19-year-old wins $4M in the lottery, parents pressure him to give them $2M even after he was planning to give them $750K: 'They got mad and started calling me selfish.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
May 31, 2026 8:30 PM EDT

His parents are lucky he's giving them a cent of his lottery winnings! 

If you get one piece of financial advice, let it be this: never tell anyone if you win the lottery. While your accountant and your wife of 40 years might be exceptions to that rule, it's one that you must apply to every other relationship in your life. It doesn't matter if you win $2000 or $200 million; people change when they find out you have money burning a hole in your pocket. You might trust your friends and loved ones not to be greedy, but it's always best to be safe. Soon enough, you'll get calls rolling in about so-and-so's credit card debt and someone's son's college fund, and if you give in, you won't have any of your lotto winnings left for your credit card and college debt. 

Of course, this is easier said than done. All of us think that if we won the lottery, we would be incredibly responsible with our winnings, never falling victim to the mistakes that lottery winners have made since the lottery began. It's like how everyone is the greatest parent in the world before they have kids. It's really hard not to tell the people in your life that you've won the lottery, especially when you're 19 years old, and those people are your parents. 

The kid in this story tried to do a good thing by giving his parents a sizable portion of his lottery winnings, but that wasn't enough for them. They wanted him to give them half of his winnings so that they could throw it away on vacations and luxuries. 

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  • A model, who represents a 19-year-old teenager who just won the lottery, and is struggling with whether to share his winnings with his entitled parents.
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A model, who represents a 19-year-old teenager who just won the lottery, and is struggling with whether to share his winnings with his entitled parents. 

  • Am I the bad guy for not giving my parents half of my lottery winnings?

    Context: I won approximately £4M earlier this year from the Lotto. Currently the money is diversified into several index funds. I was planning on giving them
    via u/Rayapt
  • £750,000 as a thank you but when I mentioned that as a 'counteroffer', they got mad and started calling me selfish. I'm 19M, my parents are 49M and 47F. Without
    via u/Rayapt
  • going into too much detail and making this longer than necessary, I only waited around a week before I told my parents. They were excited and so was I, it
    via u/Rayapt
  • was all going fine until they started talking about the money as if it was theirs. They were talking about retiring, going on holiday, buying a boat and new
    via u/Rayapt
  • A representation of two entitled parents, who are taking expensive vacations using the money that their teenage son won in the lottery.
    via Vidar Nordli-Mathisen

    A representation of two entitled parents, who are taking expensive vacations using the money that their teenage son won in the lottery. 

  • car, travelling the world, etc. I asked them how much they expected to have, stone cold face they say half. I understand that with giving half, having £2M left is already
    via u/Rayapt
  • enough but why should they be entitled to that. I know they're my parents and we've had a great relationship. To me, £750,000 seems
    via u/Rayapt
  • like it's enough as they already have their own savings and a payed off mortgage. So, am I the ah le for refusing to give my
    via u/Rayapt
  • A picture of the house that the parents paid off before their son won the lottery and gave them hundreds of thousands of dollars.
    via Tanya Barrow

    A picture of the house that the parents paid off before their son won the lottery and gave them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

  • parents half of my winnings?
    via u/Rayapt
  • West-Improvement2449 Dont ever tell anyone you win the lottery. Ever
    via u/West-Improvement2449
  • No-Algae-7437 There will, if course, be signs that point in that direction; but never an acknowledgement...
    via u/No-Algae-7437
  • TomDestry It's a good rule. But I think a 19 year old who suddenly has £4,000,000 is going to struggle to hide it from their parents.
    via u/TomDestry
  • MyBadYourFault- I don't understand why people say this. Unless you roll up in a 100k car and brag even at a young age it should be easy. Dude didn't win 40 million he won 4. At first you tell NOBODY. I never understood how people always want to tell other people their business. You then live normally for the first year or two. Get a decent apartment for a one-two year lease and Get a normal car. Save and invest your money. You can have a regular job which you should anyway with a smallish winnin
    via u/MyBadYourFault-
  • After a year or two, buy a reasonable home outright. It's nobodies business how much you make at work and if they ask how you own a home you can tell them mind their business or say you got a nice raise, a promotion or straight lie to them and tell them you are renting to own or you got a great interest rate or whatever the h I you wanna tell them and stick to it. Like I said they didn't really win much so their standards of living shouldn't really change much for a normal person but they should
    via u/MyBadYourFault-
  • writerny But what if you don't want to be evasive and lie to everyone in your life?
    via u/writerny
  • Traveler691 Then have fun with people asking you for money the rest of your life.
    via u/Traveler691
  • Effective-Several They are lucky to get ANYTHING. My main concern is that if you give them anything, they're going to try to blod you for more. Plus, have you figured out how much taxes you'll have to pay on that?
    via u/Effective-Several
  • Kind-Philosopher1 NTA, and stop with counteroffers immediately! I cant strss enough how much you should not give them a penny right now. You need to sit with a financial advisor and speak about your goals in life and how this windfall can help you achieve them. This is a conversation that will take months not minutes. The moment you open your wallet then everyone and their uncle is going to have a hand out. Read about winners of the past and how it can ruin lives, any gifting should be a ways do
    via u/Kind-Philosopher1
  • saph_pearl Exactly! 4 million is life changing money if handled correctly, but it's not a large enough amount where you can start gifting it to people. It's easily swindled, and 19 is very young to deal with this much money. So your advice is great, OP please see a financial advisor before you do anything.
    via u/saph_pearl
  • Of course, giving back to your parents is a kind thing to do so if you're in a position to gift them a car and a holiday that's great. But speak to a financial advisor first and figure out what is doable. I don't like their attitude of feeling entitled and already apportioning out how they're going to spend "their" share.
    via u/saph_pearl
  • happyrunnergirlie Im a similar age to your parents. 750k is very generous and thoughtful! You are not obligated to give them anything. Enjoy and invest!
    via u/happyrunnergirlie

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teenager lottery pressure investment selfish British money parents entitled people
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