Winning the Lotto

We moved house at the beginning of the year to a semi rural area and over the summer have been exploring some of the lanes nearby. Down a couple of them we came across two huge properties both totally different. One is designed like French Chateau the other is extremely modern and cubic ( I once saw something similar on Grand Designs and was German design). Both are gated properties. Chatting to dog walkers we've discovered both owners won the lottery (not at the same time) in the last 20 years and knocked down existing properties to build. One winner bought all the land around when it came up for sale to stop any possible development. Neither have children. I do wonder if they are happy living in seclusion behind the gates.

I know this conversation is an old one, but still interesting to read.
I would help my children and grandchildren, then siblings and wider family members, then friends and their children.
That would use up quite a lot, but there are many deserving cases.
Then it would be favourite charities and my church.Any left?
For the neighbourhood.Of course, I would keep some back for ourselves, but we do not need a great deal these days.

I would hesitate very much to even tell my family and friends if we won that kind of money ever. (Not that we will as we don't buy lottery tickets.)

Human nature being what it is it is sadly likely that if you did start giving your winnings away, those you gave money to would come back asking for more, or complain that you had given one of their sisters or brothers a like amount.

So if you win the lottery, use whatever amount you want, on doing the things you want, keep a sensible amount in reserve then either make a family trust, or draw up a will stating the the residue of your winnings (if any) when you die is to be distrbuted equally between x y and z.

This way, at least you won't have to listen to their complaints.

DoraMarr your answer made me smile. I hope you win!

I thought I was going mad when I saw a post from me that I couldn't remember writing. It was over 2 years ago!

Best to let as few people as possible know. Help the ones you love and just enjoy life quietly.

Pay off my daughters mortgage ….pay off my son in laws mortgage …. give my son money to buy a house ( he rents ) …. but I would not give them enough so they would never have to work…..I think work is what grounds us…..and having too much time to indulge yourself, is self destructive! Also an amount to my godson, as I’ve never ‘been there’ for him …me being atheist and him catholic! I’d then buy myself a bungalow with big garden and hire a gardener…. and lastly…I’d have my husband moved to a better care home WITH proper tv( sky) so he could watch his beloved football all day if he wished…..and not be forced to watch cooking/gardening/house DIY progs!!!
In fact ….he’s the first one I’d sort out …. no money spared!!

I would live in a deluxe cabin on a cruise ship seeing the world in style, till the money ran out. But I would pay off my children's mortgages, give them a hefty lump sum and buy them nicer homes first.

I’d share with my immediate family, donate to charity and travel in comfort. All the usual things…. and I’ve have the heating on full blast this winter ?

My children would get at least 1 million each, and the grandchildren would get a large sum. I’d buy a property overlooking the sea. Then I would set up a charity fund. I would mainly donate to small charities, and would make the application process as easy as possible. Imagine being able to just help people and charities! I work for a tiny charity, and fundraising is one of my jobs. The process is long winded and difficult, so I’d love to make it easy for the charities. And then I’d have money for holidays etc. I’d probably give my sister and brother a large sum, and my two nieces, especially as one of them is a single Mum in America, and I bet she could use it.

All that said, £170 million is a ridiculous amount of money, so I would do my best to use it to help individuals in need. I’d do it through local charities so that I didn’t get ripped off.

A lot won't be going on family as there's only my sister and I left. Some friends would be given share, but a lot would go to charities, especially local rescue centres and guide dogs.
As long as I could buy a house by the sea, fill it with dogs and live a very comfortable life I think I'd be really happy.

Have to say concern about the huge prizes makes me only go in the little aka $5,000,000 AUD ones or less.
I couldn't imagine the headaches of winning anything bigger.

