10 things you can do if you win the lottery
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Hitting the jackpot can open a world of possibilities for lottery winners, who may finally be able to afford the things they have always dreamed of. If you won a huge jackpot online with Lottoland UK for example, you would be able to turn your dreams into reality. What would you do if you won the lottery?
Let’s take a look at what some lottery winners have done with their lottery winnings and see if we can plan ahead for when the day of our dreams come true.
1. Invest in advice from financial planners
Most of us only think about how we would spend a windfall. However, we forget to think about or are not even aware that a windfall comes with a few logistical bumps. Issues such as taxes, financial long-term impacts and legal requirements must be taken into consideration.
In order to handle a windfall, you need to have professionals to help you throughout. These professionals should have experience with clients who have had similar abundant sudden arrivals of cash.
A lottery winning couple did just this after winning a share of the $656 Mega Millions jackpot. Illinois-based couple Merle and Patricia Butler were unsure of what to do with their new fortune, but they vowed to be smart about it. So, they planned to spend the lump sum on advice from their financial planners and attorneys.
2. Pay off all your debts.
Before you go on that lottery-winning shopping spree, practice smart personal finance and pay off all your debts. This includes, credit cards, car loans, university loans, and mortgages if you can afford it. You've literally won the opportunity to start over so why not!
A $5.6 million lottery winner decided to do just this by paying out his student loads, house mortgage and car loans. After that he still had around a whopping $5 million! He was then able to invest $3 million and use the remaining to buy an apartment. Talk about living a comfortable life!
3. Travel the world
Now that all the boring stuff is over, it’s time to finally spend some of your winnings on fun things!
You will have had a lot going on the past few weeks, after winning the lottery, (maybe) quitting your job, straightening up your finances, and avoiding all the money grabbers. Now it's time to relax.
Now’s the chance to think of the one place you've always wanted to visit, activate the ‘do not disturb mode’ on your phone (and in real life), jump on a plane - first-class, of course - and chill.
A lottery winner who hopped onto the next flight after winning the lottery was pub landlord Nigel Willetts. With 13,000,000-to-one odds, he won £1 million in 2014 after accidentally grabbing a £20 bill while buying lottery tickets. He used the accidental winnings to travel the world, starting by treating 13 family members to a vacation in Florida over the holidays.
4. Give your winnings to charity – get a little good karma
You can also spread the love and help others with your good fortune.
One extremely generous lottery winner Tom Crist, won a Lotto Max draw in 2013, decided to donate the ENTIRE jackpot prize of $40 million to charity.
The charitable Canadian started a foundation and made his first donation to the Calgary Cancer Center, who treated his late wife for cancer. He then went on to donate to more charities close to his heart including Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the Ronald McDonald House Charities, the Calgary Zoo and many more.
Another charitable Canadian lottery winner was Bob Erb from Canada. He won a $25 million Lotto Max jackpot in 2012 and donated a good chunk of his winnings, an estimated $8 million, to charitable causes. A very giving person indeed.
5.Get your business boots on and invest
CNBC’s Jim Cramer offered up an investment strategy for whomever purchased the winning Powerball drawing. So, we’re talking big money here, but still applicable to all lottery winners.Cramer said assets that would be resilient in the face of hyperinflation are precious metals, real estate, and art masterpieces.
For metals, Cramer said he would put 5% of the lottery winnings into gold, specifically in physical form. “Don’t store the bullion at home. Put it in safety deposit boxes at different banks. Nothing wrong with putting some overseas,” he said.
Cramer also recommended putting 5% of the lottery winnings into bitcoin, Some on Wall Street have even suggested that cryptocurrency could largely replace gold! So, definitely one to keep in mind.
The final place to to invest lottery winnings are stocks. However, he strongly advises not to put more than 20% of your assets into the market as he explained, “you only need to get rich once. Once you win a whopping jackpot, you never need to take another financial risk again. No need to hit the jackpot a second time.”
A Wales-based couple that won $5 million did just this and used their money to invest. After taking a celebratory cruise, they paid off their mortgage, bought their dream home in Somerset, and then invested in three more properties.
The winnings also allowed them to invest in and fund their son’s degree from Oxford Brookes University.
6. Treat yourself (smartly)
You now have the funds to treat yourself to a few things that have been on your most-wanted list — maybe that car that you’ve dreamt of having since you were a kid, or the house you never thought you’d be able to afford - but try to get ahead of yourself and spend it all on expensive junk.
