"AITA For Spending My Son’s Lottery Winnings?": Dad's Story Splits The Internet

Parenting while managing the family’s money can be challenging, especially when your children are old enough to think that they know what’s best for them. They might end up choosing instant gratification over, say, saving for a college fund, long-term investing, and other boring but financially responsible things.

A dad turned to the internet for advice after a disagreement in his family on how he had used his son’s lottery winnings. He bought a round of lotto tickets for the entire family, and the one his son drew won a large sum of money. So, the dad secretly invested it, and it ended up paying off. However, people disagreed about what to do with the new, now even larger sum. Scroll down for the full story and to read the net’s divided opinions.

This story manages to cover a very interesting combination of ethical questions. First and foremost, how does ownership work in a family? Obviously, nearly anything a parent buys for a child is, legally, the parent's property, since most kids don’t have their own income. This is doubly true for something like a lottery ticket, which only the purchasing adult could redeem in the first place.

This is perhaps why many did side with the dad. Having different family members scratch off the ticket is fun, but the author, who is legally an adult and bought it, has to be the one to pick up the money. Nevertheless, most parents tend to avoid playing the “Do you know who actually owns things?” card unless it’s absolutely necessary.

First and foremost, it can really drive a wedge between the child and the parent. It’s not like it’s the kid’s fault they don’t have income, and this just exacerbates the usual juvenile frustration with not having all the rights and privileges of an adult. As many parents know, it’s even worse when the child in question, like in this story, is a teen.

On the other hand, there are some obvious and less obvious reasons for the father to hold on to most of the cash. First and foremost, a college fund is legitimately the main way many young adults avoid being in debt until much later in life. The average annual cost at a private institution in the US was $33,500 in 2017. This was seven years ago, so you can bet your bottom dollar that it’s higher now.

As shocking as it sounds, the entirety of these lottery winnings wouldn’t cover the entire four-year degree, depending on where this young man aimed to go. However, seeing as it’s been invested well, that money has been grown effectively. A college fund is no small deal; it can and will give this young adult a head start in life, which he will only truly understand when discussing people’s college debt a decade later and realizing how lucky he was.

There is also a “hidden” downside to just handing over the money. The dad has more than one kid. Anyone with siblings will be well aware that your brother or sister winning the lottery might be the worst thing possible. The jealousy, FOMO, gloating, etc., might cause a lot of inter-familial strain that the author was quite clever about avoiding. Indeed, by spending some of it upfront, he negated the usual downside of investing, the lack of instant gratification.

Of course, the real question is what he should have done with the earnings from investing it. All in all, holding on to them is by no means bad. He quite generously offered to manage the money for his son for free, something that he will struggle to find later in life.