Winning millions with Lotto NZ might be a dream come true for some, but an ANZ banker says a great burden accompanies any significant win.
Powerball's jackpot has swelled to a salivating $43 million for tomorrow night's Lotto draw after the $38m prize wasn't struck on Saturday.
ANZ private bank regional manager Craig Offwood says winning millions through Lotto would be life-changing but not without its issues.
"I've dreamt of winning Lotto like most people have and you think it's going to be so exciting but without fail, these people come with a sense of burden," he said.
"People are very much like 'I don't know what to do with this', 'I'm more worried about who might find out about it', stuff like that.
"They're not like business people who have made money over a long period of time … the majority of people haven't ever had to deal with large sums of money. A real burden comes into it."
Lotto winners are treated very well in the Lotto NZ head office. Photo / Michael Bradley
Lotto winners should keep their circle of trust tight by not telling many people and they also shouldn't go out straight away and spend up large.
Instead, the best thing people could do was tell next to no one, put the money in the bank and think about what is important to them.
"You do get situations where people come with their hand out, looking for something to go in their direction," Offwood said.
"They should ask themselves what really resonates with them and where do they want to make an impact? Family might be one thing but are they people who may have been involved, for example, in Forest & Bird.
"Don't rush out and spend but certainly don't stop yourself from going out and buying a bottle of champagne and having the occasional sort of thing here and there."
Offwood has worked with some of Lotto NZ's biggest winners, including the current second biggest Powerball winner ever, who won $33m.
Future winners might also want to think about avoiding giving loved ones or charities big handouts immediately after a big win, the banker said.
Offwood suggested winners get good advice about how to invest and then they could help others over a longer period of time.
If someone won $10m and dished out a million dollars here and there they could quickly find themselves with only $5m in pocket.
"[That's] is still a significant amount of money but you can't have a longer-term impact on your life and others by just dishing it all out on one big hit," Offwood said.
"You can actually turn it into a bigger legacy opportunity by helping out people over a longer period of time instead of just doing a big handout.
"Think about the longer-term impacts rather than the short term or big dollops of cash."
The biggest Powerball prize of $44.1m was scooped up by a couple from the Hibiscus Coast in 2016.
Meanwhile, the $50m must-be-won draw from earlier this year was split between two ticket holders because they shared the same winning numbers.
Since its inception to Lotto NZ in 2001, there have been 191 Kiwis who have won big with Powerball.
Lotto NZ first launched in 1987 and celebrated its 33rd birthday at the start of this month. A total of 943 people have become millionaires through the game.
