$22M Lottery Winner Still Drives a Toyota and Refuses to Retire

A man who said he won about $22 million (£17 million) in a multi-state lottery has told a US financial radio show that he kept the windfall secret from almost everyone, including his two teenage children, and has carried on working and driving the same Toyotas he owned before the draw.

The caller was identified on The Ramsey Show only as John, from Louisville, Kentucky, though the programme indicated his name and location had been changed to protect his identity. He said he won the prize with a group of work colleagues about two years ago, and that the figure came to 'about $22 million' after taxes.

He said the only people he had told were his wife and one sibling.

How the $22M Lottery Winner Kept His Windfall Quiet

John, who said he is 'edging up on about 50 years old,' explained that the silence was deliberate. The first thing he did after the win was research how other winners had fared. He had read that 'one in five people lose their lottery winnings or go bankrupt within 10 years,' and that a recurring cause was telling too many people, then facing a stream of relatives and acquaintances asking for money.

He and his wife made what he called 'a conscious decision' to keep it under wraps, and that decision extended to their own children.

'We just don't want them to grow up to be waiters,' he said, 'waiting for us to die so they can get our money.' He said he intends to tell them once they have established their own careers.

Keeping the secret while still helping relatives required a workaround. About a month after the win, John's wife's great-uncle died and left an inheritance to her and her siblings. The couple now use that money as a cover story.

When John bought his mother a new roof and she asked how he could afford it, he pointed to the late relative he calls Uncle Bob. 'It's great Uncle Bob's money, mom,' he tells people. 'He wanted us to do this.'

Same Toyota, Same Day Job, One Modest Splurge

John said the family home was paid off before the win, and that he and his wife had 'just paid cash for two Toyotas' shortly beforehand. They have not replaced them.

'We still have them. We're not looking to upgrade to anything because they're perfectly fine cars,' he said.

At an age when the windfall could have funded early retirement, he has also kept his job. Asked whether that was ridiculous, John said it was not, because 'I kind of like my job.' Ramsey backed him. 'I think you should keep working,' the host said, adding that it would make John a better employee and keep him grounded.

Ramsey, who has spoken publicly about rebuilding his finances after a bankruptcy early in his career, told the caller he was being wise rather than strange. He said he had taken a similar path with his own children, revealing the family's wealth only after they had finished college, and suggested John start planting lessons about money now so his teenagers would be ready when he eventually told them.

His main advice was to lift both his spending and his giving gradually and on purpose. He suggested earmarking a sum such as $400,000 (£315,000) a year for memories with the children, and using gestures like a $100 (£79) tip for a struggling waiter to teach them about generosity. 'Increase your generosity factor systematically,' Ramsey said.

Asked about his biggest splurge since the win, John gave a one-word answer: patio furniture. 'I'm not a big flashy guy,' he said.