A woman who kept her huge lottery win a secret from her husband for eight years says she was forced to come clean after he spotted a text on her phone. Posting to Reddit, anonymous winner said that she had scooped the $480,000 jackpot before she married her childhood sweetheart.
Worried that the cash would "turn their lives upside down" and knowing that her partner would likely squander the cash, she made the decision not to tell him. Because she was still 'legally single', there was also no obligation for her to declare her assets, and so she deposited her winnings into a new bank account.
Instead of going on a spending spree, the money-savvy woman wisely invested in an energy company - which doubled her funds to $1million. As reported by the Mirror, she wrote: "My husband has a tendency to spend on things we don't need and that aren't going to benefit us in the long run so I didn't want our money to be blown quickly on stupid stuff like cars and clothes.
"I opened a new bank account with a national credit union and put the check in. Got started with a financial advisor (Keith), who guided me into investing in local businesses and real estate. And that's that. It's been sitting there since, just growing."
But after eight years of keeping the cash under wraps, she said husband Mike was left stunned after noticing a text from her secret financial advisor. She said: "I'm doing dishes getting ready to start making dinner, and my phone rings. I can't get to it but figure I'll call them back.
"Then I get a text. No big deal. I'll get to it in a minute....but husband came into the kitchen and glanced at my phone to let me know who text me and called me, which he always does if my hands are full.
"It's Keith. He called and text me to let me know my account just hit $1 million after one of the energy companies I invested in soared recently. My husband is stunned. Has no clue what to even say, staring at me until he says 'We have a million dollars??'
"I was so flushed but finally just sat him down and explained the situation. He's clearly mad at me for never telling him.
"Asks if my family knows, and I tell him that no one knows except the IRS and Keith."
After spending the night at a friend's to clear his head, Mike felt that his spouse had hidden a huge part of herself from him, but ultimately understood her decision. She said: "He's not angry.
"He agreed he would have spent the money on dumb things if he'd won it and is happy that I put it away. Little less happy that I didn't tell him about it for so long, but he said he doesn't care and doesn't want this getting in the way of our marriage."
The couple who already rake in $145,000 a year with their combined salaries, have agreed to only dip into the Lotto winnings in case of emergency or "pre-discussed things". Now the pair share the secret and have also agreed not to tell anyone else after the post "blew up" and they started receiving requests for money from strangers.
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