How would your life change if you won a lottery of ₹34 crore overnight? Would you buy a mansion? Or, maybe you would start visiting one exotic place after another? How about sharing the happiness with the people you love?
The 66-year-old Japanese man had a similar question put to him and the answer he gave was quite unexpected. He decided to conceal the fortune and indulge in a secret life of luxury. The story which got viral on social media platforms recently, is a sort of sudden wealth can make the closest relationships to be the most complicated ones.
The man whose name was not disclosed and was just represented by the letter "S" is a retired employee of a major manufacturing company in Tokyo. The couple lived on a combined monthly pension of around ₹1.7 lakh and saved only about ₹1.45 crore throughout their lifetime.
His life was very simple. He used to read the newspaper at a local coffee shop and buy lottery tickets worth ₹200 each. Everything was normal until one morning when he was called to the bank to be told that he was the winner of the grand prize of 600 million yen, which is roughly ₹34 crore.
After the winning announcement, S said, "I can hardly believe this. Such a gigantic number instantly makes me feel a bit frightened." However, instead of going to the wife with the good news, he decided quite deliberately not to tell her.
Why? According to the stories circulating around, the wife of S was a very frugal person. She prohibited beer drinking at home, did not allow him to buy a new car and tightly controlled every household expense. Spending years under financial constraint had caused S to desire freedom.
So, he made it clear to his wife that he had only won ₹28 lakh which would be used for home renovations.
As if his wife were blind, S started living his life in two halves. He bought himself a luxury car which he kept at a faraway place and took the subway to reach it so that nobody would get suspicious.
He stayed at elite hot spring resorts, ate at luxury restaurants and made trips around Japan—thus spending almost ₹1 crore during the period of only six months. In order to preserve his disguise, he wore worn-out clothes and kept away from people with whom he was usually mingling.
However, the wealth without being able to share it soon turned into a heavy load. While traveling, S came across many families which made him think of his own father who died alone after going through divorce and bankruptcy.
The man had a deep sense of guilt and solitude. "Had I earned this money through my own efforts, I would have been made of it. But money that comes effortlessly invokes bad memories and shakes my life," he said.
After a long time, S finally took the decision of consulting a financial planner. He made the decision of putting around ₹27 crore into insurance policies with his wife and children as the beneficiaries.
Even though he did not tell her the entire truth, his act was a silent assurance to his wife that the money he had kept away will be the means of safety for the family. The tale has led to the extensive discussion oflaid trust in marriage, money and its true essence-being some other of the hot topics of the debate online.
