If you won on the Premium Bonds / Lottery

[SeptemberSuns]

I won £50 on the Premium Bonds yesterday, I was really pleased. It's not a lot of money but better than nothing. It got me thinking about winning the big prize.

A million probably wouldn't be enough to give up work and live the life of luxury but would go a long way to making life a damn sight easier! I could go part time, pay off the mortgage, or even move to a nicer area, have a nice car. Stop the worries about retirement.

It would change my life for the better no doubt, but I don't think I'd tell a single soul. My mum would tell my brother and his wife and kids and they'd no doubt expect. My partner is a tight stingy well-off person who doesn't share any of his wealth with me or even treat me occasionally. My friends are always talking about how wealthy they are.

Would you tell anyone and if not, why not? There must be others like me out there??? I'm only talking about a lottery win or PBs - winning a lot of money.

I think it depends entirely on your friendship or social group. It is not even slightly difficult to keep it quiet as our lives haven’t changed particularly nobody would assume that any more money at all

I don't really have anyone to tell - NC with family and no friends. I'd tell DH but not dc. We're already quite well off and it wouldn't mean any big lifestyle changes, but we could pay off a chunk of our mortgage. I'd try to persuade DH to drop hours or take more annual leave (he can buy additional leave and also take a sabbatical).

I don't think anyone would suspect anything as we wouldn't tell them about additional mortgage payments or time off work. I'd like a bigger house but it would need a Euromillions win not one million (we are in London) but then I also think it would be higher maintenance and I don't know if we'd want the hassle.

Pension is all sorted. I'd probably get myself a good flat in central London and start working on the ultimate wine cellar with friends

I think it would be easy for us to keep secret as we don’t have the want/need for anything flash – I’m quite wedded to my old banger of a car as it was inherited from a relative and is good for country roads and getting banged up in pothole-filled field car parks; I like our neighbourhood and house and don’t love the multimillion pound option houses round here; don’t want to fly any more so no 5* holidays abroad; and generally hate stuff and clutter and just want to potter in the garden and bake. Perhaps a very nice shed with a cedar tile roof would give me away as a euromills winner. I don’t think I’d even go nuts on putting the heating on in winter as I’m perimenopausal and permanently hot, plus I’m a firm believer in just putting a jumper on til 1 December. I’d spend it all on invisible things: pensions, mortgage, savings and investments.

£1m would last me 29 years invested at 5% withdrawing £3k pm. If I was so inclined I could coast my way towards retirement age on that. I've got a decent nhs pension already in the bag, and would be able to pay off my mortgage and have a pretty nice life tbh.

Thank you

I would help out my sons, and would buy a camper van (second hand) . It’s my favourite day dream getting that email from the lottery or the premium bonds , saying I have won a million.

Something like this would be popular https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investments/vanguard-ftse-global-all-cap-index-fund-gbp-acc/overview - it's cheap, global and well diversified. In an ISA where possible.

Obviously that's not advice and you'd have to be willing to accept the risks but that kind of fund is where people looking at FIRE often start (and end).

1mil on premium bonds, I wouldn't tell anyone. I'd pay off the mortgage, clear debt, top my kids premium bonds up to max. Top mine and husband's premium bonds to max. Do the house and garden up. Book some great hols and pay for a hol for my mum and dad. Throw a big party for family. Then save the rest...if any left! All this while not telling anyone! Not sure id be able to even tell my husband as he has a big mouth! Lol

I wouldn't tell anyone if I win the big PB prize, as it wouldn't go far enough.

I'd do my planned loft conversion and kitchen diner extension to a really nice standard, which would probably set me back up to £200k.

I'd put away £150k for each of my DC in trust until they each reach 30 years old, so that's another £300k.

Just those two things would mean half is gone.

I'd pay the maximum 10% of my mortgage each year until is reaches the fixed period ended, that's another £200k gone.

I'd keep another £100k for sending my DC to private school, and I'd keep the last £200k for upgrading to a house in a more expensive area when I move closer to said private school.

All very boring things, but will improve our lives immeasurably. As I earn a very decent salary, these things would easily be explained away by my salary or bonuses.

Euromillions big win > £20m, I'd share with my immediate family once I'd set aside the first million for the above.

I currently invest in index funds so I am on the right track then.

😀

I have a huge extended family, so I wouldn't tell them, only my immediate family. 1million is nice, but not a lot once you've got a nice new house, a car or two and a few holidays, I'm sure it could be spent rather quickly.

To get a life insurance payout, you must have gone through something quite horrible, so I'm glad that they payout has provided you comfort and stability.

One question though regarding your car - is there a reason you lease it rather than bought it?

Yes. I like to change it every few years, I like the convenience of a fairly new car and with depreciation it makes far more sense to pay £300 a month than fork out what it would cost to buy an equivalent car

No I wouldn't either I'd even be reluctant to tell my dc.

I would keep my current house and expand kitchen into the garden and do a loft room. I would then rent it out and keep it for the children.

I would then buy another house in a nice town.
I would also put some into a sipp for dc future.
Top up my own and buy nice cars.
Have plenty left for comfort living.

I sent you a PM, if you can help?

I probably wouldn’t say anything if it was less than about £5 million. If when we win the EuroMillions, and it’s over £100 million, it’ll be harder to hide. Questions will definitely be asked when we move into our 8 bedroom mansion, give up our jobs, purchase a Tesla and start jetting off on luxury holidays. Could look a
bit suss 🤔

I have thought of what I do in this situation. Like some other people here I would have a few potential people expecting a share of this.
It just a pity when that when I was dealing with a few hard times I was left to deal with them on my own. I also got some suggestions from these people that were as useful as a chocolate teapot.

At the moment where I live is just ok but with a lottery win I be using the money to move to
either a ( bigger town near me) or say b ( nice property in a nice area of a major city) depending on how much I won.
I would keep quite about my win until after I got good advice that I paid for. I want to help out a few people without leaving them with a big tax bill.
I would also put money into a pension, various savings plans, take X amount a year from these and fulfill my travel dreams.

I wouldn't tell a soul - but I never discuss my business with anyone else. I daresay people might speculate behind my back, but I don't think family and friends would be ill-mannered enough to ask straight out.

Thanks. I will confess I've never really grasped the concept of leasing a car. When I bought my last one I looked at leasing and it was £500+ for a brand new version of the car I bought. I bought a nearly new model instead (8 months old) on HP and it only cost me £250 a month.

It always seems more expensive to lease one than buy one when I look, but maybe it's just the cars I'm looking at!

You could claim to have taken up a life of crime? Tell people you don't want to implicate them by giving them money from dishonest sources...?

I would invest it for my kid’s education. The annual interest I would spend on holidays, doing up the house, looking after any family or friends who needed it.

I think people who go public are mad. Why would you??

much younger than now I won a luxury holiday, and the reaction it got from some quarters made me realise that if I ever had that kind of luck again I be mostly keeping it to myself! I even had a guy at work accuse me of making the story up for attention because I didn’t actually go in the trip til about 6 months later…

Oh yep I would keep it quiet. I might hint we had a windfall to any nosy parker asking questions but otherwise only tell close family. Fortunately in my experience people are happy to gossip about other people’s finances but rarely ask outright 😄

I’d buy a house outright and put chunks aside for retirement and DD, some in investments, plus a silly holiday. I’d quit my job but go part time with something low stakes. I’d still need cash to live day to day but with no mortgage it would take a lot of the pressure off.