You just won the lottery. Congrats. You're If you're lucky enough to survive all the lawsuits, betrayals, and murder attempts you're about to face, you might just live long enough to go bankrupt. If you want any chance of this working out, listen carefully. The first thing you need to do is absolutely nothing. Don't tell anyone. Don't quit your job or drop out of school. Don't buy a GT3 RS. And don't claim your prize yet. Most places will give you a few months to grab your check. Let's just say you want in California, which gives you 180 days. We're going to use this to our advantage, but in the meantime, it is absolutely and utterly imperative that you do not lose your ticket. This actually happened to seven people. Three of them didn't survive. Take your ticket and sign the back of it. Photocopy it. Take selfies with it. Record a video with it. Put it in a waterproof fireproof box. Then take that box to the bank and put it in a safety deposit box. Now that your ticket's hopefully secure, we need to use this time to prepare a few things. First, we need to hire a professional. I watched a few lottery news segments and found you this guy, Jason Kurland. He's a self-described lottery lawyer that charges 200k upfront and a 50k monthly fee. That might sound like a lot, but for legal protection, money management, and tax shielding, this is actually a steal. Plus, you won the $200 million Powerball. So, 200K is only 1,000th of your winnings. Now that you have Jason on your team, he's going to prepare your banking and investment accounts. And of course, he won't withdraw any money without your written consent. But in your very first meeting, he gives you some bad news. See, the first rule of winning the lottery is to always stay anonymous. But most places won't let you do this. California requires the public disclosure of the winner's full name. And no, a trust won't help you. You're getting fully doxed, and we need to prepare for that. But first, your phone rings. It's your boss telling you off for being late to work. Resist the urge to show up to the office with an AR-15 and instead put in a twoe notice. Leaving on bad terms would just give your co-workers an excuse to sue you. Now, back to concealing your identity. Delete your social media, get a new phone number, make a new email, and change your primary address to a PO box. This should help prevent strangers from tracking you down. But an even bigger threat might just be your own family. This guy right here won $20 million, and he used it wisely, starting up a successful gourmet popcorn shop and helping out his loved ones. 9 years later, he was murdered by his sister-in-law. If you don't keep your family in check, you might end up getting killed or even worse, divorced. So, here's the plan. You decide right now the exact amount you want to dedicate for family and make a trust for it. Once you fund this trust with a portion of your winnings, Jason will take it over. So, when your family members come begging, you could just tell them you're not in charge of the money. Let Jason be the bad guy. After a few weeks of preparation and sleepless nights, it's finally time for you to claim your ticket. But here is where a lot of people mess up. The lottery press conference is where you'll be presented with the world's largest stimulus check in front of a horde of reporters who are snapping and publishing nice, clean photos of your face right next to the reward for killing you. It's going to be an exciting event. I mean, look how happy this guy is. He just won a million dollars. He doesn't know it yet, but one month after taking this photo, he's going to mysteriously die of cyanide poisoning. No suspect was ever found. In unrelated news, these two women inherited all of his winnings. In completely unrelated news, this woman prepared the last meal he ate before he died. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that the press conference might not be optimal for you. Luckily, there are some genius tactics you can use to reduce its potential harm. Renting a car will stop people from tracking your license plate. Wearing a disguise will lower your profile as long as it's not ridiculous enough to go viral. But the smartest way to handle your press conference is by not going. You're not required to show up for your media appearance. The massive check with your name on it will still get put on the news. You just won't be in the shot. Instead, you'll go to the lottery office without any cameras and quietly grab your normalsiz check. But as you hold the piece of paper that's about to change your life, the first thing you'll notice is that the amount is a lot lower than you expected. See, there are two ways to claim your prize when you win the lottery. If you want the full advertised amount, you need to take the annuity, which means your prize gets paid out over the course of 29 years. But you took your prize in the more popular lump sum where you get all the money at once. But it'll be just around half of the total jackpot. On top of that, since you won in the US, you're getting taxed. But don't worry about this because the authorities have already withheld all the taxes you owe from your check. Just kidding. They've withheld some of your taxes, but way less than what you actually owe them. Luckily, Jason has an accountant on his team who can guide you through the how much do you owe the government debt trap. So, after factoring in the lumpsum and taxes, your jackpot has gone from 200 million to a measly 70. I guess it'll have to do. But before you even cash your check, your phone starts blowing up. All of the friends and family that have your phone number are asking if you're the mysterious winner. Remember, the public only has your name, but not your face. You can tell some people you really trust, but be careful. Maybe even use an NDA. Now, it's finally time to make your deposit. After your check settles, you'll see more money in your bank account than you even thought was possible. Hopefully, you're using a larger bank and not a credit union where your checking account would probably be worth more than all of their assets combined. But even with a massive institution holding your money, you still have a problem. Only 250,000 of your dollars are insured. But how risky actually is this? Well, ever since 2008, uninsured depositors only lost money in 6% of US bank failures. and large banks like Chase or Wells Fargo are designated as systemically important financial institutions. Aka, they have the US government as their sugar daddy. So, it would take a lot for them to go under. Chances are, you'll be fine. But still, you should move this money somewhere else. It's time to hit up Jason to fund your trusts and investments. Let's give him 40 million to manage for you. And with a conservative 6% return, this will be making you 200k a month. You could put 10 million to your family trust, and now you have $20 million in pure spending power. So, let's get down to business. First, you need a new house. I say go with this $10 million LA mansion. It's got a master bedroom where you'll wake up to