Five Fast Ways to Blow a Windfall

FROM THESTREET.COM:

There's a dark side to having a pile of money land in your lap.

Retired iron worker Robert Harris and his wife, Toyna, made the news this week when they won $275 million (if they take the money over the next 26 years or $167 million if they take it all right now) in the Georgia Lottery's megamillions jackpot.

The jackpot's sheer size will probably ensure they will be financially set for at least the next few years. But history shows that not all multimillion-dollar lottery winners go the rest of their lives without another financial worry.

In fact, some have quickly squandered their fortunes and ended up in worse financial shape than they were before getting the windfall.

Take Janite Lee, who won $18 million in 1993 playing the Missouri lottery. She plowed through it all in less than a decade by being too generous and giving it to various organizations and causes.

Or look at William "Bud" Post, who hit a $16.2 million jackpot in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988. Through bad investments, lawsuits and general mismanagement, he found himself in debt in less than a year.

When Robert Harris was asked what he planned to do with his sudden fortune, he replied simply "live happy."

It's great advice.

Problem is, if you don't know your financial goals before you have the money, you aren't going to know how to live happy when you have all that dough.

Sure, most people aren't going to win the lottery to become a millionaire. But you might receive a pile of cash through an inheritance or some other unexpected circumstances during your lifetime.