How do you stop your life being ruined by a lottery win??

[Foliageeverywhere122]

Inspired by the euromillions thread!

Ever the optimist, I started thinking about how exciting it would be if I won...and then started thinking about all those news articles you see in the daily fail about people who claim their lives were ruined by it.

So how do you actually enjoy a lottery win? Has anyone won (or inherited) a large sum of money and has advice? :D

*they’re!!! Bloody phone

@TrickorTreacle

We live in an Orwellian state, and treat the lottery like the one in the 1984 non-fiction novel. You can get 3 or 4 numbers but there are no jackpot winners. The 'winners' that you see in the press are staged. Even if you time travelled ahead to get the next set of numbers, you go back and play out those numbers and the numbers will be different.

Don't be silly. I know somebody who won about £7M on the lottery. They showed me their bank statement!

They then went on a couple of round-the-world cruises while their brand new house was being built.

It might sound mad but one million isn't much these days ( I live in a very normal area in the south east and some places are 700 to 800 k in the posher part of town and they are not flash homes with pools etc)
It wouldn't go that far if you started
throwing it about and wanted the latest sports cars or whatever. It would soon run out if not handled carefully.
I think some people would just go crazy and regret it!
(I'll never have a million but I'd like to think I'd be careful and spend it wisely! )
More millions would be nice as I could help out more people then!
Everyone on here sound lovely and sensible. I'm sure many wouldn't be.

I won some money and later on inherited some money.

My friends suddenly started planning how they would be spending my winnings - as in 'we' could do this..... I was expected to pay for all the drinks and no one expected to pay their share of the taxi. Money owed to me was suddenly expected to be never mentioned again. Acquaintances became super friendly and would then hint about things they urgently needed money for. Men that never paid me any attention suddenly became interested.

I only won a small amount and it was mostly used up to clear my debts with not much left over. Everyone expected to share in my good luck. They didn't believe it was gone. People were annoyed at how I chose to use it and didn't think I was generous enough to them. They thought others were trying to take advantage but not themselves.

I inherited some money and was very careful who I told. I had one friend who said I was lucky - lucky my relative died so I could inherit? She suddenly needed a new car and thought I'd be able to lend her some.

"Camelot tell winners that if they don’t go public and cooperate with that stupid champagne photo shoot, they will be hunted down and papped, which will be worse for them. The argument goes that it is better to give the media what they want and then they will leave you alone. Personally I think I would take my chances, remain anonymous, get a very discreet financial adviser (the good ones are used to being discreet) and refrain from buying any yachts."

Total and utter bollocks! They advise that if you don't go public to keep it a secret as you cannot guarantee that others won't blab. If you remain anonymous you don't have the Camelot support if the story hits the press.

All financial help is voluntary - you can have as much help/support as you chose. You can use the law firms and wealth managers they recommend or go with your own or any mother combination that suits you.

For a stupidly huge amount, I'd invest it, have a good life on the interest/dividends which would probably pay for a new house, decent car, holidays, etc., and then leave it in my will for a charitable foundation.

Not me,but I know a team who won a sizeable amount on lottery
Couldn’t have happened to a lovelier group of people
Delighted for them

I think it depends on how happy you are when you win, and mostly how many people you have close to you and how they'd react.

I'd tell people I won a few million (if I won the mega big amounts) and that way when you give them a few hundred thousand/pay of their mortgage they'd be delighted. I think if people knew you had 100 million, for example, you'd always seem a bit stingy no matter how much you did. Then you can gift odd random amounts over the years by saying that an investment the lottery people sorted had paid out (I could easily say that in a way that made it sound like I was clueless about how shit like that worked so no point them asking questions).

I think it would also work in our favour that we have a very small core family and friends group that we mix with. 30 people and that's it. Very few peripheral people. Due to the toxic nature of my family people are either in my life or no contact. DH's family is mahoosive (MIL and PIL have 13 and 15 siblings respectively) so people moving house and going on nicer holidays would go unnoticed.

I think I’ll cheerfully take on the sorrow of winning a huge wad of cash!

I am a bit shocked at how many people would keep working. My job would not see me for dust. Any job I’ve ever had I would have quit in a second if I’d won the lottery.

I probably would lie about the amount, wouldn’t announce it to the world. If there was enough I’d pay off my mortgage, but my kids a house each, give my sister enough to buy a house (she has enough for a flat but not a house). I’d travel and spend more time on my hobbies, give to child poverty, abused women’s shelters, and animal charities.