If I won that much I would give family a million each with the warning that that was all they get! Pay for my DS & DDiL’s house & wait for them to decide if they wanted another bigger one which I would obviously pay for. Buy myself a nearby bungalow for my last few years & make sure my friends were suitably sorted. Then all the charities that I would like to support that a lot of people dont even know about would be given a lot. My Kids could have the Animal Sanctuary that they have talked about for years. Leave it all to them in a waterproof will for when I die as they deserve it having been my rock & support forever in my DS’s case!

I think too much money may wreck the family. But I'd like to see the kids mortgage free while still doing something worthwhile with their lives. My husband and I would give up work instantly and have a home by the sea. ?

This is a favourite fantasy and I've had this conversation with family members and guess what? Even the fantasy of imaginary millions causes disagreement.

The main problem is that they wouldn't do the same thing that I'd do, and they think I'm wrong to be so generous. With such a large sum I'd like to give say, a £1m to siblings whether or not we're close or see them often or hardly at all.

If I had millions (and gave a million to them) who cares what I'd do with it? I'd give a fair amount to charities which I support. I'd want to give all donations anonymously to family, friends, etc, but have no idea how to go about that anyway. The problem is hardly likely to occur as my occasional ticket purchase rarely has one winning number, let alone six.

Bugger ! Must start looking at the date on threads - I've just spent over ten minutes reading this

Old thread

It’s an obscene amount of money, in my opinion - I don’t gamble, other than a local hospice lottery - won a fiver once.
To win the Euromillions, I’d see the family ok, then invest the rest and make it a job to give most of it away - even the pathetic rates of interest would give big returns, so big projects, but I’d help (anonymously) the small ones, where a small local charity is struggling to raise a few thousand pounds, or an individual needs an aid they can’t afford.

Reported

Reported

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

I don’t know how it works with Euromillions, but the top prizes seem obscene, and I’m sure lives have been ruined for some of the people winning. If they have a good causes fund like our national lottery, I’d leave £167 million of the £170 million in that and share the other £3 million with the family. It’s lovely to have a windfall, but I don’t think it does anyone any favours to be given so much they don’t have to work.

I do play the national lottery as part of a family syndicate, just one entry per draw. So if I win my close family will have won too and it’s unlikely to be a huge amount.

I am agreeing with Notanan2 again today .

I wouldn't want people to know I had hundreds of millions - it would totally change everything, whether I wanted it to or not, so I approve of the white lie idea. I might extend it to saying that I had a fixed sum to share amongst the family, and would give it to my siblings - they could decide how to share it amongst their own children, as I wouldn't want to get involved in any disputes. The only strings attached would be that they would have to agree to keep the source of the money secret - otherwise it would be up to them what they did with it.

I would love a house with a sea view, and I would like to fund an Arts Centre in my home town, and give performance and exhibition space to up and coming artists of all types. I would also offer sponsorship to local poets, artists and musicians - something like the fees for an MA and a salary for five years after graduation so that they could concentrate on their art without worrying about the rent.

I wouldn't give massive sums to my children, as I think it would stop them from finding out who they are and what they want from life. They would get the lot when I go, and in the meantime I would give them a monthly income that would replace a reasonable but not wildly extravagant salary (£40 or £50k a year?), so they could decide whether or not to work, but not have enough to swan about on yachts or bath in champagne if they decided not to. I wouldn't tell them that they had riches in store either, unless something huge happened and they really needed to know.

After that, I would like to do something for the homeless, but I would have to take advice, as I know how easy it would be to do more harm than good.

Mr L & I were talking about this the other day. Only theoretical as we don't play the Lottery. We were both agreed that such a huge amount of money would be really disruptive to the entire family and we didn't have much of a clue how we would spend it, but definitely wouldn't tell them. We both enjoyed the fantasy of a holiday home by the sea that the whole family could benefit from. We had a great laugh at how shocked they would be when they finally inherited the whole lot

A massive amount like that is too much. If I were to win say £10 million, I'd buy a new house, give some to each of my 2 sons so that they could have a new house, we'd all have new cars, and I'd put some in trust for my 2 granddaughters. I would give so much to animal and children's' charities too.