We won the lotto (RTE 1)

Icsics

This is not what I was expecting, it’s very sad ! Only the inventor seems happy. Poor old Billy with his pubs & expensive driveway!

pinkypinky

Found it a tough watch.

PTH2009

Feck forget about it

Must catch it on the player, it's on RTE +1 now but rather watch from the start

I'd he thrilled If I won the lotto tbh

madmaggie

I admire the lady in Donegal for staying in her family home and doing what makes her happy. She probably is smart enough to realise that many of her inventions will go nowhere, but she seems very happy and content.

horseburger

Here's an interview by Joe Finnegan on Shannonside Radio, with Billy Comer, who is interviewed on the RTE TV programme.

http://www.shannonside.ie/uncategorised/word-wise-euromillions-winner/

NIMAN

madmaggie wrote: »

I admire the lady in Donegal for staying in her family home and doing what makes her happy. She probably is smart enough to realise that many of her inventions will go nowhere, but she seems very happy and content.

Well the 2 she showed us were absolutely stupid and have zero chance of making her a penny.

As for Mr Comer, kinda felt sorry for him, but at least he owns a few properties, I'm sure if hes stuck he would get 50k or so for them all if he decided to sell them on, would help with his retirement.

Sad to hear him say he hadn't the money to finish the work on one, when his two brothers set up a billion pound business.

123balltv

I enjoyed it I'm more used to watching Americans discuss their lotto wins although they've no choice
Fame or fortune .... fortune every time.

fergus1001

The ultimate "that one and her lotto winnings who does she think she is" show

spyderski

NIMAN wrote: »

As for Mr Comer, kinda felt sorry for him, but at least he owns a few properties, I'm sure if hes stuck he would get 50k or so for them all if he decided to sell them on, would help with his retirement.

Sad to hear him say he hadn't the money to finish the work on one, when his two brothers set up a billion pound business.

Don't be feeling too sorry for him. He was in the revenue for 30 years. He has a cushy pension of €50/60k coming in every year for the rest of his life. And a lovely driveway.

Badly Drunk Boy

Icsics wrote: »

This is not what I was expecting, it’s very sad ! Only the inventor seems happy. Poor old Billy with his pubs & expensive driveway!

Jim from the Curragh seemed happy enough with the 'his and hers' jeeps, clearing the mortgage, and money left over to help his 7 kids.

NIMAN

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

Jim from the Curragh seemed happy enough with the 'his and hers' jeeps, clearing the mortgage, and money left over to help his 7 kids.

Anyone else think it was rather extravagant to buy 2 brand new cars with his winnings?

I know that he said he got 8 or 10k scrappage with 2 old bangers, but I'd say those two car cost at least 30k each....say 60k - 10k scrappage, he was still using a 10th of his winnings just to buy 2 new cars.

NIMAN

spyderski wrote: »

Don't be feeling too sorry for him. He was in the revenue for 30 years. He has a cushy pension of €50/60k coming in every year for the rest of his life. And a lovely driveway.

To be fair, it was a nice driveway. And all those lights too.

markodaly

It is interesting here peoples perceptions on the people in the programe but I think it highlights the power of positive thinking.

The woman from Donegal, the inventor was a bit barmy. Her 'inventions' were $hite and wont make her a penny, but her positive attitude is what will keep her going regardless. She has happiness in what she is doing. Better to sink €20,000 into a stupid invention than blow €500,000 on a pub that turns out to be a white elephant.

That Cormer person I feel for. I sense a lot of self loathing, where the lottery win made things worse for him. I suspect there is a sense that his brothers were so successful, yet got given a lotto win to try his hands in business and he failed utterly. It was a bit weird seeing him talk to others in the town, you got the sense that there is a lot more to the story as people seemed cold to him.

The guy who won the €500,000 and bought two new SUV's. He wont have much left if he goes on like that. He has a lot of kids as well to 'look after'. Its easy to piss it all away.

markodaly

NIMAN wrote: »

Anyone else think it was rather extravagant to buy 2 brand new cars with his winnings?

