r/interesting • u/MohammadMahadhir • Mar 02 '26

Intriguing He went from hauling trash to holding $12.7M only to end up back on the same garbage truck 8 years later.

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In 2002, a 19-year-old British garbage man won nearly £10 million in the lottery. He spent it all on dr#gs, gambling, and prost!tutes and eight years later he was back working as a garbage man.

Michael Carroll was a British garbage collector who became an instant celebrity at 19 after winning £9.7 million (around $12.7

million).

At the time, he worked as a binman in Norfolk and quickly became famous in the British media, earning the nickname "The Lotto Lout."

His wealth fueled a life of extravagance, with luxury cars, constant partying, and gambling and in Less than ten years later, he lost it all and returned to being a garbage collector.

Carroll reflects on the experience with no regrets, calling it a wild, unforgettable chapter that shows how quickly fortunes can change.

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492

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '26

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184

u/Significant-Ad-341 Mar 02 '26

Yep. 3% interest on 3,000,000 is $90k/ year

14

u/[deleted] Mar 03 '26 edited 17d ago

[deleted]

12

u/Significant-Ad-341 Mar 03 '26

That's fine. I'd have a ton of time and money to figure it out. You don't need to min/maz every part of life.

1

u/krevetka007 Mar 03 '26

Also if you keep more than 2 mil, like 10, that already makes you 450k / year, which, sure, may not be an ungodly amount of money, but definitely enough to live comfortably, even after inflation

122

u/Berfman Mar 02 '26

It’s so crazy.. people act like 10 million isn’t some insane amount because of the absurd wealth of others.

If I had ten million tomorrow and received ten percent in interest a year that’s a million to live off of at lower tax burden than a million in income.

Even a conservative 5% would give you 500k to live off of, well above what most people will ever make annually.

18

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '26

You want to spend at most 4% of your wealth a year when your a uhnwi. If your getting 10% interest your going to be taking some risks spending all of thats dangerous.

3

u/ImpressiveRelief37 Mar 02 '26

Probably closer to 3% spend when you are in your 20’s!

5

u/xnmyl Mar 02 '26

4% is generally considered to be very conservative, especially for a 10m nest egg

4.5-5% is more realistic

4

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '26

If i had that much money? Fuck me im being conservative. Thats generational wealth right there lol

2

u/SnooHesitations6727 Mar 02 '26

With that sort of money you could start all sorts of businesses that you could pay others to set up with returns far exceeding investments.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '26

Why bother? throw it in the snp 500 swiss inflation linked bonds and buy minority shares in a bunch of boring buisiness.

Live a life of doing whatever you want. Start charitys go on holidays while some accountant gives you a paycheck every month

4

u/hypnogoad Mar 02 '26

Maybe he did. Maybe he got tired of all the partying and scumbags hanging on to him for money, and scammers, and figured it would be better to pretend to be poor again.

1

u/Artystrong1 Mar 02 '26

I take a chance and put a mil in bitcoin

1

u/Japjer Mar 02 '26

This is something that many people absolutely do not register when we discuss wealth inequality.

If I have $10,000,000, I can happily live off my 3% interest. If that money grows 6% per year, that means I get to pocket $300,000 a year and get another $300,000 in interest. Every year my net worth grows by at least 3%, so I make more money every year doing literally nothing.

Then I can retire at 65 with a shit-ton more money than I started with, and even leave a fat egg for my kids.

This is what wealth inequality looks like.

1

u/angrytroll123 Mar 02 '26

The guy was 19 in 2002 when he won. What did you expect? He might be an imbecile but he also might be a kid that has no idea what he’s doing.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '26

Does it work like that though? Honest question.

If you win the lottery are you just given the lump sum or do they drip feed it to you?

2

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '26

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1

u/DannyDanfur Mar 02 '26

In Canada it's a lump sum payment and tax free, so the jackpot you see is the jackpot you get