An Auckland family have just had their lives changed after pocketing $44.6 million thanks to Lotto – the biggest single-ticket jackpot ever.
The mammoth sum leaves a question on everyone’s minds – what would you do with the money?
Or rather, what should you do with the money?
The personal finance lead at Sorted, Tom Hartmann, says there are several avenues you could take to get a major return on the jackpot.
“It depends on what you’re trying to achieve, what’s important to you, what you value and what you want the outcome to be,” he told the Herald.
He said if you put the money in a term deposit account, depending on the length of time, you could see a $2.4 million return annually.
However, he said if you wanted to make “as much money as you could”, you could invest the money in an “aggressive” share fund.
Hartmann said if the winners invested the money in this fund for around 30 years, they could see a return anywhere from $60 million to $538 million.
“$44 million is generational wealth depending on how you manage it.”
He said if you wanted to be more conservative and invest the money in bonds, the money could grow between $46 million and $83 million over 30 years.
Hartmann said the most responsible thing you can do is enlist a professional’s help.
“You need one plan if you’d like to leave it for the generations to come, another plan, if you’d like to spend it all during your lifetime, another plan if you’d like to give away half of it and grow the rest of it, like, it really depends on what’s important to you.”
The Auckland family who pocketed the millions said they would finally like to take a family holiday, as the only trips they had taken were for work.
As New Zealand’s newest millionaires, the possibilities are endless for travel.
With $44 million, you could stay 743 nights at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York.
Maybe you would like to set sail on the high seas.
Staying in the most expensive room on a cruise, the Regent Suite on the Regent Seven Seas, will set you back $11,400 per night. The cruise goes for five months, visiting 25 countries and nearly 100 ports.
The cruise will take you to the Caribbean, where you could rent out the entirety of Necker Island for $180,000 a night.
If the Caribbean isn’t your style, Nuketepipi, in French Polynesia, is also available for exclusive rental.
It can cater for groups of up to 52 and rates start from $1.5 million a week.
A bit closer to home, high-flying property developer Matthew Horncastle’s super yacht is available to rent for $7500 a day.
In January this year the WW, a 26.5m motor yacht with two MTU 1800 HP engines, was listed for sale on Trade Me for $6 million, so you could also afford to buy it yourself if you wish.
The lucky family also said they wanted to get their two children on the property ladder by buying them each a home.
They might be planning to buy them a quaint villa or a modern townhouse – or maybe something more extravagant.
OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said the number of prestige homes available is “small”.
“While $10m-plus sales have increased post-Covid, they are still only a tiny part of the overall market. In the last 12 months, more than 120 residential properties with search prices of $10m-plus have been listed on OneRoof.
“Of those, just over 40 are still up for grabs, with several looking for more than $30m.”
He said the family won’t be in luck if they want to buy the home that’s shaping up to break New Zealand’s house price record – a mansion on Marine Parade, in Auckland’s Herne Bay.
That’s being sold by property developer Kurt Gibbons and comes with all the mod cons you’d expect from an expensive house. It is looking for a buyer with more than $40m to spend.
“Queenstown is another hot spot for luxury homes and has been enjoying a strong run of $5m-plus sale. However, compared to Australia, New Zealand trophy homes are bargain buys. In Sydney, one harbourside mansion has a price guide of A$200m [$220.43m].”
Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.
University of Auckland building B201 was transformed and that project won the team behind it a top Property Council award on November 8, 2024.