What to Do After Winning the Lottery: A Complete Guide
46, 21, 93, 36—you can’t believe it, but number after number, your lottery ticket matches the winning numbers. Congratulations, you’ve just won the lottery!
It’s something millions of people dream of, with lotteries like the Powerball delivering recent record payouts of around $640 million. What would it be like to win so much money?
While not all of us will win that much, even smaller wins can massively change your life. However, you need to be wise after you win, protecting both yourself and your money.
Wondering what to do after winning the lottery? Before you cash that ticket in, keep reading to find a guide to help you manage your winnings safely. Check out recent winning numbers for the New Jersey lottery.
Try to Remain Anonymous
After winning the lottery, you’re likely to be so excited you want to shout it from the rooftops! However, for your safety, do the opposite!
If you’ve just won big, you want to try to remain as anonymous as possible. Remove your phone number and address from the phone book, make sure your social media is set to private, and be careful about giving out any identifying details online.
Sadly, there are many people out there who see lottery winners as an easy target and might try to scam, steal, or rob from you to get your winnings. If you wait a few weeks to cash your ticket in, keep it somewhere extremely secure, such as in a safe.
Note that lotteries often showcase photos of their winners, to help promote the lottery. If you can, opt out of this—advertising your name and hometown is risky, especially if you’ve just claimed large lottery winnings.
Don’t Quit Your Job Just Yet
Getting lottery money doesn’t mean you should quit your job right away! First, you want to think long-term—unless you won tens of millions of dollars, then your winnings probably aren’t enough to sustain you for life.
It can be a mistake to make a rash decision to quit your job and live off your winnings, as after tax, your winnings may shrink in size. The smarter thing to do is take your time, crunch the numbers, and work out how much money you actually need.
Then, a few months later, if your winnings are enough, you can think about an early retirement.
Wondering What to Do After Winning the Lottery? First, Hire a Financial Advisor
The best thing you can do after a big win is to hire a financial advisor. Most of us had never had a huge amount of money land in our laps, so it can be overwhelming.
You want to be as smart as you can with your money, investing it so that it lasts for as long as possible. A Perth financial advisor can walk you through your options and will help you set up a plan for wisely investing your funds.
Savvy investors can double or even triple their winnings over time, as long as they know what they’re doing and some helpful investment advice. They can also help you set up investment funds for things like retirement and your child’s college education.
Pay Off Your Debts
It’s not fun or sexy, but one great thing to do after you win is to pay off all your debts. Debts and interest payments only get larger over time, so the sooner you can pay them off, the sooner you can start fresh.
College loans, credit card debts, or mortgages? Getting rid of these is one of the best ways to use some of your lotto winnings.
Be Careful Who You Tell
After you’ve won, you might not want to tell all of your friends and family about your luck. Once people hear you’ve won, you might find that all sorts of long-lost family or friends come out of the woodwork, asking for loans, investments, or trying to claim part of your pie.
It can be tough to have to decline these opportunities, as you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. So, the best way to avoid these situations is to be very careful about who you tell.
Remember, not everyone needs to know!
Decide Which Type of Payment to Accept
When you claim your winnings, you might be offered the choice between a lump sum or monthly payments. There are pros and cons to both, so take the time to read up on both choices and decide which would work best for your financial situation.
If you accept the monthly payments, but end up in a situation where you need money quickly, there are services that can help you get your lottery winning payouts sooner.
Splurge on Something Fun
Sure, all of the above advice is about being careful with your money, which is important. However, you just won the lottery, so it’s ok to enjoy yourself a bit.
Splurge on something amazing you’ve always wanted, like that vacation to Hawaii, a new car, or a gorgeous handbag. You need to have some fun, so treat yourself.
Be Smart With Your Lottery Winnings
Winning the lottery is incredibly exciting, but just be smart about how you spend your money—that way, it will last much longer.
Now that you know more about what to do after winning the lottery, use this guide to make a strategy for managing your money. That way, you have a solid plan of attack once you claim your winnings and you can be confident that your money is well looked after.
Did you find this article helpful? If so, please keep reading to find more great blog posts.
