It was my good fortune the other day, to run across an article on travelling to beautiful and exotic places around the world. It reminded me of a conversation I had a year or two in the past with a major Lottoland winner. His newly found wealth was going to allow him to live his dreams.
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When you ask people today what they will do with a windfall of over a million, you may be surprised at the answers you get. To be sure, the top answers have to do with the following:
- Paying off debt
- Student loans for younger people
- Mortgages for older people
- Credit cards for all people
- Home expenses
- Buying a home for younger people
- Repairing a home for mature adults
- Family
- Having children for younger people
- Assisting seniors
- Helping extended family with needs
- College expenses for future generations
- Trust funds
- Investing for the future
- Traveling to places they have never been
- Buying Property
- Some wanted first property or to pay for some property they were buying
- Some wanted to buy additional property as investments or as vacation locations
- Note: some wanted to improve or expand current property
Material possessions
Of course, it is natural to spend money when you come into money. The July 28, 2021 issue of the Droitwich Standard published a list of material items that lottery winners normally purchase first when they collect their winnings. They are:
- Travel Tickets
- Property
- Elegant Champagne Set
- Yacht Float (and a pool to float it in)
- Classic 600-Bottle Wine Cellar
- The Oracle Touch Espresso Maker
- A Hot Tub
- Grandview Barrel Sauna
- A New Car
- Eames’ Lounge Chair and Ottoman
As you can see, most of these are impulse buys, and not things that are practical. For example, the wine cellar would be a wiser purchase once you purchased a home that is designed for a wine cellar, and once that it would fit in cosmetically.
Silent Givers
There are people who come into large sums of money that make huge impacts on the world and the general public rarely hear about them. There are wonderful people who felt their luck should benefit more than just them. One couple funded the purchase of much-needed hospital equipment for the hospital where the winner worked as a nurse and even sold their personal home to a young couple just starting out at a discount. A woman in Canada won a lottery that would pay her a weekly salary for the rest of her life. Instead, she quit her job and began a charity for children. Her weekly payments allow children to live a good life, above the lives of charity they would have faced. Some have dedicated their winnings to the church. Click here to read these and other heartwarming stories.
True Ambition
At some point, the lottery winner must stop and decide what they want to do. They enjoyed their windfall arrival. They let the moment sweep them away. Splurged a little, travelled a little, and let the fame and fortune wash over them. Now friends and family are asking for money for “good causes”. Communities have special needs. Strangers are standing, with hat-in-hand asking them to be their saviour. Their newly found wealth sometimes feels like a curse. Then, they remember. They remember, yester-year. They remember when they said, “If I ever win the lottery, I am going to live somewhere warm. I am going to open a tee-shirt shop on the beach.” They remember when they said, “I will never work a job that makes me forget to smile when I get up every day.” The money to live that way is here, where did those dreams go?
Now is the time
Every person who wins or gets a large amount of unexpected money has to face their ambition. Do you really want to live that life you dreamed about? If you do, start planning out your life. If you do not, it is time to make some new dreams. The money you have can be invested in your new ambition, or it can be used to make an old ambition come true. Of course, as an adult. You know You will need to seek the help of professional financial advisors to assist you. Become that person of ambition that you want to be.
You were given a great gift when you were handed the financial means to achieve your financial goals. Everyone is not given that chance. But, with great gifts come great responsibilities. So plan wisely. No one lives in a vacuum. The way you choose to live affects everyone in your world. Be smart, and make good choices.
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