Alex Snelius won an $18 million Illinios Lotto in 2000.  The new found wealth brought more hardship than ease.  He and his wife Ursula gave a large sums of the winnings to charities along with buying houses for family members and dolls for his wife’s collection.  After 47 years of marriage Ursula passed, leaving Snelius to a large house, his sons who treated him as an “ATM”, and daughter.

“When you do win it, you say, ‘Thank you, God’—you know, you’re blessed,” says Snelius. “But you’re not blessed—you’re cursed. Money is not happiness—it’s a curse: People don’t leave you alone; charities come from every direction you can think of; the government taxes the heck out of you. I don’t like it.”

To read a full write up on Alex Snelius visit:

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/April-2007/Money-in-Chicago-2007/The-18-million-Dollar-Headache/