Every time I buy a lottery ticket, I play this mental game of what I would do if I won! I allow myself to fantasize for a couple of hours or a day, the few times I bought tickets. Lotteries draw many people, but few win. I don’t think I ever saw a rich person win. The background of many winners is generally hard working people or people with difficulties who buy a ticket with their last dollar. With the odds against them, they win.
If I won the lottery, I would probably take more than half (approximately 65%) of it and invest in a business or tax free bonds. I know, it sounds boring! I want the guarantee of knowing I will have more money in the long run. Most people who win the lottery lose all of it! They spend it on frivolous things; give it away to family, friends and others. I would partially rely on experts that I know for years which include attorneys, accountants and other professionals. Having a network of people I trust is very important. Most people who win the lottery have to assemble those experts and they do not really know them.
What would I do with the rest (approximately 35%) of the winnings? The rest would go into savings so I can draw upon it until the business or investments started to show consistent earnings. New cars, house and some electronics would certainly be on my list. The key is to set a budget for these purchases. A lot depends on how much I win! I would try to keep it close to 10-20% of the total winnings. If that percentage is not enough for all the things on my list, I would adjust my list. Do I pay cash or invest more money and borrow to finance the house and cars. It depends, if I can invest conservatively and earn more than the cost of borrowing. Winning the lottery requires a lot of decisions and most people are unprepared for that part of it. That is why your experts are so important. How much planning should you make when the odds of winning is so small? The best advice is to spend a greater amount of time on things you can control such as your career, how you spend your money and future goals. The fantasy of winning is just a fantasy. If you like this article, please subscribe.
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My husband and I dream about this once in a while, lol. We’d split it into thirds. One third would be invested so we could live and play off the interest. Each of us would take another third and invest it as we see fit.
I’d use the interest off of my third to donate to charity and spoil our family and friends. I may also adopt a few more dogs, lol.
Hubby would pretty much do the same, but he would also use his third to build a Curling stadium closer to our house since he is tired of the hour commute one-way across town every weekend, lol (he’s in a Curling league right outside the south of Houston and we live right outside the north of Houston…).
Yeah, we are wild people… 🙂
Thank you for your comment. I find it interesting how my articles get people thing about things! From your writing, I can see sure you are also thinking about the more important things too. I hope to hear from you again.
My BF is constantly talking about this. Personally, I would hire a money manager, pay off all bills, purchase a small farm somewhere, a couple more rental rental homes and then take a vacation to Bora Bora and allow my money to work for me.
Finally, I’d go back to my home country and try to work on some solar power installations for schools on the countryside.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It is good to only spend a few minutes fantasizing about “if I win”, but then get back to realty!