To think winning £110M overnight would solve a lot of problems but bring a whole set of new ones?

[SereneFinch]

Someone in the UK won £110M last night and I was just thinking about how they’re feeling this morning.

All your money worries are gone, you can buy a nice house, quit your job etc.

But I wonder if those problems are replaced with new ones. Some people in your life might be jealous. Or expect handouts and get angry about who gets what.

And then your DC. Do you tell them they still need to do their homework? That they’ll still need to have a job/career one day?

I’m not saying it wouldn’t be great, I'm just wondering if it swaps one set of problems for another.

What a bizarre and narrow way of thinking.
Education isn’t just about getting qualifications and a job. It’s preparations for life, builds independence and critical thinking, willpower, determination, satisfaction, drive for being better and doing better, striving for success and much more.
Tell a child that they never need to work in school or otherwise and you may well end up with an entitled, lazy unmotivated son / daughter who never really has any drive or determination. Or is completely confused in how to feel valued / like they are contributing. Or flit from one thing to the next as they know they don’t have to stick at anything.
BB comes to mind.
Without the ‘climb’ of life many people feel unfulfilled and depressed. Sadly money doesn’t always fix that.

I wouldnt tell anybody including my teens.
I would just spend stealthily. Might claim to have a new lucrative working from home job! Or admits to 1million if asked . But I don't know if people would ask.

I wouldn't be going mad anyway. New cars , perhaps better house . Nothing I couldn't explain away.

To me that would be a bit more of an achievement than your idea of making a British train go a bit faster than another country’s train!
FYI the 1938 record is already held by a British Locomotive (Mallard).
The project would also be a large source of employment - particularly for youngsters and to provide an asset for further use.

Love the way I'm critised for posting an entirely theoretical project to spend some entirely theoretical money 😆

I don't think I'd mind having such a problem! I would use it to sort out my finances, finish off work on my house, and pay for any repairs that my car needs after its MOT next week (or perhaps treat myself to a more grown-up car). My family are used to me having expensive tastes in everything, and as they don't visit very often (we live quite far apart), it would go unnoticed for a while.

I just wouldn't tell anyone, though, which would nip the jealousy problem in the bud!

I don’t think I’d have a problem at all! If that much money bothers someone they could always give some to help charities and other people. Having grown up worrying about every penny to the point it has stayed with me all my life I wouldn’t feel that patient with anyone with that sort of money complaining about it to be honest.

Some people in your life might be jealous. Or expect handouts and get angry about who gets what

if someone in my life acted so badly and so entitled, I'd certainly not be giving them a penny piece. They could throw all the temper tantrums they like, I wouldn't be giving handouts or be forced to do something just to appease them. They can do one.

Different life perspectives. Where i live you can’t get a 4 bed house for 500K. And if you somehow did manage to find one, it would be tiny with no garden. I have to watch pennies and we earn 130k and our house is worth £650. It’s got a very small garden and a dozen things broken. Carpet worn to the floorboards can’t afford to replace a broken tap, washing machine almost gone. Sofa not enough to seat everyone in our family (only 3 seats) so people sit on the floor if we all want to watch a film.
So yeah- I think your perception of how much stuff costs is a bit skewed. I can easily see how a luxury lifestyle would cost 2 million per person per year. Easily.

It is a nice problem to have but I was thinking about it yesterday because, for once, I bought a ticket. My only concern though was how it would affect my young adult children. Do I set them up so they never have to work or struggle, do I let them still worry about jobs in today’s market? Do I buy them a home or make them save up, while my siblings would get enough money to buy their dream homes and greatly elevate their lifestyles? A condundrum I won’t have as it wasn’t me who won and I rarely do the lottery.

You will need to block DMs @Sherararara

I definitely wouldn't want to win a vast amount. I once read an interesting article by a financial advisor who had a background in psychology, who specialised in helping people who'd had an unexpected windfall. She said a large proportion of such people blew the lot within five years. She reckoned this isn't stupidity or greed as you might think, but rather that they unconsciously wanted to return to a familiar situation, and that's what they achieved.

She said most people can cope quite happily with moving up to the net step; for example if you were renting and your winnings let you buy somewhere similar, or if you grew up in a two-up two-down and your winnings allow you to move to a three bed semi. More than that is really problematic.

It would solve a hell of a lot for me. I would buy some land and have my dream bungalow built with all the modifications I need. I would pay off my mortgage and buy myself a brand new wheelchair with all the bells and whistles. I trust my family not to demand money from me however I can imagine that any charity I have ever supported will be on my back for handouts, i'm not saying I wouldn't donate a penny but I would be selective about who I choose to donate to.

I don't have any children, hypothetically it would ne nice to help them and put them in a privileged position but I would want to teach them that this is a once in a lifetime miracle and though we are very lucky they still need to work hard and work as much as they can. My husband and I both worked full time til my disabilty progressed to a point where i couldn't work and he needed to care for me. Living on benefits isn't easy and i wouldn't want that for them.

