70% of people who win the jackpot go broke within 5 years. How would you protect yourself?

47 comments

  2. I’d dump all of it in meme stocks and cryptocurrency because markets go brrrrrr

  4. Other than a bigger house there’s not much I really want that I can’t currently get, so my life wouldn’t change a whole lot. I guess it’d take care of itself?

    I mean, “even” a 5 million dollar payout… How do you blow through that in 5 years without serious stupidity or living beyond your means (I’m a millionaire, I need chains and cars and a mansion and an entourage and…)?

  6. last time i won a big amount i invested and hid the rest in my matress so no one could find it. sold the house years later and forgot that the money was in there , asked the new owner if i could buy it and he said he threw it away and replaced it with one of those number beds. lesson of the story? just give me a call , ill take care of the money for you. monkeys are fun ,ls swap your engine and then fly to france.toasters roses and carpets.

  7. Property. Since I work in construction a lot of the work of it needs it I can do.

    The other would be starting a business. Something that is needed, but isn’t full of huge risk.

    Also not spending silly, I’d buy a fairly nice house, but not a mansion.
    A nice car, but not Rolls Royce’s & Ferraris.

    And I wouldn’t waste in on eating out at expensive restaurants all the time just because I can, or going on holiday loads to rich rip off places like Dubai or Monaco.

    I’d have more Cultural holidays like Italy, Montana, Norway, Japan.

    But still keep it as a treat, not going 5 times a year.

    I don’t need my own swimming pool, I don’t need a penthouse, or fly in a private yet or stay in mega expensive 5 star hotels.
    I don’t need the latest most expensive clothes and trends.

    Sure I’ll buy a few nice things, but I won’t waste my money on everything being expensive

  8. I would invest most of it in an etf and just live off of the income. Oh and the other huge thing is that I wouldn’t tell anyone I won. I’d make a cover story.

  9. Invest enough into an account with a promising yield to where it generates about 100-125k a year and just live off that in case.

  10. Assuming we’re talking a win in the millions: put the vast majority of it into stable investments with a proper financial person managing it, and set up a system to pay out to me a steady and functional amount to live whatever version of my life would follow such an event.

    Keep for myself the option to take larger chunks for specific things, but the idea would generally be to force myself to enjoy a much higher quality of life without the constant temptation to overindulge.

    Way I figure it, I live my life now and enjoy it. The stressful bits around money could be alleviated, and I wouldn’t have to work a job that doesn’t interest me, but I don’t have an intense desire to completely change how I live just because there’s a lot more cash to spend.

  11. Create a budget based on how I would like to live my life. Maybe consult with a fiduciary on verifying what I think those expenses will be yearly. Then probably add 30% to that number just to account for anything unexpected and figure out what 60/40 split between the S&P 500 and bonds, I would need to maintain that lifestyle. Then maybe consult with the fiduciary about if he has any other investment suggestions beyond that.

    Also, try to keep that shit as quiet as possible and if not because of state laws maybe even consider changing my name.

  14. Investments. A mixture of shares, funds and index linked options, some property and tangible investments, like art/wine/commodities. Try to find a fund manager who I need to speak to before making any larger purchases – link their earnings to mine. I’m pretty good with money anyway and fairly disciplined, so I don’t think I’d be one of those people who blow it all away buying stupid things – but a stupidly large amount might breed stupidly large spending – so I think just try to keep humble.

  15. Invest in different industries. Also find a mentor when it comes to figuring out what to invest in.

  17. 80% goes in the bank savings account, 10% goes into high interest saving CDs, 5% in stable stocks, 5% to play with

  18. By already having good financial management skills. Lotto winners, professional athletes, overnight fame musicians and the like go broke because they were given an incredibly powerful tool they weren’t prepared to handle. It would be like giving a car to a toddler, of course it’s going to end poorly.

  19. Keep the ticket in a safety deposit box and get my shit in order before I take it in. I’m not sure how long you have to cash it in, but it’s a long enough time for you to educate yourself and surround yourself with the right people to help you out.

  21. buy and pay off a reasonably sized house. Not too big, not too small.

    Buy a new Honda or Toyota. They’re known for being reliable, long lasting vehicles.

    Stock my house with high quality electronics and whatnot to ensure they don’t break any time soon. Don’t want to spend more money

    Set the house up with high quality insulation and windows, and high efficiency lighting. All to reduce the bills in terms of heating and lighting. Canada gets cold and dark in the winter.

    Save the rest. If I get bored from not having to work, I’d work part time only. Depending on how much money I won, the part time money would be donated to an animal shelter or something.

  22. Don’t tell anyone and continue living my standard life without going to work

    If people ask details, I’d tell them I got a raise or I’m planning on building up as much debt as I can before disappearing into the jungle

  23. As my life expectancy isn’t that great,

    I don’t think I’ll have a problem as most of the money will be passed on to my kids.

  24. It is called a budget. It is a magical thing that if properly constructed and followed ensures you don’t spend more than you have.

