A financial adviser has shared advice for Kiwis hoping to strike it big in tonight's record must-win $50 million Powerball jackpot.
It comes after Lotto Powerball's recent $43 million jackpot was not struck on Wednesday.
It is only the third time in Lotto NZ history that a Must Be Won draw of $50 million has been reached, and if won by a single ticket on Saturday night, it will be the largest prize ever won in New Zealand.
"We know one or more of our lucky Powerball players is guaranteed a win, so we're ready for a big draw night," Lotto NZ chief executive Jason Delamore said.
"We also know winning big has a ripple effect, not only for the family, friends and charitable causes of our winners, but also for the thousands of community groups across Aotearoa who receive lottery funding each year."
Forsyth Barr investment adviser Jeff Matthews told Breakfast if you strike it big, the first step is not to "go crazy" or shout your good fortune from the rooftops.
"Basically, don't panic and try to keep the news to yourself and close family members.
"If you blurt it out, you're going to get inundated with begging letters, calls and people that you haven't seen in 30 years who suddenly want to reconnect."
He said sometimes people have "crazy ideas about giving money away" which he said is not as easy as it seems.
"Try to build a team around you. Get a good lawyer, a good accountant and a good adviser and then you've got a team that can help you."
Matthews said there are numerous "horrendous" cases overseas in which big winners were photographed with their large cheques and ended up living "miserable lives wish[ing] they'd never won".
A financial adviser said one of the biggest mistakes people make after a large win is telling other people about it (Source: Breakfast)
"Even for people who've got money, $50 million is a life-changing event. If a person who has little money or no money or no experience, it's a recipe for disaster unless you have a support team around you," he said.
"One, how you handle the money and two, if you are going to give it away you need help in that."
Matthews said of the winners he has dealt with, $8 million was the largest amount and $2 million was the smallest. He said "most of them did the right thing".
"We did have some issues with one couple, in which the male partner wanted to spend money and buy sports cars, and the female partner didn't. So that was a bit of a tricky one having to split the money in half and have two different portfolios to fit both their needs."
He recommended people put the bulk of their winnings on a 6-month term deposit while they think about a long-term investment strategy.
"The temptation is to go crazy, but at the end of the day the money is there for you to enjoy, and family."
Last year, a Christchurch winner won a $33.5 million Lotto jackpot in June. The prize was made up of $33 million from Powerball and $500,000 from Lotto.
The biggest Powerball prize won in 2023 was $37.125 million won by a Paraparaumu couple.
The biggest ever jackpot won by a single ticket was in 2016 when one player won $44 million.
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