainly looks like she’s on her way to her happily ever after.