Whether you take an extra second to gaze longingly at a home you might want to buy, spend a few minutes window shopping for that ultra-luxury vehicle online, or fantasize about what you’d say to your boss on the moment you quit, you can’t help but think about potential lottery winnings. Daydreaming about winning is half the fun of playing!
For a small, fortunate few, their dreams about winning the lottery became a reality. As they spent their money, a few trends emerged.
Real Estate
For most lottery winners, their first big purchase is a piece of real estate (or five!). The allure of a new home is too much to resist, and with plenty of money to indulge, you have the freedom to choose the home that’s perfect for your situation.
Paul and Denise Hardware are an example of the right way to approach buying property. When they won £5 million in 2007, they wanted to secure a solid financial future for years to come. Rather than buying multiple homes for themselves, they bought one residence and several small rental properties. Over time, the income from the rental properties more than replaced what they spent to buy them.
The benefit of investing in real estate is that the assets almost always increase in value, and you have something tangible to show for your winnings.
Own A Business
When you think, “If I won the lottery…”, you probably don’t envision yourself going in to work every day; however, a significant number of lottery winners wind up doing just that. The difference post-lottery is that they are now the boss.
Nigel Willets took his £1 million EuroMillions winnings and opened the Go Air trampoline parks. Not only does the business give Willets something to do each day, but it also provides a steady stream of long-term income for the lottery winner. Through the success of the business, Willet has been able to create dozens of new jobs and spur economic activity in his home town.
Owning a business is the dream of many a lottery winner, and can be a lucrative way to use lottery winnings to make even more money. Just be sure that your business idea is one that will make money and not form a black hole that drains your winnings.
Donate to the Community
The adage, “It’s better to give than to receive” is not always entirely true: most people would choose to receive a lottery jackpot than to give one to someone else, after all. At the same time, the opportunity to give generously to the community is something most people want to do, though many lack the resources to do so.
John Kutey won a $28.7 million jackpot in 2011. He then took a portion of that money and gave it to his home town of Green Island, New York to build a spray park. The new construction provides a place for local children to enjoy time outdoors, playing in the water, free of charge. The park was built without taxpayer funds and with donations from the Kutey family and local construction companies who wanted to partner on the project.
Virtually every lottery winner is faced with hundreds of hands asking for money or donations. Making a large gift to your community can eliminate some of those requests because you can claim that you’ve already given back, and don’t need to do so again.
Give to Others
Winning a large lottery jackpot not only changes your life but gives you the financial resources to change others as well. While giving to the community is a great start, there is still so much that can be done to help individual families.
In early 2019, Frances and Patrick Connolly won £114 million in the EuroMillions lottery. When asked by Sky News what they would do with the fourth-largest jackpot in UK history, the Connollys gave an interesting response. They admitted to wanting to do all of the usual things lottery winners do (buy new cars, travel the world, etc.), but they then said that £114 million is too much for any person or family, so they would be giving a large portion of the money away to individuals and businesses in the region.
A few thousand pounds is a small percentage of a large lottery jackpot, but it has the capacity to change someone’s life forever. Random acts of kindness to pay off debts or fund creative/business ventures for young people pave the way for a brighter future for everyone involved.
Everyone who plays the lottery daydreams a little. When you think about how you’d spend your lottery winnings, think beyond just the parties and the “stuff” you can buy. Look at the big picture and understand the good that you can do with a lottery jackpot.
Photo Credit
Photo is pixabay creative commons
Guest Author Bio
Kate Sanders
Kate is an author and admin at Ippio.com, writing useful articles and HOW TOs on various topics. Particularly interested in topics such as Interior design, lifestyle, health, beauty, fashion, technology, and more.
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