If you are looking into the fun of playing the lottery, you should probably prepare yourself for the impossible chance that you find the jackpot. Yes, we know, that is a dream of every person on this planet and it is only a dream, but there is still a small chance of it happening. Take for example the hundreds of people who have won jackpots of over one hundred million US dollars.
But, why you should prepare yourself in any way when you receive so much money? You will just get the money and you can do whatever you want with it, right? Well, you could do that, but taking some time to ensure that everything will go according to plan is worth it. You do not something to happen along the way and result in losing your money or something even worse.
We have made a list of the things you should do before and after you have claimed your prize and also the stories of the people who received the biggest lottery jackpots.
Keep your eyes on the prize
The reward is the money, but the true prize is the ticket right there in your pocket. Before you get the cash, it is very important that you make sure that it is always protected. Make a recording of the event, make a few genuine copies, save the proof of purchase on a cloud server or maybe even consider getting a safe to store it. The safest option would probably be to visit a bank where they will safe-keep it until you request it back.
Once you have made sure that nothing can happen to your ticket and that it will stay safe throughout the days while you are planning what you are going to do next, you can finally contact the authorities that handle the lottery winners.
You do not have to do everything in a single day as you probably will have a couple of months or even more time to claim your prize. So use these days to let off some steam and stress and plan everything properly.
You can also consider playing lottery games using magayo Lotto software to help you improve your chances of winning.
Do not quit on everything the moment you find out you won
This is a mistake that a lot of jackpot winners have done in the past. Luckily for you, the existence of these kinds of winners will help you to do the right moves after you win the lottery. Do not follow their steps. The first thing you should avoid doing is quitting your job as soon as you find out.
First, ensure that you are truly the winner, make sure that you did not mix up the numbers or something. Contact the lottery authorities and find out whether you can pick up the money you won.
It is important that you keep a slow pace because you could either be easily replaced or your job, or you could let other people find out about your luck. And until you get the money, you do not want anyone to know about what kind of a ticket you have.
Consult with a professional
If you are not a financial expert or a tax lawyer then you should probably think about hiring a professional who will be able to handle this kind of a change in your financial situation. I mean, you can afford it after such a jackpot, so why not?
Not only will they help you handle your money they can also advise you what you should do with the money. Things like where to store it, whether you should consider multiple locations to store it, what to invest it, how much to spend, and so on.
Top 5 biggest lottery jackpots
Now that you know the most important steps about what you should do after winning such a huge amount of money, it is time to tell you about the different people who have also gone through such an experience.
Powerball – $1.5 Billion
This is probably the world’s biggest prize ever won by a lottery jackpot. It was held in 2016 and the winners were drawn on January 13th. The prize of 1.5 billion was not given to a single person, but it was actually shared between three tickets.
The first ticket was bought by Lisa and John Robinson who lived in Tennessee. As you know, everyone who wins a jackpot has the option to either take the lump sum or take a series of payments throughout the years. John and Lisa decided to take the lump sum.
Both the second ticket winner Maureen Smith and the third ticket winner Marvin and Mae Acosta decided to take the lump sum of over 300 million US dollars.
Powerball – $750 Million
This lottery was held in 2017 and the winner was drawn in August. This time around there was only just one winner. Mavis L. Wanczyk from Massachusetts got her winning ticket and instantly quit her job and then decided to take the lump sum which was somewhere around $500 million.
Mega Millions – $650 Million
This winner drawing of this lottery was held in March 2012. Mega Millions is one of the more famous lottery jackpots that offers one of the biggest prizes reaching hundreds of millions.
Luckily for Merle and Patricia Butler from Illinois, they got the winning ticket and managed to go home with a lump sum of $200 million.
The second ticket winner and the third winner decided to stay anonymous.
Mega Millions – $650 Million
This lottery was held in 2013 and was split between two winners. Both of them decided to go with the lump sum of $170 million.
Powerball – $590 Million
This was at the time the biggest jackpot to ever be one by a single contestant. She also decided to take the lump sum and went home with $370 million.
