How winning the record $150 million lotto could make your life worse
Australians picking up the tickets for tomorrow’s Powerball are in for a chance to win the country’s biggest ever lottery prize of $150 million.
Eight weeks without a division one winner has seen the national prize climb from $100 million.
“If one single entry takes home the entire $150 million jackpot next week, needless to say, it would be the biggest Australian lottery prize ever won by a single entry,” said The Lott spokeswoman Bronwyn Spencer.
Over the past year the prize has continued to break records, from $100 million in August 2018 to $107 million in January and then $110 million in July.
The odds of winning the division one prize on Thursday are one in 134,490,400.
While the prospect of hitting the jackpot may be tempting, financial planner David Sharpe warned that it might come with some pitfalls.
“Money might not change you, but it certainly can change the relationship you have with others,” Sharpe told the ABC.
He said sudden wealth could jeopardise the winner’s relationships with the people around them.
“Receiving large amounts of money can actually cause a lot of loneliness and social isolation … You might now be able to afford to have five-star dinners and take holidays, and your friends and family may not be able to.”
Lotto winner Callie Rogers, who gained $4.5 million when she was 16 years old, said the money was a curse in disguise.
“You have people begging for money, friends who weren't friends before wanting to be your friends. It was quite scary,” Rogers told Today.
"A lot of people who were borrowing money never paid me back, and I think at the time I was so desperate for everybody to like me, I would literally help anybody out.”
According to Sharpe, international research showed that people who came into money quickly tend to lose it just as fast.
He said there are two ways lottery winners could burn through their windfall: the first is through “extravagant or exorbitant expenses” such as “race cars or boats”, and the second is through ill-thought investments.
“They can quickly turn millions of dollars into zero,” he said.
“There’s an elegance to keeping things simple, that would be the first thing that I would suggest to people, and then get some expert independent advice to help make some smart decisions.”
Sharpe also advised winners to avoid quitting jobs immediately and consider how they want their retirement to look like.
“It depends on how much you want to spend and how old you are when you choose to retire. So how much you need is going to change depending on the person.”