[DerbyX]

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Sa ... lions.aspx

The Learning Channel also shows a program The lottery changed my life

Lots of rags to riches stories there.

[PostFactum]

DerbyX wrote:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/8lotteryWinnersWhoLostTheirMillions.aspx

The Learning Channel also shows a program The lottery changed my life

Lots of rags to riches stories there.

To be one of this "lucky guys" means not to sleep during the next few years))

[PublicAnimalNo9]

The only advice I can add to what was already given in the article is..MOVE..IMMEDIATELY! Don't tell anyone you know where you're moving until you've settled in and have a plan for your winnings.

[Choban]

Booo hoo, anyone stupid enough to lose millions when they got it for free deserves to be in the poor house.

Step 1 Hire a lawyer, then any and all requests for info/money go through the lawyer.

Step 2, Financial advisor/accountant to help you a) budget/spend your money wisely and b) find meands to make your money grow so you earn while you sleep.

Step 3, pay off all debt, living debt free is a dream for so many, if your current house is paid for your pretty much freeing up a monthly income.

Step 4, decide whom your going to give some of your money to or share with and how much, Parents, Siblings ect, then take the next step and decide if your going to give them lump sums or put something in trust and release it slowly. Be blunt with anyone else, cause all the snakes in the family come out when your rich.

I'm sure that 4-5 mil would solve alot of my problems, not all, but I could certainly take it and make it last the rest of my life, probably make it more for my heirs when I'm gone and certainly use it to give my kids the advantage and opportunity to be millionaires themselves.

[PublicAnimalNo9]

Choban wrote:

I'm sure that 4-5 mil would solve alot of my problems, not all, but I could certainly take it and make it last the rest of my life, probably make it more for my heirs when I'm gone and certainly use it to give my kids the advantage and opportunity to be millionaires themselves.

EASILY make it last if you do it right. If yer left with say $2 million and yer completely debt-free, $50K a year is a nice chunk of change to live on and that $2 mill will last you 40 years before any accrued interest is taken into account.
In the States though it's even worse because a lot of the lotteries only pay you an annuity. Some will pay a drasitically reduced lump sum but a lot don't, at least from what I've seen. So even if you win $2 million, it's still gonna take you 20 years to be a millionaire, and even then, you won't really have a million dollars since you need to live for those 20 years. You kinda get fooled into thinking yer rich, when for all intents and purposes, yer really not. You just have leverage, which too many people fail to understand and wind up abusing.
At least in Canada, when you win $20 million or whatever, you GET the whole sha-bang at once.
It creates its own set of problems but $20 million can help you move FAR away from them until you figure out exactly what yer gonna do.

[Choban]

Quote:

At least in Canada, when you win $20 million or whatever, you GET the whole sha-bang at once.
It creates its own set of problems but $20 million can help you move FAR away from them until you figure out exactly what yer gonna do.

That's the beauty in Canada, plus you don't pay taxes on the principal (though you do on any profit). Makes it much easier to stretch that cash out, hell most people could live of interest alone comfortably. I still hear stories of people here that blow all their winnings though, if I ever win the lotto I don't plan on being broke ever, smart management and the ability to tell hand-outs to F-off will serve me well.

[PublicAnimalNo9]

Choban wrote:

Quote:

At least in Canada, when you win $20 million or whatever, you GET the whole sha-bang at once.
It creates its own set of problems but $20 million can help you move FAR away from them until you figure out exactly what yer gonna do.

That's the beauty in Canada, plus you don't pay taxes on the principal (though you do on any profit). Makes it much easier to stretch that cash out, hell most people could live of interest alone comfortably. I still hear stories of people here that blow all their winnings though, if I ever win the lotto I don't plan on being broke ever, smart management and the ability to tell hand-outs to F-off will serve me well.

Yeah, when I sold my business, they came crawling out of the woodwork, including the wife I divorced some 15 years previous. My immediate family didn't try and jump on the gravy train though so I made sure I sent some their way. I would'a anyway lol. Everyone else got told to take a flying fuck at the moon.

[smorgdonkey]

These stupid rich b*astards...the chance of a lifetime and they F it up like that.

Man...the lottery Gods could send a jackpot my way and it would NOT be wasted!!

[BartSimpson]

Smorg, the problem is that these are not 'rich' people, they are poor people with money. Even though they temporarily have a bank balance they continue to think and live as if they were still in a paycheck-to-paycheck existence.

The first step to wealth is to stop living paycheck-to-paycheck. Whatever you earn, set aside a steady and set percentage every month and then keep 'yer mitts off it!

My father-in-law started out as a tradesman in 1952 making about $250 per month. He retired in 1988 at age 55 with almost $4 million in the bank. 22 years later he has almost $6 million in the bank.

My wife and I are debt free and our assets topped seven figures a couple years back and we hope to retire at 55 just like Lisa's dad.

All that said, if we suddenly had a windfall we are already prepared to manage it because we have the habits of wealth management already in place.

I guess what I would like to see with the lottery is that they require winners to attend a wealth management class for a solid month or so before letting them have any cash and it probably would not hurt to require winners to set aside a percentage of the winnings to create a retirement annuity for their future.

[Dragom]

Family and friends... I wonder why it is so expensive for some people to have those?

Then I remember that I've abandoned all of mine. Except for the live in girlfriend that currently represents a 700$ hole in my monthly finances.

[ShepherdsDog]

ASAP you need to hire a financial manager(lawyer or an accountant) and create an impartial wall between you and anyone else, especially family. Any and all requests must first go through them, while you lay low on a beach somewhere far away. Your priorities are your wife and children, if you have any, and then people who were close friends before you won anything.

Pick your charities and set up a fund for them. They get the interest off of whatever you've set aside, never touching the principle. Now after you've had time to think, you can decide if any of your family are deserving or not. After a year return home or to a new home.