Lottery Bankruptcy Statistic Lacked Evidence

Articles have repeated for years that 70% of lottery winners go bankrupt within seven years, but the statistic has no verified research behind it. The National Endowment for Financial Education traced it to a 2001 panel discussion where one participant apparently tossed out the 70% figure without providing evidence. Other writers kept citing the claim until it began to look like an established fact. In 2018, NEFE publicly stated that it had never produced or confirmed the bankruptcy statistic.

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