Thelotter Blog » Lottery Stories » How Lottery Winners Spend Their Money

How Lottery Winners Spend Their Money

Let’s be honest, at one point or another we’ve all fantasised about what we would do if we won a big jackpot playing the SuperEnalotto online or some other blockbuster lottery game. Maybe you’d treat yourself to a big new house or fast sports car, or go travelling around the world with your family. Maybe you’d choose to spend the money on others by giving to friends and charities. There are also those who find oddly unusual things to do with their new-found fortune. Below we’ve gathered some informative examples, as well as quite a few entertaining ones, of how lottery winners spend their money.

What do lottery winners do with their winnings?

In November 2019, the company that operates the UK National Lottery gathered lottery winners from the previous 25 years to find out the answer to a question we are all desperate to know: what do lottery winners do with their winnings?

According to Andy Carter, a Senior Winners’ Advisor at the lottery operator, “We find it takes six to nine months for winners to adapt to their new life.” He added, “There are both emotional and practical adjustments to be made before they truly relax into a millionaire lifestyle and there is no set rule book to follow.”

As expected, many of the lottery winners spent their money on new homes, new cars, and extravagant vacations. That much wasn’t very surprising, but among those stories a few pretty interesting tidbits stood out.

For example, Chery Brudenell won just under a million pounds in 1997 and used a surprsing amount of that money to travel around the world specifically to see her favourite singer, Robbie Williams, perform. According to Cheryl, in the two decades after her lottery win she’d gone to see Williams around 40 times in cities as spread out as Barcelona, Las Vegas, and Berlin.

Tom Naylor spent much of his 2001 £15.5 million win on cars; purchasing two Aston Martins, three Jaguars, and a Land Rover Discovery.

Even more such interesting stories can be found in our list of incredible lottery facts.

The question remains, outside a few eccentric winners, how do lottery winners spend their money in general?

In 2012, the UK’s lottery operator polled its thousands of new lottery millionaires and found out that the most popular use of lottery money was fairly sensible: property investments.

The second most popular use of the money was making investments to provide future income, and the third most popular was ensuring financial security for the winners’ children.

Spending money on personal luxuries, gifts, and holidays turned out to be much further down on the list than you might have expected.

While we’ve highlighted some of the most heartwarming lottery winner stories of those who chose to make a positive impact on the world with their big jackpot wins, our very favourite stories are of those who won big playing the lottery right here on TheLotter.

G.S.E. won £1.3 million playing EuroMillions online on 12 October 2021. When we asked what his plans were, he said: “Nothing exciting, just some wise movements, some investments for the future probably, or early retirement.”

On the other hand, after winning £1 million playing EuroMillions on TheLotter in 2019, H.S.L. told us, “My dream is to give back to society” and that he intended on donating to help disabled people in South Korea.

Behind the Scenes as Nataliia Receives Her Prize

Nataliia won US$1 million playing Mega Millions on 26 September 2017 and said the money would come very handy in paying off her three mortgages.

Have you changed your mind yet about the all-important question: how would you spend lottery winnings?

Most people never expect to win, so figuring out how to spend and protect your lottery win can be daunting. It’s no wonder then that so many lottery winners consult with attorneys, accountants, and financial planners before spending one cent, or even claiming their wins!

If the day does arrive when you become a big lottery winner, you’ll need to seriously consider your financial future. Hopefully, learning what other lottery winners have done has helped you see what potential paths are open to you, and now that you’ve had all this food for thought you’re ready to purchase lottery tickets online and see if you can put this knowledge to use.

Scroll to Top