12 things lotto winners won’t tell you

On the whole, lottery winners tend to keep a fairly low profile when it comes to discussing their newfound wealth. We asked past winners to weigh in on losing friends, becoming spectacles, and increasing the odds of striking it rich.

Whether they win $500 million or $1 million, about 70 percent of lotto winners lose or spend all the money in five years or less. In a spot of financial strife? Head here to find out how to get out of debt.

If available, always play the second-chance drawings. Some games require you to mail in your losing ticket. Others tell you to go online and register the ticket’s serial number. People either don’t know about the drawings or don’t take the time to enter, so your odds of winning are always better. Head here to find out how to win almost anything.

Do lotto winners still play the lottery? Absolutely. And we’re sure we’re going to win again. Don’t think you’ll ever win the lottery? FInd out the secrets of self-made millionaires here.

I had one friend who told me this sob story about how behind she was on her taxes, how they were going to take her house because she couldn’t pay. After she left, I got on my computer, looked up her tax records, and saw that she wasn’t behind. When I printed out that page and sent it to her, well, that was the end of our friendship.

If you win $6 million and find yourself in a room full of lotto winners who won $100 million or more, all of a sudden, you feel like the poor one. It’s all relative. But don’t feel too bummed – there are plenty of big lottery winners whose money (and luck) ran out. Here are 14 careers that could make you a millionaire by the time you retire.

After we won the lottery, we bought an eight-bedroom, seven-bath, 10,000-square-foot mansion because we could, and it sounded amazing. Well, now we’re selling the eight-bedroom, seven-bath mansion because it’s impractical for a family of four. If only we knew ahead of time that it was one of the 13 things rich people never waste their money on. Find out how to make good financial decisions here.

After we won and moved into an exclusive neighbourhood, we planned a huge party and invited all our neighbours. None of them came – they thought we didn’t earn our money.

It drives me nuts when people ask where I keep the money, how I spend it, and if I still have it. No one would dream of asking a CEO those questions. We understand you’re curious though, so here are the secrets rich people won’t tell you about their lives.

All lotto winners think they’re going to have the same friends and do the same things. But if you have $100 million and you want to fly to Hong Kong for the weekend, you need to either find someone who can afford to go with you or be willing to subsidise someone. And subsidising people gets old. Come to the end of the line with your friends? Here’s how to break up with them.