Winning the Lotto can have its downsides. Photo / Mike Scott
A bestselling personal finance author says the best strategy to avoid a financial spiral after coming into a large sum of money is to do nothing - for at least a year.
"Don't tell anyone, don't quit your job, don't buy a new house," author and Cooking the Books podcast host Frances Cook tells the Front Page podcast.
"Just sit with it for a year and let yourself adjust to the new situation. A huge windfall does throw your life into the air."
She says it's important not to get swept up in the emotion of a big windfall and actually give your mind time to calm into a rational state again.
Her comments come after the fascinating story of Mark Lipsham, a Lotto winner who saw millions drained out of his bank account in the years following his big win.
Rather than dismissing this tale as just another example of the adage featuring a fool and his money, Cook says that we should instead view it as a cautionary tale for anyone who receives a large windfall - be it from the Lotto, an inheritance or a successful business deal.
"It's a classic case of sudden money," says Cook.
"People might think this would never happen to them, but an inheritance actually has a very similar effect. A bunch of cash dropping out of the sky and into your life sounds great in theory ... but it turns out to be paralysing for a lot of people."
Cook says those in line for a hefty inheritance also have the added risk of relying on that money to either get them out of debt or onto the property ladder - and this can have a detrimental impact if the inheritance isn't quite as life-changing as expected.
"You might think you have quite a lot coming, but then the other person's finances aren't quite what you thought," says Cook.
Even if the money does turn up, it doesn't necessarily guarantee the long-term change you're hoping for.
"Studies have shown that lottery winners often end up poorer than they were before they won the money."
Cook's advice for anyone who ends up with a large windfall is to hire a qualified financial adviser, who can guide you through the process of investing the money so that it lasts forever.
"A good financial adviser would save you so much more than you would pay them just by helping you set up a proper plan so that you don't lose your money. They'll know what they're talking about and you can check that they're qualified and registered. There are all of these safeguards when you get a professional involved."
Speaking to the Front Page podcast, senior Herald writer David Fisher says that his conversations with Lipsham revealed a man who didn't know how to react when enormous wealth suddenly arrived.
A major problem Lipsham faced was the number of friends and family members who came out of the woodwork asking for money.
"He was hit by a tsunami of people both inside and outside New Zealand, hitting him up for money again and again," says Fisher.
"Over the course of two years from 2017 to 2019 ... he watched his fortune go from $19 million down to $15m," says Fisher.
That trend continued when he met Kim Helmbright, a counsellor who also happened to be a clairvoyant. She had an enormous influence on him, advising him on how to spend his money and how to live his life.
The $15m he had when he met Helmbright would decline to about $12m only seven months later.
It was only when he had a chance meeting with businessman Matt Blomfield that he was slowly able to start turning his life around.
Blomfield helped him take legal action against Helmbright and also assisted him in terms of making a series of better financial decisions - a strategy that would eventually see his $12m fortune double to $24m today.
The problem is that many Lotto winners simply aren't able to pull themselves out of the financial spiral once it starts - which is why they often end up poorer than before they won the Lotto.
Fortunately, this was not the case for Lipsham.
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