Ooh, ooh that smell
can't you smell that smell?
Ooh, ooh that smell
the smell of death surrounds you
-Lynyrd Skynyrd
He even had a tragic name.
Abraham Shakespeare should have been on top of the world. In 2006, he won $16.9 million in the Florida lottery.
Last week, they found his body. Buried five foot deep and under concrete.
His death wasn't a big surprise. He had been missing since April, but no one bothered to report him missing until November 9th.
Shakespeare had acquired a huge entourage, but they didn't really miss him. They just missed his money.
I hope Mr. Shakespeare is now in heaven. From the day he stood in front of the cameras at a lottery-led news conference, holding a big replica of a Florida lotto check, his life became a living hell.
Like every other lottery winner, Shakespeare said the money wouldn't change him.
Like every other lottery winner, it did.
And not for the better.
Right off the bat, one of Shakespeare's co-workers sued, claiming that Abraham had stolen the winning ticket from him. The jury ruled for Shakespeare six months later, but by then, according to the New York Daily News, "there were people constantly asking for a piece of his fortune."
Dorice Donegan "Dee Dee" Moore was a person who apparently got a good chunk of it.
Moore is considered "a person of intense interest" in the police investigation of Shakespeare's disappearance and death. Troy McKay Young, a Lakeland, Florida, police office, was arrested for unlawful compensation, on allegations that he sold confidential information, such as Shakespeare's license plate number, to Dee Dee Moore.
It seemed like everyone wanted a piece of Shakespeare.
According to published reports, Dee Dee Moore had a joint bank account with Shakespeare and acquired nearly $2 million of his money.
They found Shakespeare's body on land owned by her boyfriend.
I've written a book about what to do when you win the lottery. Shakespeare was a textbook example of doing everything backwards.
I tell lottery winners to keep it confidential. Shakespeare had a news conference and waved a big check.
I tell people to take the annual payments. Shakespeare took a lump sum.
I tell people to get professional advice. Moore, who seemed to be his adviser, apparently went to great lengths, and possibly used illegal methods, to track him down.
Professional advisers don't track down clients. Clients are referred to them by attorneys or other financial professionals.
I tell people to use their money to make a positive impact on society. Shakespeare talked about setting up a foundation to help poor people, but it never happened.
Instead, the money was wasted and frittered away.
Just like his life was wasted and frittered away.
The day that Shakespeare cashed his winning ticket, the smell of death surrounded him.
Don McNay, CLU, ChFC, MSFS, CSSC is one of the world's leading authorities in helping people deal with "Big Money" issues.
McNay is an award winning, syndicated financial columnist and Huffington Post Contributor. He is the host of the daily, "McNay on The Money" syndicated radio program.
You can read more about Don at www.donmcnay.com
McNay founded McNay Settlement Group, a structured settlement and financial consulting firm, in 1983 and Kentucky Guardianship Administrators LLC in 2000. You can read more about both at www.mcnay.com
McNay has Master's Degrees from Vanderbilt and the American College and is in the Eastern Kentucky University Hall of Distinguished Alumni.
McNay has written two books. Most recent is Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win The Lottery
McNay is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Round Table and has four professional designations in the financial services field.
Follow Don McNay on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Donmcnay
One might also consider the plight of the banksters who are being awarded multimillion dollar bonuses. They live in huge houses full of the finest stuff. Their childern go to smooty schools where drugs are much more expensive. They live in exclusive guarded estates with awful neighbors. Even the most elite have to deal with their own human nature.
I would submit for consideration that rather than planning what to do after winning the lottery is less important than applying reasoning to the assets we are presently in posession of.
We can all draw our own conclusions from these stories, but one thing seems sure - individual humans can be awfully dumb and mean.
I do like the idea of long, drawn out, multiple payments. Even if the first couple of payments are completely wasted, the individual has a chance to learn from his or her mistakes. Experience is a hard taskmaster.
I would prefer that the taxes sent to the IRS at least went to education as well as a portion of the winnings.
Nice hearing form you.
We have a tradition here that may be unique to Scotland. When a Bride and Groom exit the church, a gang of children wait outside for the “scramble.â€
The “scramble†involves the groom tossing a pile of coins into the street so that the children can fight or “scramble†over it. It’s not a pretty sight. In fact it’s not unlike a pack of Hyenas fighting over a carcass and with very similar sound effects.
I’ve personally never been materialistic, even as a child, so I found all the hair pulling and stomping a little hard to understand. And later I often marvelled at just how insane this little ritual was. Then again, it does tell you all you ever need to know about people and money.
I mention this because when I read this sad story I immediately thought of the “scrambles†of my childhood.
Except instead of a pile of coins being clawed at on the ground, it was a man called Abraham Shakespeare.
I’ve long believed winning the lottery was an extremely dangerous proposition. Yeah it’s nice not having to worry about paying the bills, but the price you pay, is worrying about everything else.
Truer words have never been spoken