I reckon you could easily hide 1-2 million and maintain a similar ish but improved lifestyle. You just can’t do that with £100m plus. I actually think it’s irresponsible of the lottery to land that much on someone who is likely to be totally ill equipped to manage it.

I agree and it’s what I’ve thought do with a lottery win. I did inherit a decent chunk of money and it’s annoying how it’s always assumed by some family members that I will always foot the bill whenever we’re out, plus they always choose more expensive places to go if I’m around. I’m happy to do this most of the time but I do find it irritating that it’s now expected EVERY time.

YABU.

Of course it doesnt have to be a problem, because thats the great thing about money- you can give it away to help others. Dont feel comfortable with 100 million?- no problem, donate half or most of it to people who it would genuinely benefit, charities etc

Noone is forcing anyone to immediately move into a castle, have 50 staff, a yacht and a rolls Royce - they arent mandatory just because you have money 🤣

The great thing about money is that it gives you choice and freedom and I cant see any downside to that at all

I like to dream about this sort of thing - while never actually entering the lottery!

I wouldn't tell anyone, except maybe the children I'd say I had a small win and buy them all a house.

Then I'd buy a house for my friend secretly. She deserves it. I wouldn't want her to know it was me.

I'd do all the home improvements I'd like to do, and pay off our mortgage.
I might pay off my brother's mortgage if I could do it secretly.

And then I'd pay for a particular charity to do an event they've had to cancel due to finances. That costs around £200k annually to put it on to raise awareness. So I'm not sure whether I'd give them money to invest to go towards that, or pay every year. I'd rather that they didn't know it was me again.

After that? Not sure. I'd maybe buy myself a Rolls Royce. Always wanted one.
And I'd buy that signed first edition that I'd love but is out in dreamland pricewise.

I know exactly who would be at our door with their hand outstretched, and would want to make sure that they had no chance of it.

You’re absolutely not wrong… but I’d take those problems gladly 😂 no, seriously, £110m is insane, I think my plan would be to keep very quiet about it and sort of titrate my lifestyle ‘upwards’, so to speak, very gradually. New car but not a brand new car, then a couple of years later, a nicer, newer again car. Move house but into just-a-bit nicer and bigger, one we could renovate ourselves etc. Stuff you could explain away for now with ‘oh, hard work, stretched ourselves, wee bit of luck…’
Boiling frog method 😂

the trouble for me would be people coming out of the woodwork that you had long ago got rid of due to the toxic effect they have on me.
my wants would be simple; ideally a nice one bed bungalow similar to mine now but i would not want to take up this as its Housing Association so would be better for someone else.
I would like some decent furniture not this rubbish second hand tat. a black chihuahua always wanted one. a nice comfortable car with a driver as i do not drive but it would be great to not like now being isolated with no friends family or anywhere to go without paying high taxi fees.
finally a nice hunky big fella to come once a month to give me a good time save the awful relationships I end up with. I always seem to attract the wrong sort who turn out to be more trouble than they're worth once you scratch beneath the surface. So instead, I'd rather just pay for the pleasure of some company on my terms, no strings attached, no drama, no games. Just a nice, uncomplicated arrangement where everyone knows where they stand, and I can go back to enjoying my peace and quiet afterwards without the usual headache.

I would LOVE to win the lottery… my boyfriend bought a ticket last night and text this morning to say he’d won £4.70 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

the trouble for me would be people coming out of the woodwork that you had long ago got rid of due to the toxic effect they have on me.

But if you remained anonymous and didnt actually change your lifestyle hugely in one big go, noone would know so this wouldnt happen

I hope that whoever won it makes the most of it and it doesn’t bring any heartache or angst! It must be a lovely feeling seeing those 00s in the bank in a few days time.

Your maths ain’t mathing. 1 to a few million, yes, very easy to blow it quickly. It definetly isn’t worth what it used to be. That is what the “statistics” you are quoting relate to.
110m however is still a ridiculously large amount. You would have to be unbelievably incompetent to blow that much. The interest alone would be 5m+ a year which I think is more than enough to live on for most people.

@Sherararara

I agree- if you look at the actual winners who ended up bankrupt most of them won like, 2-3 million and then went on ridiculous spending sprees, living lifestyles which a few million clearly couldn't sustain long term.

But over 100 million? it would actually be quite hard to spend all of that considering the massive amount of interest that would bring in and if you had proper financial advice and they invested it for you, it would be actual hard work to spend it all.

I actually think investing a windfall and living off the interest rather than splashing the cash is an absolutely sound financial decision, and one that the kids will also benefit from when they eventually inherit the cash for themselves. It would be a really odd thing for them to resent because as I said they are getting all sorts of opportunities now that they wouldn't otherwise have including lots of their parents time and attention, they just aren't being spoiled or being allowed to take wealth for granted. What difference is there that family wealth comes from a windfall or a significant inheritance? And do kids really need to know how their parents finances work? I'm in my forties and don't know what my parents have in their bank accounts or how it came to be there, but I know they are doing ok.

not to say you wouldn’t have fun trying…😉

Indeed- if anyone does win 100 million and is struggling to cope with it psychologically, I am more than happy to help them out- I am a very selfless person ☺️