the.com/financial windfall
money that finds you before you find a plan for it.
means an unexpected, unearned sum of cash landing in your life all at once, usually via inheritance, luck, or lawsuit.
from from old english law: wind-fallen fruit or timber technically belonged to peasants, since lords only claimed what they deliberately cut down.
lottery paradoxmost big winners report happiness levels unchanged within a year.
legal rootsoriginally about literal storms knocking down trees.
tax ironygovernments often tax windfalls as if you earned them.