I know that he said he got 8 or 10k scrappage with 2 old bangers, but I'd say those two car cost at least 30k each....say 60k - 10k scrappage, he was still using a 10th of his winnings just to buy 2 new cars.

I groaned when I saw that. Ok, fair enough if you won the Euro Millions or even a €3-4 million jackpot, but €500,000 is actually **** all in the grand scheme of things. The minute he drove those SUV's out the garage he lost at least 10k on depreciation.

ednwireland

NIMAN wrote: »

Anyone else think it was rather extravagant to buy 2 brand new cars with his winnings?

I know that he said he got 8 or 10k scrappage with 2 old bangers, but I'd say those two car cost at least 30k each....say 60k - 10k scrappage, he was still using a 10th of his winnings just to buy 2 new cars.

and the only time in his life he'll probably be able to do that, wouldnt begrudge him that.

Alanstrainor

markodaly wrote: »

I groaned when I saw that. Ok, fair enough if you won the Euro Millions or even a €3-4 million jackpot, but €500,000 is actually **** all in the grand scheme of things. The minute he drove those SUV's out the garage he lost at least 10k on depreciation.

You don't buy a new car as an investment. People buy new cars all the time and don't have a tenth the cash he had. He may have even gotten finance on them so as not to lose the cash directly. But even if not he wont do too badly. Two new, reliable cars with a big warranty. He hardly bought anything extravagant. Fair play to him I'd say. Mortgage paid off, two new cars and whatever fun money left over for himself and the family. He intends to continue working so not a bad way to go.

Fann Linn

Alanstrainor wrote: »

You don't buy a new car as an investment. People buy new cars all the time and don't have a tenth the cash he had. He may have even gotten finance on them so as not to lose the cash directly. But even if not he wont do too badly. Two new, reliable cars with a big warranty. He hardly bought anything extravagant. Fair play to him I'd say. Mortgage paid off, two new cars and whatever fun money left over for himself and the family. He intends to continue working so not a bad way to go.

I'd be more than happy with that.

NIMAN

ednwireland wrote: »

and the only time in his life he'll probably be able to do that, wouldnt begrudge him that.

I wouldn't begrudge him that, but any financial advisor (and I was led to believe loot winners got some financial advice) would tell you not to rush out and blow your money foolishly.

Now I know it was only 10% of his winnings, but he has a large family with some young kids. These are going to cost him in the coming years, plus if he had a mortgage to clear, then he was making big dents early on in his lotto life.

If they were trading in old bangers, him and the wife could have bought SUVs maybe 2 years old and they would still have been delighted.

But his money.

markodaly

Alanstrainor wrote: »

You don't buy a new car as an investment. People buy new cars all the time and don't have a tenth the cash he had. He may have even gotten finance on them so as not to lose the cash directly. But even if not he wont do too badly. Two new, reliable cars with a big warranty. He hardly bought anything extravagant. Fair play to him I'd say. Mortgage paid off, two new cars and whatever fun money left over for himself and the family. He intends to continue working so not a bad way to go.

Oh of course, his money so he can piss it away anyway he likes. Im just saying that his €500,000 wont be long gone with his 7 kids all looking for a cut as well. I am just saying that I personally wouldn't have gone off an done that. A new car is a very Irish status symbol though.

mloc123

NIMAN wrote: »

I wouldn't begrudge him that, but any financial advisor (and I was led to believe loot winners got some financial advice) would tell you not to rush out and blow your money foolishly.

Now I know it was only 10% of his winnings, but he has a large family with some young kids. These are going to cost him in the coming years, plus if he had a mortgage to clear, then he was making big dents early on in his lotto life.

If they were trading in old bangers, him and the wife could have bought SUVs maybe 2 years old and they would still have been delighted.

But his money.

