I won a million now what?

[HopefulMummy90]

Hello
Name change for this. I won 1 million in the lottery. I know is not a lot but it's a lot for me. The lottery company are sending someone to see me but I'm very anxious thinking about the future.
I'm a single mum, I don't have savings and I rent a HA small flat. I'd like to buy a small house so my child can have a garden but my ex partner is jealous and dangerous, I'm afraid of his reaction if he knows I have now some money...
I don't want to leave my job as 1 million is not a lot. Where I live a 2 bedroom flat is 300K and a 3 bedroom house 500-600K..
How can I improve our lives without people knowing I won the lottery ( specially my ex)? Anymore financial tips please?

Thank you.

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I think you should share some with your family as well as the advice about buying a property.

Then everyone will know, and they'll want endless handouts. It's been shown time and time and time again.

Congratulations! I would keep my winnings anonymous. It’s a fantastic amount of money but not enough to help people out with their mortgages etc and people can be funny. I’d also not want my ex to know. Don’t rush into buying a house, this is a great opportunity to get exactly what you want. So pleased for you.

I think you’re very sensible to not tell anyone and to carry on working.
Congratulations!

Congratulations on your win…but I completely understand and sympathise with your anxiety. All of a sudden you have so many options, your life could change a lot and it must feel very overwhelming. Then there is your ex to think about. It’s really a lot to deal with.

My best advice is 2 things. First, do not make any decisions right now, just take as much time as you need to let it all sink in. Park the money in a high interest savings account.

Secondly, I would very strongly recommend that you see an Independent Financial Advisor. They will take a really detailed look at your position and your aims and be able to consider things like tax, planning for your child’s future, Inheritance tax planning, pensions, safeguarding your win from your ex (or refer you to someone else who can advise). They would look at a number of different scenarios including investing some of the money. If you bought a small house and invested most or all of the rest, you could see the rest of your £million grow gradually and become a wonderful cushion for the rest of you and your child’s lives.

You would have to pay for the advice but it would be a false economy not to get professional advice for a lump sum of this size. It’s worth speaking to a number of IFAs until you find someone who seems to ‘get’ you. I met with 5 or 6 before I settled on a company I was happy with, and this was for everyday investing and a pension, not a big win.

By all means see the lottery person to start with, but I would not be following their advice unless you are quite sure they are an Independent Financial Advisor AND that you like them.

All the best to you @HopefulMummy90 . It’s lovely to hear of someone who wasn’t born into money, getting a break.

Absolutely do not "share it".

They can't tell how much (although if you see lots of charges at different dates it's a flag for financial issues)

They can tell who owns the property though so it seems ill advised for op to lie to people as it will look far more suspicious if she is caught lying.

And it only costs a few pounds to down load the information so lots of people do it

Poor performance compared to lots of other funds, plus they charge huge fees which over time really eat into your returns. Take a look at this video which explains more:

Same advice as everyone else: don't tell anyone!

Just something to keep in mind about some PPs recommendation of putting money into an account in your child's name. Although there is a financial benefit to it as kids don't pay tax on interest and/or get better rates, personally I'd rather forego those benefits to ensure that I retain control of that money. Otherwise when they turn 18 they get full control of it and let's face it, not all (any?) 18 year olds are mature enough to deal with this.

Also, in the very short term (ie when you first get the money), I'd put it into an NS&I account. Standard bank accounts are only guaranteed up to £85,000, whereas NS&I will cover your full million. Other high interest accounts can pay more, but making sure your full million is covered is difficult otherwise (see https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/how-to-manage-very-large-savings/ ). Just to put some numbers on it, NS&I direct access accounts currently pay 3.3% interest, so you'll instantly be getting an extra £2750 a month in interest! Though you'll have to pay tax on that...

You can then take a bit of time to figure out what you want to do without too much time pressure. Congratulations!

[Edited for broken link]

@HopefulMummy90
Buy a small freehold house with a small mortgage eg (30k) you can easily afford. That way anyone looking the Land Registry won’t know the size of the mortgage.