It might help to consult someone close to you when you feel the urge to shop. One person you trust to tell you to “maybe you don’t necessarily need that.” If you don't have a friend like that, get one. They're good to have around, whether you have won the lottery or not.
A lottery winner who treated herself in a distinctive way was Cheryl, 52, of Stockton-on-Tees, who won £916,915. Cheryl had a love and passion for Robbie Williams. Since winning the lottery she saw him for a whopping total of 40 times in concert. She travelled to places including Barcelona, Vegas, Berlin and Belgium.
7. Treat your loved ones (again, smartly)
If you’ve come into a windfall after winning the lottery, you can also spend some of your winnings on your loved ones as a thank you for everything they have ever done for you (good luck to anyone trying to top your thank you gift after that)!
A lottery winning English couple, George and Beryl Keates, shared their fortune with family members after winning £3.5 million. They gave £250,000 to each of their four sons, £10,000 to each of their nine grandchildren and gave some money to their sisters. They still have money leftover – some which goes toward more lottery tickets.
Another lottery who also did this but it a more unique way was 81-year-old who bought rainbwow sherbet at Stop N Shop before purchasing a lottery ticket. Why are we explaining this to you? Well, that ticket ended up being worth $336.4 million. In honour of the lucky dessert, she created “The Rainbow Sherbet Trust”, a trust that would benefit her family.
8. Find you passion
It’s certainly tempting to walk away from the 9-5 grind but staying employed is a smart long-term tactic to preserve your windfall. If you genuinely can’t stand your current vocation, however, a financial windfall can offer the breathing room to help you pause and decide what’s next in your career.
After all, you can afford to retrain, to move, to take some time to yourself until you find the perfect career move. You might have more money than you know how to spend, but you still have to live – so make sure you make it counts.
One lottery winner who definitely developed a more interesting passion was a 19-year-old American boy, Jonathan Vargas, who bought his own company and created ‘Wrestlicious’, a women’s wrestling TV show after winning the lottery, cashing in $35.3 million. “Wretlicious TakeDown” lasted 13 episodes.
9. Cut toxic people out of your life
Once people are aware of your new-found wealth, you may find them suddenly appearing into your life and they will all be asking for the same thing – your sweet, sweet money. No, thank you.
You can now move to a new neighborhood, change your phone numbers, and bump up the security on your social media accounts.
Try to surround yourself with those that have your best interests in mind and even create a new network of those in similar positions to you and who will help you grow and develop.
10. Consider the long game
It can be tempting to spend an unexpected windfall on something short-term, a sportscar or a luxury holiday, for instance, but if you don’t have much in the way of savings for your retirement, you should consider ploughing some of that money into your pension pot.
Both in assets and in advice. Don’t lose your head in excitement. For example, the binman in England who won millions at age 19, blew it all and ended up right back where he started.
Instead, you should be more like Charlie Lagarde, a newly turned 18-year-old who was offered the lump sum straight up (£550,000) or £550 a week for the rest of her life. She chose the £550 a week and said she wanted to use the money to travel and study photography.
Make sure you speak to professionals as mentioned previously and be wise with your money! It will make you persevere and grow your money.
Become the next lottery winner online with Lottoland UK!
Despite Lottoland only having been founded in 2013, there has already been lots oflottery winners with Lottoland,including their biggest winner to date who walked away with a jackpot worth over £79 million.
Lottoland offers bets from on the UK on 2 lottos that have previously had jackpots climb over £1 BILLION – the US PowerBall and MegaMillions. However, if you don’t mind settling to be a millionaire instead, Lottoland offers you the chance to bet on lottos that occur every 4 minutes such as KeNow with a jackpot of £1 million and Keno 24/7 with a jackpot of £10 million! Lottoland also offers the chance to bet every hour with Millionaire GO! with a chance to win a jackpot of £25 million! Allowing you to increase your chances of becoming the next millionaire as best as possible.
In addition to this, Lottoland also gives you the chance to bet on Mini Lotto for as little as 35p for a potential of winning a whopping £70,000! and Cash4life with a jackpot of £1,000 every day plus many more!
A little piece of advice – Becoming a millionaire doesn’t change who you as a person. Your lifestyle doesn’t have to change if you don’t want it to.
So, good luck with your bets and maybe soon enough, you’ll be able to have a better understanding of what being a lottery winner is truly after winning the jackpot yourself! Let’ see what you end up doing with your winnings.
