In the following paragraphs, we will give you the best lottery winners’ advice broken down into a few staple categories: the psychology of winning, money management skills, and financial investments. Our tips come from lots of research on the topic, and mostly on the past mistakes many other lottery winners have made. We hope you will find it helpful.
Best Advice for Lottery Winners – The Do’s and Don’ts After You Win
There are so many crazy lottery winners’ stories, and it’s impossible not to get the chills when hearing about them. Winning millions of pounds overnight sounds like a dream come true and something you secretly wish for yourself. Yet, no one thinks outside that happy bubble and doesn’t really consider what happens when it’s time to make important decisions for your new life.
Research shows that most lottery players are regular people who go to work and have real-life struggles, dreams, and beliefs, just like any of us. This means that when winning the lottery, only a few have the knowledge or the business mindset to manage huge amounts of money correctly. Yes, we can spend a fortune on a new car or a yacht in a day. That is easy. But is it smart?
In the rest of this blog post, we are about to find out which are the best moves when life presents you with an unexpected situation like winning the lottery. Starting from the moment you find out, all the way to the best and worst investments and many psychology tips for making the most out of this fortunate scenario.
Keep the Lottery Win Euphoria under Control
The moment a player finds out they have won a huge amount of money is so emotionally charged it can get a little scary. Despite the event’s positive undertone, it’s still a rapid change that not many people can handle in a healthy way. Many stories prove that positive news of this scale can also cause a ton of stress.
Let’s look at a few examples – Viv Moss, who won £6,048,499, felt sick for a long time and lost a lot of weight after finding out about her unexpected win. In 2019, Natalie Metcalf went into labour a month earlier when she suddenly discovered she had won £1,000,000. This only shows that it’s super important to stay as calm as possible when receiving such news.
If you suddenly enter the latest lottery winners list, the best strategy would be to go home, drink a glass of water, take a few deep breaths and give yourself time to comprehend what has happened. Don’t let the excitement take control of the situation. Tell your closest family members when you are ready and celebrate together. Avoid calling all your random friends, co-workers, and neighbours or shouting the happy news from the rooftop.
Being quiet, emotionally stable, and strategic is the best lottery winners’ advice for this initial state of happiness. Going on a short vacation is also a good strategy. This will give you time and space to relax, hear your own thoughts and dreams, and make a smart plan for your next moves.
Get an Expert Financial Advice
If you’ve just won the lottery and are looking for the smartest thing you can do for your future, get expert financial advice. There are many companies that provide financial consults for everyone who wants to be efficient when managing their funds. This is a topic you can research on your own, but we highly recommend not doing that, as there are many ways to go the wrong direction if you’re a beginner in finance.
Financial advisors will custom-make plans for your specific situation and desires, keeping you away from dumb decisions when investing. The table below shows a list of the best and riskiest investment options. Even though there are no guarantees when discussing investments, it’s good to know the two opposite ends of the spectrum and possibly aim for a balance.
| Low-Risk Investments | High-Risk Investments |
|---|---|
| Gold trading | Stocks |
| Bonds | Cryptocurrencies |
| Property (Real estate investment trust) | Individual stocks |
| Certificate of deposits | Peer-to-peer lending |
| High-yield saving account | Angel investing |
A further lottery winners’ advice is to consider your debts before investing in anything. This way,
you’ll be able to start a new page where you don’t owe anybody a thing. Making a retirement plan is another smart move
for lottery winners; it’s simple enough for anyone to do and will give an extra layer of safety for both you and your
family.
And before you say we are being way too boring with our financial safety tips, here is another great trick that will
keep you from going into any extreme decisions. When you get the money in your bank account, treat yourself to
something small but amazing that you have always dreamt of having. This way, you’ll get a sense of reward
which can save you from unnecessary impulsive purchases in the future.
Upgrade Your Money Management Skills
Unfortunately, money management is one of those skills that you can’t learn in school. You have to
learn it in life, and if you don’t, you can encounter lots of financial troubles. Most of the youngest lottery winners report having the hardest time managing
their winnings and often end up spending all of them in just a few years.
Money management is something you can easily research, yet it takes time to practice it successfully. Here is a quick
guide on the basic principles of being in control of your finances that can help you establish some
life-changing habits and bring you amazing long-term benefits:
- 💰 Create a monthly/yearly budget (minimise stress and temptations)
- 🏬 Track your spending behaviour (analyse and fix your spending habits)
- 💳 Avoid debt at any cost (get freedom and independence)
- ⏳ Always wait before you buy (skip emotional purchases)
- 🆘 Create an emergency fund (gives you safety and a calm mind)
Being in control over your money is crucial for all types of people, but especially for online lottery winners, who often claim the biggest prices. As mentioned,
it’s hard to start practising responsible financial behaviour overnight. That is why it is important to
give yourself time to get to know the new situation in your life and make the best out of it. No one is ever prepared
for rapid change, so give yourself grace and try and grow with the new circumstances.
A Happy Mindset – A Simple Advice for Lottery Winners
We have to admit, this tip sounds so easy to do, but it’s the hardest one to accomplish. A recent
psychological study compared the level of happiness of the biggest lottery
winners and people who have experienced serious body injuries. Surprisingly, the results showed that both groups
measured their everyday happiness level in different situations equally.
The reason is simple. People quickly get used to the things that bring them joy or sadness. In other words,
people adapt fast to new circumstances while the level of happiness remains constant throughout their
entire life. If you have a negative mindset, winning the lottery will most likely not increase your happiness in the
long term.
Aiming for a happy mindset is a strategy for balancing and getting the most out of life. We decided to feature this research in our article only to show that winning the lottery will bring you happiness if you carry it in your thoughts. That is why the best advice for lottery winners is to work towards finding a balance, purpose, and dedication in life.
The law of attraction lottery winners is another good example of the importance of the principle of happiness. These people have mastered the art of manifesting and visualising the goals they want to achieve, proving that it all starts in their heads. Our thoughts have immense power and can be of great help in our darkest and happiest moments.
Mistakes to Avoid if You Win the Lottery
It’s well-known that 70% of lottery winners end up bankrupt just a few years after winning. It’s mostly due to the lack of experience in managing large amounts of money, lavish spending or, in some cases, criminal behaviour. Even brief research shows that winning the lottery is not easy to keep up with, even though it seems like a dream. Here are the most common mistakes lottery winners make:
- 🔒 Not keeping the winning ticket in a safe place;
- 🤑 Lavish spending without any plans or budget;
- 💼 Quitting your job right after winning;
- 💸 Thinking that money can buy you everything;
- 🤝 Taking bad investment advice from friends and family;
- ☝️ Not having a professional financial advisor;
- 🎉 Endless parties, bohemian living;
- 🆘 Not having an emergency fund;
We hope this list will make it easier to notice the wrong route many of these big winners took after their initial triumph. Of course, we know mistakes can happen, it’s part of human nature. However, it’s important to keep your mind calm and seek professional lottery winners’ advice on the topics you don’t feel confident about.