In October 2018, someone in South Carolina won $1.5 billion. The nearly impossible odds (概率) of winning were 1 in 302.5 million! Many people probably wish they'd been the lucky ones happily accepting the prize.
It's not hard to imagine the things one could do with this newfound wealth, but would this money actually make someone happy? The experiences of several lottery (抽奖) winners show that it probably wouldn't. Suddenly coming into big money can change a person's life in unexpected and sometimes unpleasant ways. Take William Post, for example, who had only $2.46 in the bank when he won $16.2 million in a New York lottery in 1998. Within 3 months, he was poor again because of careless spending. He wasn't as happy as he felt before winning the prize.
Then there was Callie Rogers, a British teenager from a common family, won $3 million in 2003. She bought her family and friends lavish gifts and bought herself expensive clothes. After six years, Callie lost all her money and realized that money didn't make her happy. In fact, she became worried that people were friendly with her only to get her money.
Lottery winners are not the only ones who can end up unhappy. People who get big money for some other reasons, e.g. receiving money from others, are also at risk. They may not know how to deal with money and do not ask experts for advice. They waste money on things they don't need and give away too much money to friends and relatives.
Researchers found that people are happy when they are able to pay for their basic needs, such as food, clothes, a safe place to live, and health care. People are also happy when they give reasonable (合理的) amounts of money to charities. Giving makes them feel as if they're making a difference. Lavish things, such as expensive clothes and cars, only make people happy for a moment.
People can hope and wish to suddenly come into lots of money to improve their lives, but perhaps there are better ways to find happiness.
