Is it too much? UK EuroMillions ticket-holder wins £111.7m

If I won that amount, I'd definitely help out my family and close friends with at least a million each. Then I'd disappear into the sunset for a while and let everyone enjoy it individually before coming back and driving my what colour is your Bugatti down the local high street, roof down and everything in the pouring rain.
 
I used to loosely work with someone who won £100m+ on the lottery and frankly it made their life miserable.

Their old friends just tried to use them, and they didn't fit in with people of comparable wealth.

They ended up with lots of nice cars, nice houses, and totally isolated.
I've always said winning obscene amounts will ruin you not make you happy. People who earned that wealth, form those circles for years and fit in.

Me, I'd be dead in a week but I'd make sure the family are suitably covered and the rest give to dozens of local charities that could and would do more with that money than me buying a load of cars and houses.
 
The difference is Travolta and others are earning 10’s of millions per year from passive income (royalties in their cases) on top of their existing massive pile of money which is also generating investment income. They are also generating other income from new firms and songs/tours every now and then too. In other words, they are considerably richer than a lottery winter with £180m.

With a lottery winner it’s basically once and done, you’ve got what you’ve got and you aren’t getting any more. A huge number of lottery winners blow their entire winnings far faster than they ever imagined because they think they have enough to live a Taylor Swift lifestyle while not realising those celebrities are much more wealthy than them due to their active and passive incomes.

£1m isn’t much backup money either but I guess it depends how old you are. Once you get used to the jet set lifestyle, reigning it back in is difficult. Just look at how many sports starts are going bankrupt in retirement.

Inflation is also the enemy and most the interest you get off your back up money will need to be reinvested just to maintain its value.

A middle earner winning £1m wouldn’t need to worry about money again but they couldn’t expect a material change to their lifestyle unless they were well into their 50’s let alone even think about retiring. At my age (30s), couple of middle earners would probably need at least £3m before they could even consider it.

Who says a lottery winner couldn't use that 180 million to generate massive passive income also?

Using Travolta as an example he has 200 million net worth yet he doesn't have that liquid. Having 180 million liquid cash is far greater with the possibilities which you can use it for.
 
Last edited:
Who says a lottery winner couldn't use that 180 million to generate massive passive income also?

Using Travolta as an example he has 200 million net worth yet he doesn't have that liquid. Having 180 million liquid cash is far greater with the possibilities which you can use it for.
Because it’s not the same.

His net worth is tied up in things which historically have generated substantial returns on investment - more than cash would return because a lot of it is tied to his celebrity.

If you had 180m in cash, you are not going to be getting the same level of return. In effect you are giving people your money to generate even bigger returns and they are then giving a small slice of that action.

You also missed the huge point that the likes of Travolta is still working. They use their celebrity to generate income on top of what their assets are generating. Whenever people with celebrity go anywhere they expect to be paid, and put up for free. They are also showered in ‘stuff’ by brands, not only do they get the ‘stuff’ for free they are often paid to make public appearances with it.

That’s how they can afford the cash burn of owning a private jet personally.

A nobody with £180m is still a nobody and nobody is giving you a dime just because you have £180m in the bank.
 
Because it’s not the same.

His net worth is tied up in things which historically have generated substantial returns on investment - more than cash would return because a lot of it is tied to his celebrity.

If you had 180m in cash, you are not going to be getting the same level of return. In effect you are giving people your money to generate even bigger returns and they are then giving a small slice of that action.

You also missed the huge point that the likes of Travolta is still working. They use their celebrity to generate income on top of what their assets are generating. Whenever people with celebrity go anywhere they expect to be paid, and put up for free. They are also showered in ‘stuff’ by brands, not only do they get the ‘stuff’ for free they are often paid to make public appearances with it.

That’s how they can afford the cash burn of owning a private jet personally.

A nobody with £180m is still a nobody and nobody is giving you a dime just because you have £180m in the bank.

You are making the incorrect assumption that someone with 180 million couldn't invest it better than someone like Travolta which is just plain wrong.
 
Because it’s not the same.

His net worth is tied up in things which historically have generated substantial returns on investment - more than cash would return because a lot of it is tied to his celebrity.

If you had 180m in cash, you are not going to be getting the same level of return. In effect you are giving people your money to generate even bigger returns and they are then giving a small slice of that action.

You also missed the huge point that the likes of Travolta is still working. They use their celebrity to generate income on top of what their assets are generating. Whenever people with celebrity go anywhere they expect to be paid, and put up for free. They are also showered in ‘stuff’ by brands, not only do they get the ‘stuff’ for free they are often paid to make public appearances with it.

That’s how they can afford the cash burn of owning a private jet personally.

A nobody with £180m is still a nobody and nobody is giving you a dime just because you have £180m in the bank.
You wouldn't keep it as cash. You'd get it working in products that return far higher than that over the long term. Someone with that much could easily put most of it away to generate a very good income and still easily buy a jet.
 
The difference is Travolta and others are earning 10’s of millions per year from passive income (royalties in their cases) on top of their existing massive pile of money which is also generating investment income.

Agreed. The thing to do if you're young is look on these sorts of wins as funds that generate an income. The current £180M jackpot should generate around £4M after inflation is taken into account. That's before tax. You then work with what you can do with that £4M per year. If you spend more than that you reduce the funds generated and maybe that's okay if you're older.
 
Agreed. The thing to do if you're young is look on these sorts of wins as funds that generate an income. The current £180M jackpot should generate around £4M after inflation is taken into account. That's before tax. You then work with what you can do with that £4M per year. If you spend more than that you reduce the funds generated and maybe that's okay if you're older.
£4m a year on £185m, remind me to never ask you for investment advice :cry: :p
 
Agreed. The thing to do if you're young is look on these sorts of wins as funds that generate an income. The current £180M jackpot should generate around £4M after inflation is taken into account. That's before tax. You then work with what you can do with that £4M per year. If you spend more than that you reduce the funds generated and maybe that's okay if you're older.
If historical trends continue you should be able to do way better than that. E.g. S&P 500 average return over last 50 years adjusted for inflation is 7%.
 
Income is around 40k on a million isn't it? How much do people really need...

It depends is you want to help out family/friends.

I had always thought that, e.g. if it was a £100m jackpot making, 100 millionaires would be better than 1 person getting £100m but someone I know then said they would prefer to get the £100m as then they can decide who and how much gets shared out to friends and family whereas it won't go as far as only having £1m and I suppose that is kinda reasonable - I could help out lots of family/friends/charities etc (of my choosing) with £100m but I couldn't do anywhere near as much to these "3rd parties" with only £1m.


EDIT: In all honesty? £250k would do me. Pays the mortgage and leaves enough to help out people with £10k or so whilst you have a nice little nest-egg left to make life just that little bit easier.
 
Last edited:
You are making the incorrect assumption that someone with 180 million couldn't invest it better than someone like Travolta which is just plain wrong.
I’m not, I’m pointing out that someone Travolta is still working and earning new money on top of the passive income from his old money to pay for his toys.

On the other hand a lottery winner will almost certainly be ‘retired’, even if they didn’t, they don’t earn £Xm/year from their job like an A-list Hollywood actor does.

His net worth is probably ‘only’ £200m because he runs a private jet. It’s not the £200m enables him to run a private jet.

E.g he spends an absolute **** load of money on it every year because that’s his expensive hobby not because it’s cheaper than chartering.

Most commercial airports have private VIP lanes which they use for their own security and because it massively disrupts operations when an A lister joins the security line with the ‘normal’ people.
 
Back
Top Bottom