LiveWorld Transcripts

California Lottery presents

Milt Laird
California Lottery Winner

June 29, 2000

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Gregory: How does it feel not to have to worry about money?

Milt: (laughing) Gregory, you still worry about money, even if you have it! We don't worry about some smaller purchases, or even larger ones that we couldn't afford before, but when your estate is handling that much money, you worry enough to take care of it. So we do very careful planning each year as to what we will do with each check - how much to charity, how much to income tax, how much to travel, how much to our family and friends, and we know at the beginning of each year pretty well what we will be doing for the next 364 days until the next check comes. We can pay off our credit card every month, so no interest charges there. Also, we budget for the vineyard expenses. We don't make wine, we just grow grapes and sell them. But I think that some people think that if they had plenty of money, they'd have no problems. But you still need to plan and carefully consider what you want to do with your life, and with the funds that are available.

Harold: What do you do every day? Do you still work?

Milt: Yes Harold, I do still work. I usually get up early in the morning and feed our two dogs before the stock market opens. I watch CNBC and follow their comments and ticker tape, and sometimes trade from the computer at my desk. Like anybody else, I pay bills, track the credit cards, then after the market closes we walk the dogs through the vineyard or go shopping. I do a lot of cooking, as does my wife Carlene. We have relatives and friends visiting us now, and we built it to accommodate friends who wanted to come and stay. We live in a rural agricultural community, and we participate in community events. My wife is teaching Bible school at our church this week. We have a very happy life, and are happy to be on top of the hill in our vineyard, watching the grapes grow.

Pompei: How has it changed your life?

Milt: It changed our life first by enabling us to retire quickly. We were both in our 60s when we won, and were planning to retire, and figure out how much money we'd need. We thought we'd have to reduce our lifestyle, but the win meant we didn't have to reduce our lifestyle and we could retire quickly. I was in a sensitive position for a manufacturing firm as chief financial officer, and my wife was a legal secretary. I found a replacement for my job, and then I too quit. Then the next big change was that we traveled more than we had before. We've taken several cruises, and enjoyed them all. One of the most enjoyable was with our son and his then 10-year-old daughter. It was a wonderful trip! We saw whales and seals and penguins and ice. I play more golf now than I used to. We've taken three trips to Scotland, and played the major courses there. We've taken all our three children and their children to a ranch each summer, either in California or Wyoming or Montana to fish and ride horses. So I would say that the biggest change has been travel.

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