Forum: Story Ideas

O, R, ToLaS, bSCII, WTL

ralord82276 🚫

Old
Retired
Tired of Life and Society
but Still Craves Individual Interactions
Wins The Lottery

Most "Lottery" stories has the individual go on a sexual rampage and/or a buying rampage (buying buildings, cars, planes, even islands all willy-nilly) with little regard to realistic writing (to be fair it IS a kind of wish-fulfillment story but I would still prefer some realism). Also almost always the MC is either young or middle aged. I have read one story where the person wanted to cut themselves off from society and they bought a large ranch out in the middle of nowhere...but most stories seem to jump more into the party/travel/sex all the time mode. So I set the parameters to limit (but not necessarily exclude) the excesses I have found in other lottery stories. Maybe someone can use those to fashion a decent "realistic" lottery story that actually has a plot other than sex and excess.

My personal story idea would have the MC place most of his winnings in trusts and have the trust income fund his needs. I see him looking for a semi-secluded house, surrounded by nature but not too far away from a large town or city. He sets out to hire a live-in housekeeper/personal assistant. He wants a youngish (say 18-30ish) female to bring a shot of life to his daily boring existence. He wants someone that he can get along with and that he can trust... after all they would be living in his home and interacting with him daily. Personally I do not see them becoming sexual. Instead, the MC gets a chance to vicariously experience young adulthood again through the conversations/interactions with his new housekeeper/personal assistant. He can provide a sounding board for her troubles and advice based on life experience.

My vision of this story has her initially being a bit hardened and hurt from her past, struggling to try and stabilize her life long enough to build a solid foundation for her future. She slowly comes to trust the MC and with his help and advice she rebuilds herself, her confidence, etc. After 4-6 years or so, she eventually reaches a point where they both agree that for her to progress in life any further, she would need to leave his employ to spread her wings.

As I said, that is what I envisioned when I came up with the parameters. Anyone is free to take that and flesh it out to a full story or come up with their own background/plotlines.

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@ralord82276

would have the MC place most of his winnings in trusts and have the trust income fund his needs.

Not sure you mean a trust. A person can set up a trust for someone else and determine how the money is distributed to that individual, say 20% of the assets when they reach 21, 20% when they reach 30, etc.

But someone setting up a trust for themselves is more about what happens to the money when they die. While they're living, the assets in the trust are the same as if they weren't in the trust.

Not that that would have much to do about the story.

Replies: Dominions Son ralord82276

Dominions Son 🚫

@Switch Blayde

But someone setting up a trust for themselves is more about what happens to the money when they die.

It depends on circumstances. Another reason to set up a trust for yourself, particularly in the face of a large windfall is to have a professional managing your money instead of trying to DIY.

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Dominions Son

to have a professional managing your money instead of trying to DIY

But you don't need a trust to do that. And if you have a trust, you can still manage everything yourself.

It's all about what happens when you die. What determines what happens to your assets when you die. A will? No will, it goes into probate. And then there's a trust.

ralord82276 🚫

@Switch Blayde

When you set up a trust for yourself (you are the beneficiary) you can also be the trust manager who directs the investments of the trust funds or hire a financial expert for the position. Any funds in the trust (as opposed to physical assets of the trust) can only be disbursed/used as the trust manager dictates (within the specifications of the trust agreement documentation). The primary funds don't just sit in a bank account. There may be accounts set up in the trust for specific uses (ie a maintenance account for any physical assets of the trust) but usually, other than those, all funds are invested for some balance of stability and growth. These investments create income streams for the trust which (based on the trust agreement documentation) can be re-invested into the trust or disbursed to the beneficiaries of the trust.

Now if you are the trust manager of your trust and/or your trust documents are set up to allow you to draw from the primary funds of the trust, then you can use any funds in the trust at any time (although most of the funds would be tied up in investments and may take some time to "cash them out"). Otherwise, you can only draw upon the monies disbursed from the income streams of the trust.

