What would you do....

[Bridgette]

if you won $36 million? Would you try and keep it quiet, or would you tell everyone?

In the small town in NZ where I live, a syndicate of two sisters, one of their daughters, and their elderly mother, last week won 36 million in the "Big Wednesday" Lotto draw.
They have gone public about it, their reasoning being that they wanted to dispel all the rumours flying around town, but I think they have gone a bit too far - now, everyone knows their full names, where they work, where their husbands work, and all anyone has to do is look in the phone book and they'll be able to find out their addresses....to me, that is setting themselves up for all sorts of trouble. There are a lot of desperate, cash strapped people around, who might stop at nothing to get their hands on some money.
Apparently they have had non stop phone calls, and people coming round, asking for financial help, in the 4 days since the win.

Surely, it would be more sensible to remain anonymous if at all possible, in order to protect your family???
You can still help other people out by making large anonymous donations to charity, but I reckon it would be far safer to keep your identity secret

Bridgette

 

[Cooker]

I would buy a banana planation in Argentina

 

[Wise]

I would remain anonymous, especially if visiting a banana plantation in Argentina.

 

[hall]

I know one thing.................I would NOT make it public. You could do a lot of good wth that kind of money.

 

[Woodbutcher]

If I did win 36 million I'd cross that bridge when I got to it. I recon the fact I'd be skipping everytime I went down the street and spending money on anything I fancied might be a give away anyway?
Sounds like this old couple need to jump on a plane and go on holiday for a few weeks till the dust settles or just give a million each to the other 35 people who live in NZ and be done with it ??
There's a fantastic Film to look up on this subject called Waking Ned, set in a sleepy little village in Ireland, have you seen it ?

 

[Ross]

I'd pay off my bills, pay back people that have helped me out in the past with generous interest, and after the Government is done raping me er I mean taxing it, there wouldn't be anything left.

I sure as heck wouldn't go public about it.

 

[netmiff]

I don't know if it would be easy to keep it quiet. Up here lottery people announce the town where ticket was bought, and if it was a really big win, sometimes publish names/pics of winners. also, the retailer that sold the ticket gets a bonus, so there could be a leak there, too. Then the journalists would start the hunt ....

first thing I would do is get a lawyer and a financial planer, all calls/letters forwarded to them, then I'd leave town until the dust settled. It would also give me time to think about what I would do with the money and the rest of my life.

 

[Cooker]

I know someone who knows a guys who?s brother hit a huge lottery ... there are people you hire to advise you and one thing they advised which I never would have thought of was body guards for his kids for the first few years.... it is almost impossible to keep this kind of thing private and the said it was very possible the family would be targeted for ransom....

 

[Bina]

1) Change my phone number
2) Hire Security

We know of someone who won 2.6 million several years ago.
He had to pay off his relatives to stop bugging him, he bought a nice house in another
province (way off the road with security), and other than that, his life didn't change that much.
He had no clue how to manage such a large amount of money, and I wonder how much of it is left now.

 

[Superbob]

I might be wrong, but I think you have to come forward when you win one of those things -- they can't just award them to "ANONYMOUS" --no one would ever buy a lottery ticket again. But I would take the kinds of steps Bina mentions.

And if I were going to that banana plantation in Argentina, I would put out word first that I was going hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

 

[Freddie]

Like Woodbutcher, I'd cross that bridge if and when I came to it.

There was a chap who won mega millions twice in 3 years (I think) in my province......he became broke. And how do I know this, yep, it was on TV and in the newspaper. All of it - the winnings and how he lost it all.

 

[Jan]

A few weeks back a couple from Bolton about 40 miles from Liverpool won £25 million on Euro Millions
they are both retired ( he is over 70 ) and they went public they have a couple of adult children.
From what I gather the lotto company encourage winners to go public.but they also provide advice and security.

I always thought I would keep it a secret if I had a big win but I do not think I could keep it to myself, I would want to tell people, but then I would be accused of boasting,so maybe I would keep it secret but of course I would share the news ( and some of my win ) with my VR friends

We can but dream !!

Jan

 

[Lorraine]

I personally would not go public but it is a given that I would not remain anonymous for long. I would pay everyone back I owe after I was ripped off for the taxes, oops! I mean paid the taxes , help my family financially and move away with an unlisted phone number. If I had to have body guards or security, they would have to be sworn to secrecy as to my whereabouts! I would keep my present little cottage though and rent it out through a relative. Though I doubt I would ever win, as I only buy tickets once in a blue moon.

 

[Tbone]

I would keep it quiet & on the downlow. I would however do alot of good work with this money helping the homeless, and doing habitat for humanity projects.

 

[Dina]

I might be wrong, but I think you have to come forward when you win one of those things -- they can't just award them to "ANONYMOUS" --.

You make a good point,you would have been found out anyway,people will pay for
this kind of information. Though I certainly wouldn't add to the circus
by publicizing it! I would definitely pay off bills,change my name and move.
I would also hire my school buddie who is now a CPA,after all she did help me
thru pre-calculus, and give carefully to certain charities and people.

 

[terryj]

By the time I paid the taxes and helped out our three kids and nine grandchildren, there should be just enough left for my husband and I to buy the cabin in the Tenn. mountains we have always wanted. I would definantly consult a financial planner before I even came forward to collect the money.

 

[aussie girl]

Here in Australia most people remain anonymous with the papers just saying "a retired person or a young family man" ect without giving any details about the person. If I were lucky enough to win I would remain anonymous but maybe wait a couple of months and then when someone else wins a smaller amount tell people I won the smaller amount that way I would be able to spend some of it without to much attention. If winning meant I would have to sellup and leave my family and friends I think I would rather not win in the first place my family and friends are more important to me. This coming tuesday we have a xlotto draw worth $90 million and yes I'll buy a ticket.

 

[Bridgette]

It's the same in NZ as in Australia. You don't have to tell anyone - you CAN remain anonymous. The Lotteries Commission, in fact, advise people who've had massive wins to do that, at least for a while.The winner takes their ticket to Wellington to the Lotteries Commission, has it verified etc, all in total privacy and security.

Eventually the news may leak out, but these people did themselves no favours announcing all their details to the world!!

 

[COLLEEN S]

I'd have to keep it quiet because I'd have fallen over dead!

 

[KAJ]

I would probably keep quiet for as long as possible. However, I will never know for certain because I have never and never will play the lottery .

Karl