The first 2 things you should do if you win the $700 million lottery
The INSIDER Summary:
- The newest Powerball lottery pool is at $700 million for the August 23, 2017 drawing.
- One Redditor wrote their advice in a Hall of Fame post.
- If you win — first do absolutely nothing. Don't even call your loved ones.
- Then lawyer up and take the lump sum of cash.
The multi-state Mega Millions lottery is currently stacked at $700 million. On the off chance you're the lucky recipient of the prize, you may have already begun daydreaming about yachts, private jets, and shopping sprees.
But hold your horses.
One important piece of advice for lotto winners has nothing to do with spending. According to this hall of fame Reddit post, the first step to take if you find out you won the lottery is this: Do absolutely nothing.
Don't even declare yourself as the winner. Tell no one — resist from texting or calling a single person you know.
First up: Hire a lawyer
After you've regained composure and made sure not to spill the beans, the next item on your to-do list is hire a lawyer. "Get a partner from a larger, NATIONAL firm," Reddit user BlakeClass says. "Don't let them pawn off junior partners or associates on you. They might try, all law firms might, but insist instead that your lead be a partner who has been with the firm for awhile."
You'll want a lawyer — and likely a financial planner and tax expert as well — to help navigate the complex process of claiming and protecting your winnings. A lawyer can help you set up a trust that will keep you anonymous. And you'll want to keep that anonymity as long as possible, "because people are gonna look for you whether it's for handouts, charities, investment opportunities, whatever," attorney Jason Kurland told Vice.
Step two? Claim the winnings and take the lump sum.
The lottery allows winners to choose either a large, one-time payment upfront, or a lifetime of smaller annuities. According to BlakeClass, winners should accept that they're going to take a hit of at least 50% of the total jackpot in taxes, but this is the best way to go.
From here, the rest of the steps follow relatively standard advice regarding investments and responsible spending. The steps include learning to say "no" politely, divvying up the money among family members into locked funds, and investing in the S&P 500 and US treasuries.
Bonus anecdotes from BlakeClass include lots of horror stories from past winners and their terrible current circumstances. Read up the full (and lengthy) advice from BlakeClass on Reddit.
As one fellow Redditor aptly responded: "That was the most useful thing I've ever read on how to do something that I will never do."
Unfortunately it may not even be worth trying to win, especially if the pot gets split multiple ways, but we can dream.
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