500k isn't life changing money... it isn't even enough to live off forever through investments. It is clear the mortgage, buy something nice and put the rest away to spend on a few holidays or gifts for your children money.

I assume he has a pension plan already, will continue to work but will now have additional money (no mortgage or motoring costs each month).

Edit: He bought two Nissans... not like he went and dropped 200k on a couple of X5s or Q7s

crossman47

spyderski wrote: »

Don't be feeling too sorry for him. He was in the revenue for 30 years. He has a cushy pension of €50/60k coming in every year for the rest of his life. And a lovely driveway.

Highly unlikely unless he was one of the top people. He was possibly on 80k when working so with 30 years service would be looking at a pension of 30k.

PauloConn

I felt this was a more tragic view with the Comer fellow and the Titanic man.
Is it an irish thing to want to buy a pub as soon as you win the lotto? And then to buy 2 more.... in a town like that. I thought it was madness. The wife should have taken half the money off him and locked it away, for his own sake.

CeilingFly

spyderski wrote: »

Don't be feeling too sorry for him. He was in the revenue for 30 years. He has a cushy pension of €50/60k coming in every year for the rest of his life. And a lovely driveway.

As above, highly unlikely and remember that civil servant pensions are subject to tax - the sensationalist media like the indo will never mention that when talkign about politician pension cos it would dampem down the hysterical figures.

sbsquarepants

mloc123 wrote: »

500k isn't life changing money...

Jaysus, I don't know how you live, but half a million would certainly change my life!

PTH2009

would the comer brothers not help there own brother out and give him a bit of money to clear his debts

Feel sorry for the Titanic guy a bit and he seems a lonely guy esp his horrible past eg deaths in the family

The care worker said she pissed the 100k away

Yer wan in Donegal was a bit wacky and full of herself (look at me)

All of it was a bit smug esp the 500K guys family

at the end of the day feck em all in there lotto win lol. If i won it id buy no pubs or anything like that. A big house, travel and buy premium seats in a few major stadiums/arenas, marry a women who is part of a ring family

goose2005

PauloConn wrote: »

I felt this was a more tragic view with the Comer fellow and the Titanic man.
Is it an irish thing to want to buy a pub as soon as you win the lotto? And then to buy 2 more.... in a town like that. I thought it was madness. The wife should have taken half the money off him and locked it away, for his own sake.

It's very common with American athletes to set up a bar or restaurant with their retirement money, and then lose almost all of it

mloc123

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Jaysus, I don't know how you live, but half a million would certainly change my life!

Well I dunno. If I won 500k tomorrow I wouldn't be quitting my job anyway. Like I said, clear the mortgage.. buy something nice and put the rest away. It definitely isn't enough to go crazy with.. you would hardly buy a house in Dublin area with it.

Mr E

Well it would change your life in that if you cleared your mortgage, it would give you an extra €800+ disposable income a month (or an extra €800+ in savings). That's pretty significant.

Arghus

I'd love to get the chance to squander a lotto win.

PauloConn

goose2005 wrote: »

It's very common with American athletes to set up a bar or restaurant with their retirement money, and then lose almost all of it

I can see where someone might use their personal brand to setup a bar/restaurant in what would be a sizeable town/city in the states.
The guy bought 3 pubs in a town of less than 1,000 people (that's an estimate). He is competing with himself.
I do think his brothers let him dig his own grave though and it was bad form to not help him invest the money properly (not a flash driveway and 3 pubs you couldn't give away). There's a reason they're on the rich list.... think about it

NIMAN

mloc123 wrote: »

Edit: He bought two Nissans... not like he went and dropped 200k on a couple of X5s or Q7s

He still dropped at least 50k on them.

Berserker

NIMAN wrote: »

As for Mr Comer, kinda felt sorry for him, but at least he owns a few properties, I'm sure if hes stuck he would get 50k or so for them all if he decided to sell them on, would help with his retirement.