beautiful ocean views, a 500 bottle wine celler, an infinity pool, and a movie theater. But one thing's missing. That's better. Any toy you ever wanted is now yours. Your dream watch, your dream fit, your dream grocery haul. Being a lottery winner is awesome. You're also starting to realize why rich people live longer than poor people. Not only can you now afford any medical procedures you want, but you even have a private doctor. You pay them 20k a year to be on call for whatever you need. You also get a celebrity fitness trainer for 300 bucks a session and of course a private chef to keep your diet perfect. But even more important than this is your total lack of stress. Not having to worry about bills, work or housing. And having the free time to hang out with friends or take a midday nap has vastly improved your overall well-being. But then you get a call from Jason that changes everything. See, he helped you buy your house using a trust to keep you anonymous. But internet detectives have somehow managed to trace the ownership back to you. On top of that, news reporters have been silently taking stalker shots of you on your daily routine. And all of a sudden, your face and your address are front page news. Your phone immediately starts blowing up. Except this time, it's not just your friends and family. It's strangers. You start getting hundreds of letters in the mail. People are telling you their life stories. How all they need is 10 grand, 5 grand. Someone even shows up to your house. I think it's time for you to hire some bodyguards before things start getting worse. And by worse, I mean you might get killed. It's kind of a right of passage for lottery winners. This guy won 30 mil, then got buried in his business partner's backyard. He won the Brazilian lottery, then got kidnapped while on a walk. His house got broken into and he was shot to death in front of his kids. But you have one advantage over all these unlucky winners. Your location. Most of these tragic fates happened in not so great neighborhoods. You, on the other hand, are in a $10 million LA mansion surrounded by people who are familiar with money. Hopefully, this will protect you from any real danger and allow you to peacefully live the high life. But what your mansion can't hide you from are your relationships. Friends are going to come out of the woodwork. Family that they never knew they had. Everyone's going to be asking for handouts. Friends, I lost all my just about all my friends from New York. When you win, everybody, you know, thinks they won, too. You have to manage to say no to these people. It's going to make you feel guilty, but the truth is, if you gave everyone money that asked for it, you wouldn't have anything left. Your mansion's upkeep cost you 50k a month. Maintenance for your car is an average yearly salary. Your private chef, your trainer, your doctor, your bodyguards, arowan, equinox, rich person, parties, woman. Across everything, your monthly expenses are clearing six figures. But even worse than the broke people begging you for money are the rich people begging you for money. They call themselves financial adviserss. They try to hypnotize you with confusing financial linguistics until you've signed away 1% of your portfolio for the privilege of underperforming the market. Don't listen to them. Certainly don't listen to people pitching you their genius business ideas. All of these opportunists are starting to make you feel like a walking ATM. When you win the lottery, people won't respect you like they do other rich people because you didn't really earn your money. You just experienced a statistical glitch. This is where you begin to have a bit of an identity crisis. All you are and all you're known as is the guy that got lucky. When you meet new people, it's often people will say, "Well, what do you do?" Especially my circle of people, most people were working or trying to put themselves through college and oh, I just won the lottery and I just sit around. That's not something that I wanted to say. One day, as you're contemplating the meaning of life, a mysterious man walks up to you, and he's here to inform you that you're being sued. A random guy you've never seen in your life is claiming that he bought your ticket, and he's coming for all of your winnings. He's going to pay for I'm the winner. God took me to that gas station. I just wanted to ask, man, is there any truth to these claims about the stolen ticket? Luckily, you're going to be fine because you have legal protection from our boy, Jason. Jason? A New York attorney known as the lottery lawyer is now charged with extorting lottery winners in a $17 million scheme. Jason helped a lot. He was the first guy I called. We're going to have a lot of fun with this. Jason Kurland, along with three others now facing charges ranging from wire fraud to moneyaundering. Well, in hindsight, giving this guy access to our finances, was a pretty stupid decision and totally stole around $10 million from you. He's obviously going to prison, but that's money you're not getting back. But hey, at least you have a mansion to cry in. 30,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes because of a wildfire tearing through wealthy suburbs of Los Angeles. Among the thousands of people in Southern California who have lost homes in the wildfires is the winner of the biggest lottery jackpot in history. Just when you think things can't get any worse, you suffer the same fate as $2 billion Powerball winner Edwin Castro. And for some reason, a large amount of lottery winners. Your multi-million dollar house burns to the ground. It seems like your luck has run out. You're getting sued. You've been robbed of millions. And your home is gone. Your misfortune is, of course, front page news. Everyone loves a good downfall. And you, you've become just another lottery failure. Or have you? Some sources claim that 70% of lottery winners go bankrupt. Others say that it's one in three. Which is it? The correct answer is neither. Both of those statistics have been completely debunked. Winning the lottery tends to get painted as a curse. But in reality, it turns out that stumbling into millions of dollars is actually pretty great. Real studies have shown that lottery winners are healthier and live longer. They have a lower chance of being overweight. They have higher long-term life satisfaction. They don't get socially isolated. Instead, they spend more time with friends. One study found that in a 5-year time span, only 5 1.5% of observed lottery winners went bankrupt. And these were even based on smaller wins. You're actually at a higher risk of bankruptcy if your neighbor wins the lottery. Most lottery winners don't get assassinated. Most lottery winners don't go broke. Most lottery winners get freedom, health, and happiness. So, when you win the lottery, here are the final steps you need to take. Fire Jason Kurland. Cash that home insurance check. Win your lawsuit. Move somewhere far away. and relax because you were never Most lottery winners aren't, but maybe it just makes us feel better if we think they are.