  25. This is pure psychology… there is a rational path… many commentators here have outlined that.

    But if you ACTUALLY WIN… all that goes out the door. You mind is blown like a fuse.

  26. Give 10% to charities of our choosing. Give to family to change their lives. Pay off all debt, including house and children’s college funds. Buy new car for me and wife. Continue working for at lease 5 years (we like what we do). Keep a $1mm buffer. Invest the rest while we use the buffer over the next 5 years to learn how to handle the wealth without becoming complete douchbags. Wife is a CPA and I am an attorney, otherwise I would tell others to hire both right out of the gate to protect yourselves.

  27. Tell nobody. Separate your identity from the money.

    Hire a lawyer and an accountant.

  28. #1.) Don’t tell anyone, EVER. The state I live in allows for you to be anonymous when you claim your prize. If your state doesn’t allow it you can have an attorney set up a trust and the attorney claims the prize for the trust (the trust is for your benefit).
    2.) DON’T TELL ANYONE, EVER!!
    3.) Buy a bunch of gold/silver in various denominations, store them in your vault.
    4.) Buy dividend paying stocks. Hold them until the S&P500 hits 6,000, then sell them. This is the top of the market and we are then headed to about 1,500 on the S&P500 (it will take about 10 years to get there). You could buy some inverse stock funds at the top.
    5.) Don’t buy real estate since everything is going to s@@t in about 3 years.
    6.) Pay everything off and just live modestly. You don’t need to acquire a bunch of crap to be happy.

  29. Give my immediate family a 1-time gift and make it expressly clear that this is a one-time thing. If anyone comes back looking for more money, make up a story about how I hired a money manager that put me on an allowance and to present any business investment ideas to him (his job will be to say no to everyone). Hire an accountant to keep an eye on the money manager.

  33. Depending on how much I won — so let’s say $10 mil to illustrate an easy example– I’d give 30-40% or $3-4 mil to family & friends to share the wealth. Then I’d pay off my modest condo and put the rest, $5.5 mil in a diversified conservative portfolio and just live off the dividends.

  34. My “winning the lottery” dreams could also be solved with a 10 year loan. That’s how. All that extra money is either for investing or to piss away and go back to my current lifestyle.

  35. By not being a complete buffoon. Even if I stick a few million in various safe, low interest savings accounts, I’ll never be poor.

    The trick is to do the one thing that poor people can’t do: refrain from spending all your money.

    I’d probably struggle to spend £200,000,000 even if I tried.

  36. I would TRY to live within the means I’m living in now. Except, I would invest some in real estate. I would also keep my job. I would also get a G Wagon. They’re just so damn cool.

  40. Invest most of it in high interest ETFs. 20 million in a 7% etf is 1.4 million a year, assuming the stock price stays the same.

  41. Depends on the jackpot. If its like $1,000,000, I’d just put most of it into some low risk business then go from there, hoping that the businesses income was enough for me to live a modest life.

    If it was $5,000,000+, I would put some into a low risk business, buy a decent house, a decent car, a good suit, some new clothes, etc, then talk to someone who can help me figure out the next best course of action to either keep that money or grow it.

    If it were one of those huge jackpots, like $50,000,000+, same as the prior statement, but I’d probably get a quite decent house. Like $1,000,000 or so, a quite decent car, $100,000 or so, and the house would be somewhere far from where I lived before. I’d also give some money to my family and friends who deserve it, like $100,000 each or something. I really dont care if the people I dont talk to hate me for not giving them any. They could swear eternal damnation on my soul, and I’d laugh. Then I’d talk to people who can help me increase my money from there and die with more than the $50,000,000 I initially won.

  42. By not spending it frivolously on stupid shit. I have no debts and no “rich people” ambitions, so I would just retire and travel the world by bike. Stash some, invest some, carry on like nothing happened.

    Oh, and on occasion, silently pick up everybody’s tab at my local brew pub, because I like the people there.

  44. Put it in a trust, have the trust pay me a certain amount monthly. I’d do the math so that the monthly allowance can rise with inflation.

  45. The reason why people who go broke after they win the lottery go broke, is because they are not good with money. And it’s not surprising because they have no experience with money and they haven’t done any research on how money works or studied how to manage large amounts of money. So they way that I would protect myself is by educating myself on how money works and the psychology behind people who squander money and people who turn small amounts of money into large amounts. I’ve already done this research btw since it is not just applicable for lottery winnings but is a great life skill. So to answer your question, I am already protected.

  46. I’d just say i’m gay, no more cousins i never heard of, financial “managers” trying to “help me” or anyone else meddling with my sweet dough.

    I’m now free to spend $100k on a sports car and very slowly chip away at the rest by eating sushi weekly.

  47. Firstly pay off any debt. then what’s leftover;

    10% to buy a property/s I love

    60% into investments

    25% into high interest savings.

    5% into anything I want. i.e. new car or treating family etc. (without letting them know ofc)

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