Can you even begin to imagine what it must be like?

Ever since this unnamed person won the billion+ dollar lottery jackpot in southern Maine, I've tried to put myself in their shoes, and how I'd handle that kind of instant financial freedom. Imagine being so rich that all of a sudden money wasn't even real anymore. It's basically now just this thing you give people in exchange for pretty much whatever you can think of.

I also know that ever since this person won, folks have been wondering who it was. Especially since it took so long for the person to even come forward and claim their prize. But I imagine a lot of thought had to go into how you even begin to approach that kind of money. That said, we may never know who this person is. And there are 5 solid reasons that you may never know.

1. Anonymity

First and foremost, this would be the first thing on my mind. I'm not sure I'd be to keen to tell anyone that I'd won that kind of money. Especially at the beginning. People will have all sorts of ideas for your money before you even have it, good or bad. Which brings us to our next point...

Photo by Etienne Boulanger on Unsplash
Photo by Etienne Boulanger on Unsplash
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2. Greedy people/scammers

There have been numerous incidents over the years of people winning huge sums of money, and then basically going broke after a short time because they had no real concept of how to handle it all, but even more so, some people can't say no, according to News Canter Maine. That often leads to folks blowing their fortune in no time.

Hacker working on laptop in the dark
grinvalds
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3. This person might just move away.

In keeping with the idea of keeping their identity more of a secret, whoever won this gigantic cash pile may decide to leave Maine. In order to keep people off their backs and to be able to have some semblance of a normal life, they may choose to get as far away from where they won the money as they can. Plus, if money is no object, you can live wherever you want.

Family Moving In
Mike Watson Images
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4. Tax reasons.

It's no secret that Maine is brutal when it comes to taxes. Even though this winner chose the lump sum and to have the taxes taken out up front, you'd still be taxed on the interest your money makes. I'd prefer not to think what that might look like annually. So maybe going where there's a softer tax burden might help keep some of the money.

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Sara Robinson
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5. A lot of planning has to go into what to do with it all.

There must be a mammoth amount of future planning that will have to go into what happens with all that money. Will you give it to family? Will you give it to charity? It'll take probably a couple years just to sort out how to handle it.

Andrew Olney
Andrew Olney
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At the end of the day, there's as many reasons as this person has dollars, why they should just keep their identity to themselves. Because it's also going to have a ripple effect through their whole family. I definitely envy the money pile that's at stake here, but I'm glad I don't have to deal with the practicalities. Good luck on that one!

What would you do with all that money?

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