After no one matched all six of the Mega Millions numbers on Tuesday, the jackpot had risen to $630 million.
According to lottery lawyer Andrew Stoltman, “whoever wins tomorrow’s drawing will immediately be deluged with proposals from financial advisers, scammers, friends and family to invest.” Stoltman has represented six lottery “losers” who lost their fortunes to various investment schemes.
The lottery loser’s curse is a real thing. Sadly, many of these new billionaires lack fundamental financial management and investment knowledge, making them easy prey for scammers.
Following a major triumph, a winner SHOULD do the following steps:
- Until the winning ticket is delivered to the lottery’s officials, the individual is not considered to be a legitimate winner. The winner is out of luck if the ticket is lost or destroyed as a matter of law.
- The worst mistake a lottery winner may make is telling individuals outside of their close family that they’ve won the jackpot. There will be a slew of “friends” and others eager to lend a hand;
- Don’t Accept The Big Payout: More than ninety percent of prizewinners choose for a one-time payment in cash. However, it’s advisable to hold off on taking it at first. In the long run, this strategy allows the winner to learn from their mistakes and use what they’ve learned. If the winner is going to get 25 years of payments, a miscalculation in the first year’s rewards isn’t a disaster.
- Set Up A Financial Team Right Away, Comprised of a CPA, Attorney, and Financial Advisor Another Professional Has Suggested: When it comes to managing a lottery win, few lottery winners have the necessary infrastructure in place. There must be a rapid enlistment of an experienced crew. A lawyer, CPA, and financial expert are a bare minimum for every team;
- Despite having a financial team, the winner must immediately learn the fundamentals of financial management. It’s simpler to tell the “professionals” from the “scammers” when you know what to look for.
- Rule #1: Don’t lose any money: Warren Buffet states, “Rule number 1 is don’t lose any money.” Keep the Money Safe: If you win a substantial amount of money, you’ll need to deposit it in a brokerage account with a prominent broker-dealer like Merrill Lynch or Goldman Sachs, where it can be placed in short-term U.S. Treasuries.
- No Big Decisions for Six Months: Lottery winners may be tempted to give up their day jobs or quickly spend their winnings on a mansion or other large-ticket item. Don’t. Lottery winners tend to make the worst decisions in the first few decisions.
- None of Us: Banks, brokers, and scammers around the world are likely to target the winner. Nobody can be trusted at the end of the day. Everyone who has access to the funds should be watched by many pairs of eyes;
- It’s time for the winner to take a long break from Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat.
- To ensure the safety of all participants in an office pool, the following measures should be implemented. Make a basic agreement about who will participate in the pool and how much money will be invested in advance.. Gather all of the money and purchase all of the tickets at once. In order to keep a record of what was discussed, it is best to communicate via email. Office pool winners and others who were or were not involved in the pool have been the subject of some of the nastiest legal lottery cases. and
- There should be a way for lottery winners to remain anonymous: Sadly, in most states the names of lottery winners must be made public. This is a huge concern, and the law should be modified so that winners can remain secret. The lottery can utilize the winners as de facto salespeople by making it mandatory for the identities of the winners to be publicized. As a means of increasing ticket sales, it exploits the winners.