# You won the lottery. Describe the first 48 hours. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-describe-the-first-48-hours/742605 "2016-01-09T18:08:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-describe-the-first-48-hours/742605/81 "2016-02-20T17:21:34Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Just how shitty an investment is a lottery ticket? I know, you’re much more likely to be struck by lightning than to win the top prize; but on the other hand if your chances of winning are miniscule, so is the ticket price compared to the jackpot. But on the _other_ other hand, the odds being what they are, “in the long run” is so far in excess of a human lifetime that a statistical approach might have little meaning. But then of course there are the lesser prizes to consider. So overall, is the return on the lottery a modest fraction of the ticket cost, or is it an infinitesimally tiny fraction? Here in the UK, we have a National Lottery. There’s a £10 million (about $14.5 million) jackpot, but **only 50% of entry fees are returned as prizes**. So you can expect to lose half your stake on average. We also have Premium Bonds. These have a top prize of £1 million (about $1.45 million) and you keep your stake! (The prizes come from interest on the money invested.) So you can expect to not only keep your stake, but earn 1.35%. So lotteries are not an ‘investment’, but a gamble. Premium Bonds are an investment. ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-describe-the-first-48-hours/742605/82 "2016-02-21T15:15:56Z")
First off, wait for the shock to wear off. Then, I’d call my parents to tell them the great news. Tell them to keep it hush-hush. They’re good for it. After collecting the winnings cheque, contact a wealth management specialist, and make a plan for ensuring financial security for all involved. Call a meeting with the local “all involved”, meaning my wife, my parents, and my brothers and their wives. (another meeting would happen with my wife’s parents and her sister in their home town the next day or so.) Everyone mentioned above would get their current home and other debts paid in full, plus a significant share in the winnings. Hand them their cheques. Anyone not included in the “all involved” will have to accept the fact that they didn’t make the cut. Call work, tell them that _cough_cough\* I won’t be in on Monday. I’m calling in **RICH!** 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-describe-the-first-48-hours/742605/83 "2016-02-21T16:39:56Z")
I’d ring up Camelot to claim the win and to sort out the details of claiming it (you have to do so in person). I believe they have a regional centre in Glasgow in which case I’d be booking a first class train ticket. Otherwise they’ll likely be flying someone up to see me. I believe they also provide initial consultations with wealth management people, so I’d take them up on that. After that, I’d just wallow in it. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-won-the-lottery-describe-the-first-48-hours/742605.md?page=4)