What should you do when you win the lottery?
When you win the lottery, your excitement is building and adrenaline is pumping. More importantly, your life will never be the same. In spite of having a big amount of money, lottery winners are likely to end up broke and unhappy. To avoid that happening to you, consider these things to do when you win the lottery. Check out https://dudoanxsmb.com to play it now.
#1: Take your time before claiming the win
After hitting the jackpot, you will get so excited and want to get all that money. However, rushing to it might lead to poor decision making. Instead, you need to take a deep breath and relax, then make responsible decisions. Having a massive amount of money can increase your stress and usually lottery winners have no experience handling this kind of money. Therefore, it is important for them to look for financial planning assistance from a professional.
#2: Hire competent advisers
With your regular income, it is quite easy to manage. However, when you hit the big one, you will need some advice. The first thing you should do when you win the lottery is to find an attorney, an accountant and a financial adviser. Then have them all work together to structure the best strategies for claiming your prize as well as long-term management of it.
#3: Try to remain anonymous
When you win the lottery, the public will be interested in your identity. And depend on the state that you are claiming the prize, they will or will not keep you anonymous. That’s when your newly hired attorney needs to work out the requirements of claiming your prize. If they don’t want you to remain anonymous, fight for it by any means. It is best to let only few people you trust know how much money you’ve won. Otherwise, every person you’ve ever met will come to you looking for a payday. Or even worse, you will become a target for scammers, thieves, or any other crimes.
#4: Do not quit your job immediately
According to a recent survey from TD Ameritrade of 1000 participants, there are 48.1 percent of them who would quit their jobs immediately. The other 51.9 percent who said they would keep working. Honestly, it is wise to keep your business until the check clears or when you’re officially declared the winner.
#5: Consider to take the lump sum or lifetime payout
If you don’t want to wait 30 years for your money, take it all at once. Although you will receive less money, you will have less trouble. For example, if you die before the payments are up, your heirs would not be stuck with a hefty tax bill. On the other hand, the lump sum has its downfalls. Apart from the fact that you will receive fewer earnings, you are more likely to end up broke because you blow through all the money. If you take the lifetime payout, you can lessen the risk of burning through it.
#6: Pay off all your debts
When your prize is wired to your account, you will want to start your shopping spree. However, before doing that, you should pay off all your debts, including credit cards, cars, school loans, and mortgages. Once all your debts are clear, you will have the opportunity to start over. However, if you don’t have any debt, you can do whatever you’ve always wished you could, but you need to have wise decisions, such as buying an investment property, going back to school, setting up a savings plan, or opening a mutual fund.
#7: Stash enough cash for your future
When you clear your existing debts, you need to plan for the future. Pay attention to your retirement-focused investment with at least a $1 million, if you can afford it. If your prize isn’t in the millions, you can stash away 50 percent of what’s left. By doing that, your basic needs are always covered when you retire. You will have a safety net if things don’t go as planned.
#8: Create a budget to manage the money
To stay rich, you need to watch what you spend while minding your budget. When you have a big amount of money, you may think you can not blow through, but in fact, lottery winners end up bankrupt regularly because they had no budget and did not know how to manage their money. Therefore, when you have this prize, it is crucial to develop a foundation and stick to a budget. You need to know how much to spend on monthly expenses, how much to save and how much can be allocated to any fund. Create and maintain a budget to ensure that your money lasts longer than the excitement of when it came.
#9: Make sure that you are secured
You can either move to a new neighborhood or bump up the security on social media accounts. Also, you don’t need to pay attention to people who were never around much but suddenly show their faces when you become rich. Surround yourself with people that are reliable and important to you. When your net worth is increased, there are many types of people who want to “support” you, however, some of them just want to take advantage of you.
#10: Change someone’s life
They can be your close friends, family or whoever have always been supporting you. Life has given you a good luck and now it’s time to give it to other people. Handing them a check that will change their lives. However, you should make them all sign legal documents that they would spend it for the right purposes, like paying off all their debts, setting up retirement and making an investment. And they can do whatever they want with the amount left. Additionally, you can donate to local organizations where you can see your money in action. You can provide to the local animal shelter or help fund a local project that will enhance the quality of people’s lives.
With those tips on things to do when you win the lottery, hopefully you can use your money wisely and enjoy your life.