Would you buy one of those properties off him? I liked him as a person, seems like a decent sort but he was taken for a ride with that driveway, those cars and the properties. Would have thought that his brothers would have given him some advice on those investments.

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

Jim from the Curragh seemed happy enough with the 'his and hers' jeeps, clearing the mortgage, and money left over to help his 7 kids.

Yeah, he seemed like a sensible man. Think he'll live a comfortable life off the back of it now. Won't change him that much. Note sure what the garage owner was at with the plates and the big welcome. Trying to milk some publicity perhaps.

markodaly wrote: »

The woman from Donegal, the inventor was a bit barmy. Her 'inventions' were $hite and wont make her a penny, but her positive attitude is what will keep her going regardless. She has happiness in what she is doing. Better to sink €20,000 into a stupid invention than blow €500,000 on a pub that turns out to be a white elephant.

I loved her. She is getting the best out of her win. Seems to be enjoying life. No frills and bs. Bought an decent/reliable car, renovated her own home but nothing OTT. She works away at her own pace. One of those inventions might hit the jackpot for her and if it doesn't happen she'll enjoying working on them anyway.

PauloConn wrote: »

Is it an irish thing to want to buy a pub as soon as you win the lotto? And then to buy 2 more.... in a town like that.

No, it's an Irish thing to want to pump money into property and land, lotto aside.

_Kaiser_

Watching it here now.. It's actually pretty sad watching for the most part. Particularly sad watching the Cork fella bringing the camera crew around places he no longer owns, including his home.

Problem in his and Billy's case I think is that they didn't win enough to do it properly and didn't get the right advice.

If it was me the first thing I'd do after claiming it would be to sequester myself somewhere for a fortnight and figure out what I wanted to do and get professional advice on how best to do it without risking it all.

the_syco

PauloConn wrote: »

The wife should have taken half the money off him and locked it away, for his own sake.

TBH, buying two pubs is one way to ensure she can't take the money and run!

mloc123

Why would anyone buy 3 pubs all within 30ft of each other? You are competing with yourself for customers...

Spanish Eyes

Stay anonymous.

I haven't heard of anyone being outed yet. But that might depend on their modus operandi.

Still keep it to yourself.

Amazing that some big wins have not leaked out really.

joe40

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Stay anonymous.

I haven't heard of anyone being outed yet. But that might depend on their modus operandi.

Still keep it to yourself.

Amazing that some big wins have not leaked out really.

I heard an old saying "you can hide poverty but you can't hide wealth"

NinetyTwoTeam

My plan is to buy one of those snot wiper yokes from the Donegal woman and make my child wear it to school.

Then after he is subjected to daily arse kickings, being called booger boy etc for the rest of his life I'll sue the daft cow for all she's worth.

NIMAN

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Problem in his and Billy's case I think is that they didn't win enough to do it properly and didn't get the right advice.

Shoulda listened to Craig Doyle.

.G.

PauloConn wrote:

I felt this was a more tragic view with the Comer fellow and the Titanic man. Is it an irish thing to want to buy a pub as soon as you win the lotto? And then to buy 2 more.... in a town like that. I thought it was madness. The wife should have taken half the money off him and locked it away, for his own sake.

Was thinking the same myself. Pretty risky even buying one pub in a small town never mind all of them! And Titanic man was just bonkers. Lost his house and all.

It came across as a show about people making bad decisions with money. Maybe next week we'll see the success stories.

Berserker

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Stay anonymous.

I haven't heard of anyone being outed yet. But that might depend on their modus operandi.

Don't see the value in going public. You don't get anything from the NL for going public.

markodaly

What were the cars? Nissan Qashqai's?

Id say at least 35k each if not more. The guts of 70k minus the scrappage.

