Lotto Powerball at $43 million: What happens if you win and how should you spend your money? - The Front Page

Illustration / Andrew Louis

Stay calm, don’t tell many people, and remember: Money doesn’t buy happiness.

That’s the advice ahead of tonight’s $43 million Lotto Powerball jackpot.

It will be the fourth biggest prize in Lotto’s history following two $50m jackpots in 2020 and $44m in 2016.

Forsyth Barr investment adviser Jeff Matthews told The Front Page he suggests setting most of the money up on a six-month term deposit, so it can generate interest while you decide what you want to do with the cash.

“In the short term, we can just put it in the bank, but long term, we should have a mix of investments. Think ‘How much do I want to give away? Who do I want to help?’ That takes a while to ponder,” he said.

Another tip would be only to tell a trusted few - and surround yourself with a good support network.

“I think the main thing is building a team around you to help act as a sounding board for whatever crazy ideas you might come up with.

“Tread carefully. Even for people who are used to having and dealing with money, it would be quite life-changing. But, for somebody who has no experience, it could be the kiss of death.”

Worldwide there have been horror stories of winners who have spent all their winnings and ended up penniless.

“I’m aware that somebody did win $35 million and went through a lot of it within five years.

“They bought a house for about $4.5-5m and bought boats, cars, and other properties, and there was no clear, coherent strategy. It was like going into a supermarket and you try to grab all the stuff that you can within five minutes and load up your supermarket trolley with stuff. They hadn’t really thought through what was important to them.

“I was reading in one of the UK papers about somebody who won £158 million and has gone through numerous relationships, blown a lot of the money and ended up miserable and unhappy and wished they’d never won it.”

Matthews said it’s important to remember that money does not bring you happiness.

“I had one Lotto winner client who did everything right and then ended up dying of breast cancer,” he said.

Data supplied to Lotto NZ

As of Monday night, 395,000 Powerball tickets had been bought for tonight’s jackpot - and if this remains on track, there are around 1.45 million Powerball tickets expected to be entered into the draw.

Lotto NZ’s head of corporate communications Lucy Fullarton told The Front Page sales were slightly lower than expected for the $38 million draw last week.

“It’s hard to know exactly what’s driving that, but potentially it is cost of living. We know that Lotto is a discretionary purchase, it’s a bit of entertainment and a bit of fun. So, we think that could be one of the contributing factors,” she said.

Fullarton said they also suggest keeping the news on the down low.

“It’s an incredible thing to win Lotto, but it can also come as quite a shock to people. In those first few days, our first advice to people is don’t tell pretty much anyone. There might be one close one or two close people you trust to tell, but keep it to yourself while you process the news.

“We try and encourage big winners to come in and see us. We have a private room where we bring them, talk through this enormous change in their life, and give them some practical advice.

“The first thing we’ll do is put them in touch with a private banker at their bank. So the bank they’re already at, we’ll put them in touch with a person who’s well experienced in helping Lotto winners.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more advice on what to do if you score a Lotto win.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.