Interesting that many of the responses are based solely on keeping as much of that wealth for yourself as possible...

@FromTheAllotment

I really cannot see how it ruins people’s lives. I’d be paying off other people’s mortgages left right and centre, leave enough over to mean we only had to work part time, set up trust funds for children & grandchildren... sorted. Maybe it’s my complete lack of interest in fast cars and fancy gold things

Begging letters from strangers and from friends and family Kidnap threats and attempts against your children Scammers approaching ex partners and family members and attempting to hack your tech accounts looking for material for blackmail and extortion

Very very large amounts of money put a target on your back. I completely agree with pp who say that you keep it as quiet as possible and discreetly give away as much as you can.

It definitely wouldn’t ruin my life. I’d love it. I’d tell family as I’d want to help them out. Then I’d sort out my kitchen diner and loft room. Don’t need a new car, my one is old but fine. I’d like some new clothes. And I really want to mulch the garden but am a bit skint. So I’d do that too.

I have my lottery win planned out. If I get that 109 mill.

1: I won’t go public. I won’t disclose the amount I have won to anyone outside of immediate family.

2: sort out family generously.

3: pay off mortgage and allow my friend whose struggling to live in it free of charge

4: buy a large 6/7 bedroom farmhouse, but myself, husband, kids a whole new everything

5: set up a charity offering free tuition for pupils in deprived areas across the UK.

6: have at least one more child

Lol at dressing up as a squirrel for the dog

If I won mega big I wouldn't keep it secret. Anyone who asked me for cash who wasn't close to me or had behaved in a cunty way towards me would be given a hearty fuck off! I would treat my close friends and family and live the best life ever. I would pack in my job and do my PhD for fun. My husband would own and run a motorsport team. Anyone who says it makes them miserable should give it me, I would have a fantastic time!

I wouldn't tell anyone.

I could actually spend an awful lot without people realising.

I'd probably stay in my house and just do the work I always wanted to do to it. I could easily spend £100k on that with nobody noticing.

I'd also use my money to fund DCs education and business start ups.Friends would presume family were paying, family would presume other side of the family were paying

Nobody would actually come travelling with us so wouldn't know we were staying on expensive places and would presume we were back packing.

DH and lost his job when I was a SAHM and had to take one paying a third of what he had been earning. I managed to bullshit not being poor for quite a time, so I'm pretty sure I could bullshit not being rich.

Pfft just read the bit about kidnapping and other scary shit. OK I would keep it secret but I would still have a total blast!

No one I'm good friends with would know I was wearing designer clothes. They'd just think GAP had upped their game.

If I needed to explain away that extravagant purchase, I think I'd say I'd received an inheritance (doesn't work on family members though!). Somehow there isn't the jealousy about inheritance as there is about lottery wins (in my opinion).

I fantasise about being a secret benefactor, and setting up fake competitions so I could 'buy' a ticket and give to particular people that gets first prize - fancy that! - which is enough to buy them a house or around the world trip. Then I'd send money to small charities or families that are in the news, having lost everything, or needing medical treatment.

Tell no one, keep working (but go part time)...

My hair would be permanently glossy and blow dried perfectly and my friends would just think I was great at drying my hair.

I'd also get a dog, because I wouldn't be working. Everyone else has a dog, so they wouldn't think that odd.

I read an article about a woman who won millions and didn’t even tell her husband.

I love the idea of permanent glossy swishy hair

I can’t imagine winning a huge sum and leaving most of it in a bank a/c to fester - that would just be sad and pointless (unless you intend to create a dynasty). And I can’t bear those people who announce ‘It won’t change my life’.
So, in order for it not to ruin your life:
Absolutely keep it secret as far as possible.
Get proper financial advice. Camelot isn’t the only institution who can advise on handling and investing huge sums of money.
Keep your head and be sensible (don’t buy a yacht or a property portfolio if you don’t know how to manage it).
If it’s a significant amount make relatives/friends millionaires too, but accept that you’re going to be disappointed in people (a friend has a multimillionaire in her family - family members automatically expect him to sort out their money problems).
Donate to worthy charities - there’s so much good that can be done.
After the excitement and fuss has settled and you’ve got the big house and flash cars, find something rewarding to do - get a job, volunteer, start a business (if you think you can run one), find new hobbies, travel.
If begging letters get through - do not read - bin immediately.
For me it’s all academic because I don’t even do the lottery 😀

I've just thought of a really good idea for a TV show!

You give each contestant £100,000000 and see who is rumbled first. The losers have to give the rest of the money back. I'd so win!!!