What to Do After Winning the Lottery

3 min readDec 28, 2024

Winning the lottery can be dangerous if you’re not careful. Here’s a step-by-step guide on what to do.

Immediate Steps After Winning the Lottery

1. Don’t Sign the Ticket

The first thing to do is not sign the ticket. This might sound odd, but signing the ticket can make it harder to stay anonymous. Instead, set up a trust to protect your assets and your identity. A trust can help you stay under the radar and avoid unwanted attention.

2. Keep It a Secret

Don’t tell anyone about your win. Keeping it a secret is crucial for your safety. You don’t want to become a target for robbery or worse. The fewer people who know, the better.

3. Hire the Right Experts

You’ll need a team of professionals to help you manage your newfound wealth. Hire these six experts ASAP:

Lawyer: To help with legal matters and setting up a trust.
Accountant: To manage your finances and taxes.
Tax Attorney: To navigate complex tax laws.
Security Team: To ensure your physical safety.
Financial Advisor: To help you invest wisely.
Estate Planning Attorney: To plan for the future and protect your assets.

4. Make Copies of the Ticket

Make digital and print copies of your ticket (front and back). Keep these copies in a safe place, like encrypted cloud storage and an external hard drive. This ensures you have a backup in case you lose the original.

5. Go Private

To protect your privacy and avoid unwanted attention, do these three things:

Delete All Social Media: This helps prevent strangers from finding you.
Change Your Address to a PO Box: This keeps your home address private.
Get a New Phone Number and Email Address: This adds an extra layer of privacy.

6. Set Up a Trust

A trust can protect your assets from lawsuits, creditors, and fraudsters. It also allows you to accept your winnings anonymously. Twelve states allow you to remain anonymous: Ohio, Texas, Kansas, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Maryland, Delaware, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Dakota, and South Carolina. Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont allow you to claim through a trust.

7. Take the Lump Sum Payment

If you win the lottery, take the lump sum payment instead of the annuity. The annuity option pays a fixed amount yearly, but it’s a bad investment. You can get a better return by investing the lump sum in an S&P 500 index fund. Most lotteries pay around 4.5% annual return, which is less than the historical average return of the S&P 500 index fund (11%).