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Winning the lottery can create financial pitfalls - Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports

Don't go on a spending spree if you win the Powerball

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By Cecelia Hanley - email
As of Friday, the Powerball jackpot reached $600 million dollars. (Source: CNN) As of Friday, the Powerball jackpot reached $600 million dollars. (Source: CNN)

(RNN) – Those buying a $2 Powerball ticket are fantasizing what to do with the $600 million jackpot.

Buy a boat? Travel? Buy your mom a house? Party so hard that you would put the Rolling Stones to shame?

"First thing, you should not get any new friends, you've already got enough," said Nathan Bachrach, of Simply Money.

Then take a deep breath. Don't rush into any decisions regarding your windfall.

"Emotions are a horrible tool when it comes to making money decisions," he said.

Bachrach suggests putting the money in the bank and going to a professional financial adviser – don't go crazy buying things for you and everyone else.

Paying off any debt is a first good step, and make a list of things you want to do with your winnings. Work with the financial adviser to make sure you have enough money to live on and with which to retire.

Managing money is not a do-it-yourself proposition. Bachrach pointed out that if training for the Olympics was easy, the athletes would be using coaches recorded on video.

"There are two things we've never learned in school; we never learned how to raise kids and we never learned how to manage money," Bachrach said. "Just because you won the lottery doesn't mean you know any more about money than you did before."

Copyright 2013 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.

  • Live5News.com Poll

  • What would you do if you won the lottery?

  • Thank you for participating in our poll. Here are the results so far:

    Pay off bills
    37%
    227 votes
    Buy a new car
    2%
    13 votes
    Buy a house
    15%
    89 votes
    Travel
    7%
    44 votes
    Charity
    10%
    59 votes
    Buy a ticket on a rocket to space
    1%
    4 votes
    Disappear, get a new life
    18%
    108 votes
    Swim in your money like Scrooge McDuck
    10%
    61 votes