How to manage sudden wealth as $70M Lotto Max jackpot looms

A Canadian record of $117 million in total prize money is within reach for participants in Tuesday’s Lotto Max draw, according to Saskatchewan Lotteries.

The draw includes a $70-million jackpot and an estimated 47 $1-million additional prizes.

Kevin Hegedus, a portfolio manager with PWM Private Wealth Counsel, laid out some simple ground rules to help grow that wealth and help the hopeful winner avoid becoming the latest lottery horror story of free spending.

“Make a game plan and find out what the money is made for,” Hegedus said.

“Is it made for creating a more fulfilling life? Is it meant to make an impact? More importantly, I think you want to make sure that money lasts for your lifetime and maybe (those of) your kids and your grandkids.”

Hegedus recommends taking time and properly planning the future before even claiming the prize money. He suggested meeting with family members, a lawyer and a financial adviser to map out each step to not only secure the prize money, but to also ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

After that, Hegedus advises abstaining from any big purchases or commitments.

“A lot of times, someone is fuelled with adrenaline or they’re getting influenced from friends or family,” he said. “I probably wouldn’t tell anyone I won the money for maybe a couple of weeks or a month or so until I got the proper perspective.

“This is a game-changer.”

Another piece of advice absent from previous lottery winners spending their way to bankruptcy is straying away from the advice of family and friends.

“Someone wants to open up a restaurant or a nightclub — we’ve all heard these stories before. There’s a celebrity that gets involved and then next thing you know it’s $1 million or $2 million or $5 million and then you end up losing it,” he said.

“The worst thing you could do is invest in someone else’s harebrained idea.”

Something as simple as putting a portion of the money into a bank account or a term deposit could produce a two per cent rate of return to provide enough income to live off for the rest of a person’s life, according to Hegedus.

Coupled with other forms of investment like equity markets could see those return rate percentages sharply rise.

The previous record lottery was a Lotto Max draw in 2018 when the jackpot was capped at $60 million and there were 56 “maxmillions,” totalling $116 million.

The jackpot Tuesday would beat out the $60-million jackpot awarded to a winner in Neville in August of 2016.

Another reality for a person winning is trying to avoid the popularity that comes with sudden wealth.

Hegedus said the prospective winner might want to go unlisted and delete personal contact information like email addresses, phone numbers and social media accounts to remain as discreet as possible.

“It’s difficult to do. You might want to move,” Hegedus said.

“You want to fly under the radar for a while because you’ll be amazed at how many cousins come out of the woodwork that you didn’t know you had. Those are the types of things that (require you to) keep a clear and level head.”