- The Powerball jackpot has reached a staggering $625 million after nobody won on Wednesday.
- While it may be tempting, buying a lottery ticket is almost certainly not worth it.
- History has shown us countless examples of lottery winners whose lives took a turn for the worse after hitting the jackpot.
The Powerball jackpot reached a staggering $625 million after nobody won Wednesday's drawing.
The announcement gives hope to lottery players across the country who dream of striking it rich with a few lucky numbers.
While buying a ticket may seem tempting, the numbers suggest that it almost certainly isn't worth it.
But even if it does pan out, winning the lottery will not solve all of life's problems.
In fact, many people's lives became notably worse after they hit the jackpot, as you can see from the following cautionary tales.
DON'T MISS: We did the math to see if it's worth it to buy a ticket for the Powerball jackpot
Lara and Roger Griffiths bought their dream home… and then life fell apart.
Before they won a $2.76 million lottery jackpot in 2005, Lara and Roger Griffiths, of England, reportedly never argued.
Then they won and bought a million-dollar barn-converted house and a Porsche, not to mention luxurious trips to Dubai, Monaco, and New York City.
Media stories say their fortune ended in 2010 when a freak fire gutted their house, which was underinsured, forcing them to shell out for repairs and seven months of temporary accommodations.
Shortly after, there were claims that Roger drove away in the Porsche after Lara confronted him over emails suggesting that he was interested in another woman. That ended their 14-year marriage.
Bud Post lost $16.2 million within a nightmarish year — and his own brother allegedly put out a hit on him.
William "Bud" Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988, but he was $1 million in debt within a year.
"I wish it never happened," Post said. "It was totally a nightmare."
A former girlfriend successfully sued him for a third of his winnings, and his brother was arrested for allegedly hiring a hit man to kill him in the hopes he'd inherit a share of the winnings.
After sinking money into family businesses, Post sank into debt and spent time in jail for firing a gun over the head of a bill collector.
"I was much happier when I was broke," he said, according to The Washington Post.
Bud lived quietly on $450 a month and food stamps until his death in 2006.
Martyn and Kay Tott won a $5 million jackpot, but lost the ticket
Martyn Tott, 33, and his 24-year-old wife Kay, from the UK, missed out on a $5 million lottery fortune after losing their ticket.
A seven-week investigation by Camelot Group, the company that runs the UK's national lottery, convinced officials their claim to the winning ticket was legitimate. But since there is a 30-day time limit on reporting lost tickets, the company was not required to pay up, and the jackpot became the largest unclaimed amount since the lottery began in 1994.
"Thinking you're going to have all that money is really liberating. Having it taken away has the opposite effect," Kay Tott told The Daily Mail. "It drains the life from you and puts a terrible strain on your marriage. It was the cruelest torture imaginable."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider