What to do if you win the lottery

  by: admin - Category: lottery online

After my last post about a lottery winner, who’s life went bad after winning his millions.   I promised I was working on an article on what to do if you win the lottery and want to keep your life in order.

Therefore, here’s my new Lottery Winners to-do list:

1. Keep your winning ticket safe. People often panic and do strange things with their winning ticket. Some people post it to themsleves, store it in the freezer or entrust it to a friend.  My advice is to keep it locked away in a safe, bank deposit box or something equally safe and trustworthy.

2. Consider your Job. Don’t go quitting your job as soon as you check your numbers.  There are countless stories of people who mis-read their ticket, lose their ticket or don’t correctly work out their post tax take home winnings.  You may evenutally quit your job in favor of a higher life.  But dont rush into it.

3. Surround yourself with people you can trust. “The most important financial decision to make initially is who’s going to be accountant, financial adviser and lawyer”  Don’t always presume that close friends and family will offer you the best advice.  Get some independant counsell.  Someone whose advice you pay for and as such is independant and legally regulated. 

4. Decide on a lump sum or payments. This decision depends on what you want to do with your payout.  Get advice from your bought in friends (see #3)  If you choose a single lump sum it will end up significantly less than the total payout if you opt for the payments option over a number of years.

5.  Arrange for a account at the bank. You can’t just deposit millions into your plain ol’ checking account. And they don’t really give you a paper check with a lot of zeroes.

6. Change your phone number. Now that you’re richer than your wildest dreams, everyone’s going to want to reach out and touch you, and that will be a nightmare. So get a new unlisted telephone number.