Basically what I was saying from that line is that the MC would have the majority of his money invested in a trust (not under his direct control) so he wouldn't be flashy or extravagant in his spending. He might have trust accounts set up for charity giving / good deeds, trust operations, taxes, and physical asset maintenance. But his everyday personal money would be limited to his retirement and the income disbursements from the trust (plus any funds he did NOT put into the trust). The pay for his housekeeper/personal assistant could come from the trust operations account IF his house was bought by the trust or assigned as a trust asset. Otherwise the pay for that position would have to come out of his personal accounts.

I had said that most lottery stories are all about the excesses with little acknowledgement of realism. And that I wanted to set the parameters to limit those excesses and add more realism to the story. This is how I did that... because most any reputable financial planner and/or estate lawyer would recommend that course of action for large lottery winnings.

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫
Updated:

@ralord82276

what I was saying from that line is that the MC would have the majority of his money invested in a trust (not under his direct control)

This is what I disagree with if the MC sets up the trust. If he sets up the trust, he has access to all assets inside the trust.

My wife and I are co-trustors of a revocable trust. The trustor is the person who sets it up. We are also co-trustees. The trustee has full access to everything inside the trust (house, cars, mutual funds, bank accounts (cash), gold (not that I have any gold), etc.) So everything inside the trust is in direct control of the trustee.

If I die, my wife becomes the sole trustee. If she also dies, the trust names my son as the new trustee (and I think the revocable trust becomes an irrevocable trust). My son then would have full access to all assets inside the trust just like my wife and I have now. He could sell my house or not. Sell my cars. Spend money in banks. Etc.

Now if my son also dies, there's an investment company named as the new trustee with directions to liquidate everything and distribute it based on the beneficiaries listed in the trust. There are percentages defined. And for the people underage, there are restrictions to their access to the money based on their age. That's sort of what you're thinking of.

Replies: ralord82276

ralord82276 🚫

@Switch Blayde

In other words you have set up a direct control trust... ie you (and your wife) are the trust managers as well as the beneficiaries. However, most trusts are NOT direct controlled. When those trusts are established a trust manager (or board of trustees) is hired, and that person (or board) controls/directs the trust investments per the allowances detailed in the trust documentation.

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@ralord82276

you (and your wife) are the trust managers as well as the beneficiaries.

Nope. My wife and I are trustors and trustees. My son will become a trustee when we die. My granddaughter and her children are beneficiaries when my son dies.

I think most trusts are direct controlled. You're thinking of someone creating a trust for someone else. That isn't the case in the story suggestion. The lottery winner is creating a trust for himself. What he would more likely do is buy immediate annuities to generate a fixed amount of income for life to take care of the basic necessities. Then he'd buy investments, like stocks and bonds and mutual funds and CDs, etc. to grow his portfolio. And maybe, as inflation carves away the value of his annuity income, he might buy more annuities.

Replies: ralord82276

ralord82276 🚫

@Switch Blayde

No I am NOT thinking of just creating a trust for someone else.

Like I already said in previous response: you and your wife are the trust managers... which is the same thing as a trustee. That is a directly controlled trust.

A majority of trusts... of ALL TYPES: irrevocable, revocable, charitable, testamentary, special needs, blind, asset protection, generation-skipping, and all the other types of trusts... are indirectly controlled. In other words the trust manager/trustee is NOT a beneficiary of the trust. Instead a financial planner or money manager or similar financial expert is hired to be the trust manager/trustee. The reason why? Because most people that set up the trusts DO NOT have the experience or knowledge to invest the funds properly and prefer to hire an expert to do so on their behalf.

The beneficiary of a trust is NOT NORMALLY a trustee... they CAN BE...and in a lot of cases, especially where the assets of the trust are primarily physical assets instead of financial, they are a trustee BUT while it is not rare that is NOT the norm.

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Forum: Story Ideas

O, R, ToLaS, bSCII, WTL

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