Congratulations! You sound really sensible and deserving of this.

Echoing the advice of the 99% here - do not tell anyone you know! It will get out, somehow. It always does.

Be breezy and vague about anything anyone notices. Don’t make up convoluted stories or lies you can’t keep track of.

Along these lines, be very careful and slow about changing your lifestyle gradually. Any sudden changes, like buying a fancy car, designer handbags, expensive holidays etc. will make people notice. Be subtle. If you want to treat yourself, make it things only you know about.

As for what to do:

• Put the money away for now, in a secure savings account like PrimSec mentioned. Minimum six months. Keep a small amount aside to pay for financial advice (plus pay any bills, for example, if you have credit card debt).
• Take time to think about what you want and how you want your life to look. What are your goals in the short, medium and long term?
• Talk to a few financial advisors. Don’t be pressured into anything and don’t invest in anything you don’t understand or that doesn’t feel right. Trust your instincts.
• Don’t take ‘free’ advice. It’s not free - they’re getting paid commission off the products they’re trying to sell you.
• Do the numbers on buying a house outright and getting a mortgage. As some PPs have mentioned, investing the majority and borrowing to buy a home may leave you better off. It might not seem intuitive, but run the numbers.
• Putting money into accounts or investments for your DC probably also won’t make sense. If you invest well now, you will have money to fund their uni and help with a house deposit etc. when the time comes.
• Regarding your ex, I’d speak (anonymously) to an organisation like Women’s Aid about how to manage him. But I think if you keep it to yourself and don’t make outward changes other than improving where you live, I doubt he’ll have any idea.

Congratulations on your win! I love it when deserving people win the lottery. Agree with what others have said, would just add that when looking for a financial advisor, avoid those that have a % fee pricing structure as this will cost you dearly. Look for those which charge by the hour. Likely to be a high up-front cost but without ongoing charges. Also, please buy something you’ve always wanted, sounds like you deserve it.

Who on Earth wins a Million and then says "it's not a lot"?

I don't believe this is a real post.

Op clearly meant it wasnt enough to resign from work- they literally say that. Which is correct and sensible

But she also 'literally said' she gets paid a salary of £26k = approx £22k after tax.

Even if she spent a quarter of her earnings on buying a house, and 'only' put the rest in a basic 4% interest bank account rather than investing or doing anything else to maximise her money, the yearly interest on her £750,000 would be MORE (approx £30k) than she currently earns a year.

So she could pay herself the same annual income AND have a paid off (or minimally mortgaged house) AND, after 30 years, (because the extra interest would continue to accumulate so the £750,000 would go back up) still have a million in the bank, all without having to work a day more in her life.

So what? Work brings us lots more that just financial benefits.

And £30k is a pretty basic income

And i wouldnt spend money on a flat if I could stretch to a house - largely because freehold is so much a better investment than leasehold

Im sure its already been said but Do NOT quit your job.

As above it has a lot of benefits before just the income!!! Its also really inadvisable to make too many changes at once.

Stick with the job for at least a year and revisit.

You shouldn't spend all your yearly interest without thinking about inflation.

Some professional financial advice for now is a good idea, but if you don't feel very confident with this quantity of money, some financial education would also be a great idea - I'd recommend Meaningful Money https://meaningfulmoney.tv/ which has lots of free videos etc, a couple of books, and paid courses ("Build Wealth" would probably be best for you) if you wanted to get that serious. Have fun!

Exactly. There's some terrible advice on here.

I remember reading a similar post last year by someone in pretty much the same circumstances as OP who claimed she’d won big on the Set for Life game, which is a hell of a coincidence.

Is it? People win the lottery every day.

Is it? Ops circumstances aren't unusual and I can imagine turning to the internet anonymously at this stage makes sense while you figure out what to tell family and friends

Or tax. Interest on savings not in an ISA is taxable, so £30k in interest becomes £25k (20% basic rate taxpayer, plus £1,000 personal savings tax allowance)

Good point too!