You’ve read the statistics and heard the horror stories, yet you play. Week after week, month after month, year after year–because you’re trying to answer an age-old question.
“What would you do if you won the lottery?”
That friends, is the allure, the pull, and the power these games of chance have. For a relatively small investment, you have an opportunity to win amounts of money that can change your life forever.
So you step up to the counter and purchase a ticket. Then you wait until the drawing. In the moments between, you get to daydream about winning.
If you’re like most people, visions of cars, boats, homes and vacations to wonderful destinations fill your head. And why not? In reality, playing the lottery is about the mental escape it affords you–the ability to dream about a life filled with a lot of riches and very few problems.
But what if you actually win?
Are you prepared for what you would do if you walk away with the jackpot? Or will you be like so many of the poor souls who’ve won and quickly squandered millions? Every. Single. Penny.
Some spent uncontrollably on things they didn’t need. Some made terrible investments. Others felt compelled to share their good fortunes with family and friends.
Regardless of the path they all took to the poor house, they all had one thing in common: they didn’t have a plan.
Thankfully, you don’t have to follow in their footsteps. If you’re lucky enough to win the lottery, you can learn from their mistakes, look online Lottoland’s tips for lottery winners and do these three simple things right away:
1. Protect your privacy
In this age of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and all the other social media platforms, you might be tempted to post something about your profits.
Don’t.
Yes, you’re excited. Yes, there are some people you probably should tell. Yes, you may even want to share your new wealth. But do you really want all of your Facebook “friends” to know?
You know, the people you only met once? The people you knew when you were 14 but haven’t seen in 26 years? The friends of friends of friends who you don’t know at all but are somehow connected to on social media?
The answer is no.
That’s why the first thing you need to do when you win the lottery is protect your privacy. Don’t post it on social media. Lock down your social media accounts. Set up a P.O. box where people who find out can send their requests for money (and there will be requests for money). And tell as few people as possible until you get your affairs in order.
2. Put together a professional team
One thing most of the people who lost all their lottery winnings has in common is a failure to seek professional guidance. They thought it would be easy, collecting and spending a fat stack of cash.
Winning is complicated.
You’re going to need to hire someone to deal with taxes, investments, legal affairs and possibly real estate. You’re probably going to hire an advisor to oversee the entire process and make sure everyone else is working together in your best interest.
Putting together a professional team might cost you a little on the front end. But in the end, it could also save you all your money.
3. Keep an eye out for predators
“If it sounds too good to be true, it is.”
This axiom is more important to lottery winners than it is to anyone else. Lottery winners tend to hear a lot of pitches. They hear them from strangers and friends and family members and people they knew years ago.
Money changes some people–especially when it’s not their money. Your job is to keep an eye out for the predators who want to get their hands on your money.
