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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

If you won the lottery, would you go public?

305 replies

Frosty6611 · 08/08/2018 11:15

If you won the jackpot on the lottery would you go public? I think i’d just tell my close friends and family and start a new life somewhere.

OP posts:
hungryhippo90 · 08/08/2018 11:49

Nope, the only people who I would let know would be my DD and DH. Would put 10% into savings for DD.
Would invest wisely, keep things quite down to Earth, would buy the £290k house we currently rent, would buy an additional parking space and I’d have a BMW instead of a fiesta, and I’d have a couple more holidays a year. I’d do some more training to further my career prospects a bit.

Teddy1970 · 08/08/2018 11:49

Anyone have a rough idea how much £60 million would earn you in interest? You could live off that surely?

eyycarumba · 08/08/2018 11:49

I wouldn't go public but people could probably guess when I bought my manor house in Hawaii

Fruitbatdancer · 08/08/2018 11:50

Hell no would I tel anyone. I have a few ex-skeletons in the closet and I gaurentee the thought of publicity/ money of any kind would wake them up....

FinallyHere · 08/08/2018 11:50

@Frosty6611

Or maybe I'd compromise with a suite at The Savoy

Original poster
Frosty6611 · 08/08/2018 11:51

@teddy I think you would get about 80k per month in interest on 69 million

OP posts:
riiiiight · 08/08/2018 11:51

I think that if you want financial advice and guidance from camelot, it's part of the deal that you go public with it.

first bit of advice surely should be don't tell Hmm

Original poster
Frosty6611 · 08/08/2018 11:52

@finallyhere haha that does sound amazing! The first thing i’d do if I won would be to check into somewhere like The Savoy for a couple of weeks and just spend the time ordering room service, having massages and deciding how to spend the money

OP posts:
SunburstsOrMarbleHalls · 08/08/2018 11:52

No way would I ever go public. I would be worried about the safety of my children and the general grabbiness and entitlement of people.

I could well imagine getting slated in the tabloids by my vile ex husband or my second cousin twice removed who i refused a loan to.

I think with close friends/family I would do what a previous poster said and tell them I'd won significantly less to explain the change in lifestyle.

I would hate the begging letters as I would want to pick my own charities and causes to donate to without feeling hounded.

glintandglide · 08/08/2018 11:52

I imagine, when you get rich overnight it’s. Gradual process of acceptance. So it might take years before you’ve fallen into a rich persons lifestyle but most stil will. Otherwise what’s the point? But it’s hard to imagine now

NameChanger22 · 08/08/2018 11:53

A tiny part of me would want to tell the world, so everyone who has ever bullied me or caused me harm can see that I won in the end.

But, I wouldn't actually do it. I would just slink off somewhere really nice and avoid all the people pretending to suddenly be my best friend.

Peoplemaynoticeus · 08/08/2018 11:54

No but we have no friends or family so would just move away.

FinallyHere · 08/08/2018 11:54

giving most of it to charity

With these kind of sums, though, you can't just bing it in someone's charity box though can you? You would be wanting to check how the charity was run, how it treated volunteers etc

For a while I believed the hype around Camila Batmanghelidjh, my plan was to stop work, join them as a volunteer and help find sources of funds (provided by my own lawyers...). When some of the details came out, I was sooo glad my win had not yet come up.

FuckMyUterus · 08/08/2018 11:55

I would. I'd want to see how many people came crawling out of the woodwork, and I'd take pleasure internally in seeing people who I know cannot stand me, suck up to me in the hope of gaining from it. I'd do things like go to lunch with them and still insist on splitting the bill, they'd still only get token gifts on birthdays and Christmas, and I'd gleefully sit back and watch to see how long they threw themselves at me for.
On the other hand, I'd want the genuine friends and family to know, because if they were struggling, I'd want them to know I was more than capable of helping them and making their lives more comfortable as they have done for me in the past.

Original poster
Frosty6611 · 08/08/2018 11:55

@namechanger22 I know what you mean. I’d love for horrible ex’s and people who bullied me to see that I had won just to rub it in their faces. I wouldn’t actually do it though

OP posts:
JennyBlueWren · 08/08/2018 11:55

I once taught a pupil whose parents won the lottery. I think going public meant they got support and they were worried about it leaking. Interesting to see children's reactions a few did try to befriend her but her real friends shielded her and it soon settled down. She was very pleased to have a new bike for bikeability but she wasn't the only one. May have helped that there were other well off families so didn't stand out too much.

SmashingInAthleticWear · 08/08/2018 11:55

Hell no. Just close family. Friends will simply be told "I've come into some money" to explain why I've suddenly given up work and bought a penthouse on the Thames.

Churrolicious · 08/08/2018 11:55

I’d tell people who had to know (eg family, godchildren we’d want to help with cash / homes etc) we’d won a million or so. But probably a while after the event.

DH and I run our own business so when we have our extensive chats about how we’d handle it (I love so many people do this) they mainly involve drip feeding home / car upgrades / travel over a few years initially so people put it down to our business getting better...

Storm4star · 08/08/2018 11:55

Initially I wouldn't tell a single soul. After a while I might say I had won "some" money but wouldn't specify how much because then you get people expecting you to give them a specific amount and they will feel hard done by if you give less than they expect. That's when rifts over money start. If I won a million plus I'd move abroad anyway.

Teddy1970 · 08/08/2018 11:56

Thanks Frosty....that's insane!

SmashingInAthleticWear · 08/08/2018 11:56

(and throw regular parties there with all food & booze included)

(Another one who lays in bed at night thinking about how I'd spend it)

Redcrayons · 08/08/2018 11:57

I can’t imagine why people would go public either, I’m quite a private person anyway, and I hate the thought of everyone knowing my business.

Camelot must put a massive amount of pressure on you to do it. It must be hugely overwhelming to be presented with the idea of many many millions, having someone to hold your hand through it probablysounds like good idea.

Teddy1970 · 08/08/2018 11:58

Apparently Camelot tell you to go on holiday, have a break to let it sink in and don't make rash decisions...

specialsubject · 08/08/2018 11:59

I saw that couple who had ripped their ticket - good luck to them but my immediate reaction was 'why on earth go public?'

still more so if you have toxic family. You can have fun and do good without shouting about it.

my hopes are in the premium bonds but they don't pay mega millions so not holding my breath!

SmashingInAthleticWear · 08/08/2018 12:00

I've always assumed that they tell you how much MORE money you can make if you sell your story to the shit papers/mags and that's why people do it...