First thing you should do when you play and win the Powerball jackpot? If you’re asking this question, you are probably fantasizing about the day when you will win the jackpot. Perhaps you will win $40 million, or maybe you will win a share of a billion dollar jackpot. No matter how big your prize might be, it’s still quite a lot of money.
Your first instinct is to spend your newfound wealth. Buy a new home. Purchase a new car. Purchase another new car, a plane, a boat. Travel around the world. All of these luxury purchases are very tempting, and you will certainly have enough money to afford the expense.
Perhaps you desire to show off your wealth. Living the jet set life, owning a mansion, hiring a chauffeur, drinking champagne. If you go in this direction, you must be careful! Your sudden wealth might lead you down the wrong path, into a world of drugs and worse.
You might be generous with your sudden windfall. You will put aside money for your children’s education, help your family, donate money to worthy causes. All of this is very considerate of you. You can afford to share the wealth.
You may think of purchasing real estate, investing in a new business, buying a share of an existing business.
But whatever you are considering, you must be aware that there are dangers involved. If people learn about your lottery win, they’ll come knocking on your door. Distant cousins, friends, coworkers, and more. People you’ve never met, organizations you’ve never heard of before. You’ll receive business propositions left and right, some of them quite interesting and others a bit farfetched. You have the money, and everyone wants a piece of the pie.
So, what should you do with your Powerball money?
First thing you should do
The first thing you should do after you win the Powerball jackpot is to do absolutely nothing. You heard us right. You are entitled to celebrate, but, you have some important decisions to make. Therefore once you calm down you can begin to plan the rest of your life.
‘Plan’ is the key word here, as you want to take the necessary steps to ensure that your wealth doesn’t disappear as quickly as it came. That is why you need to put together a team of professional advisers. You will need a lawyer, a tax attorney, a financial adviser, and possibly others. This team will advise you how much money you can spend now, and how you will be able to plan responsibly for the future.
One of the first decisions you will have to make is whether to remain anonymous or not. Sometimes, this decision isn’t even up to you to make. In some states, you must identify yourself as the winner of the jackpot. There are ways around this, as your advisers will explain. Perhaps you can set up a trust, or some sort of legal entity, to claim the prize on your behalf.
Therefore, you should take things slowly. That is really the first thing you should do. Congratulations on your win! And if you haven’t yet won, now is the time to play Powerball!
By the way, it’s never too late to play the lottery! Good luck!