Is 'John' The Smartest $22M Lottery Winner Ever?

Vols fan Dave Ramsey has officially heard it all.

During an early October show, a caller going by "John" told the financial advice guru Ramsey about how he won a lottery with coworkers and pocketed $22 million AFTER taxes. OK, that's a cool story, but it was what followed that left Ramsey in stitches.

'John', who is nearing 50, went on the Internet after winning the lottery and determined that he and his wife needed to keep this quiet. They didn't want people begging them for money.

"So my wife and I made a conscious decision just to kind of keep it under wraps," John explained to Dave.

Interesting. Go on.

"We haven't even told our two teenage children," the new millionaire continued. "And now I know that sounds strange, but we just don't want them to grow up to be waiters, you know, waiting for us to die so they can get our money."

Ramsey lost it.

"I want them to go figure out what they want to do in life. And then I'll let them know," John added. "I'm not going to keep it from them forever."

Brilliant, right?

It gets even more brilliant.

John's wife had a great-uncle who passed away and left most of his money to her and her siblings. Now John and his wife use that money to do things like buy John's mom a new roof as cover while not having to touch the $22 million.

Again, pure genius.

Let's go on:

• John and his wife paid off their house BEFORE the lottery win

• They drive Toyotas that were paid with cash BEFORE the lottery win

• John is still working because he enjoys his job

• The married couple has a team of professionals managing their money

The beauty of this is that John's teenage kids appear to be on the perfect life path.

Fake scumbag friends asking for a loan? Nope.

The stress of being the kid whose dad won the lottery? Nope.

The stress of being the rich kid who is always left with the bar tab in college? Nope.

John and his wife are playing this perfectly. The kids will get through high school and into college without thinking they're going to be content creators which is huge.

And then, one day, when the kids are like 30 and have careers, they're going to realize their parents have an absolute fortune that can be used for cool things like picking up bar tabs on the guys' golf trips with true friends without stressing over a $500 bill.

These kids are fortunate to have brilliant parents. Here's to keeping the secret a secret.

Is John wrong? Tell me how you'd handle this situation.

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com