Its funny though what people value, to me I would never buy a thing like that. I might upgrade my car but would do so conservatively and spend the difference on experiences like holidays to Africa and the like. Each to their own.

markodaly

This however brings us to a good discussion about wealth inequality. If we made everyone equal tomorrow by taking all the wealth from the top 50% and redistributed to the bottom 50% within a year you will find the most of the bottom 50% will still be at the bottom 50% since they have no clue how to manage money and the top 50% will still be at the top.

The amount of comments on yer mans two new cars on this thread.

They're not extraordinary cars. They'll run for years , probably has 5 years service package to go with them so will save on costly repairs, good MPG, reliable, safe- he'll probably still have them in 10 years time, meaning he's spent about 4K per annum per car- big deal!

I mean, what's your problem? Would you let the guy buy something nice for himself. He has 7 kids, he's paid the mortgage off and the rest of the money will likely go on them.

A greater bunch parsimonious old biddies I haven't seen- and BTW, how do you think YOU can buy a second hand car?

Because people like this guy buy new- that's why.:rolleyes:

markodaly

Deleted User wrote: »

The amount of comments on yer mans two new cars on this thread.

They're not extraordinary cars. They'll run for years , probably has 5 years service package to go with them so will save on costly repairs, good MPG, reliable, safe- he'll probably still have them in 10 years time, meaning he's spent about 4K per annum per car- big deal!

I mean, what's your problem? Would you let the guy buy something nice for himself. He has 7 kids, he's paid the mortgage off and the rest of the money will likely go on them.

A greater bunch parsimonious old biddies I haven't seen- and BTW, how do you think YOU can buy a second hand car?

Because people like this guy buy new- that's why.:rolleyes:

Its a discussion forum, relax FFS.

.G.

I'd be more worried about his blood pressure than the depreciation on his new cars anyway. He's head was like a tomato.

job seeker

Jeez louse.. I'd never spend lotto winnings on three pubs. I'd go on many holidays instead. By doing this, you're creating priceless memories with your family and/or friends. Or put sum aside and buy a house in outside of Dublin. Then let people rent it out.

Blazer

There was a survey done before in several countries including UK and US. Approx 80% of winners wished they had never won it..tore families apart, a lot of them lost their friends/wives/husbands, some got murdered ie a guy in the US, a lot of them wound up penniless after bad investments etc. All very sad.
Still like to give it a go.
The only one I really follow is the Carroll fella who won 10 mil 15 years or so and went nuts with it, working as a dustbin man now and has no regrets or so he says. Was supposed to be releasing a book of his life or something a few years back.

Hibrasil

crossman47 wrote: »

He was possibly on 80k when working so with 30 years service would be looking at a pension of 30k.

The 30 years needs to be verified (rounding up or poetic licence maybe) - 30 years service in 1994 means he started work in 1964 at 18 to 20 years of age - therefore he would have been born between 1944 and 1946 - making him now 71 to 73 years of age.

24 years service might be might be a nearer figure - and with 40 years needed for a full pension (which would be half the "average of his final 3 years salaries") - he would be lucky to be getting a pension of 10-12K by my reckoning. :rolleyes:

listermint

Blazer wrote: »

There was a survey done before in several countries including UK and US. Approx 80% of winners wished they had never won it..tore families apart, a lot of them lost their friends/wives/husbands, some got murdered ie a guy in the US, a lot of them wound up penniless after bad investments etc. All very sad.
Still like to give it a go.
The only one I really follow is the Carroll fella who won 10 mil 15 years or so and went nuts with it, working as a dustbin man now and has no regrets or so he says. Was supposed to be releasing a book of his life or something a few years back.

That fella was a complete scumbag though. Absolute lout of a fella the mess he made of the house he bought and making the neighbours life's absolute hell.

Pissed the money away in a few years , pure fool.

Blazer

listermint wrote: »

That fella was a complete scumbag though. Absolute lout of a fella the mess he made of the house he bought and making the neighbours life's absolute hell.

Pissed the money away in a few years , pure fool.

Oh absolutely, maybe they are best equipped to deal with.