By David Rae Certified Financial Planner™, Accredited Investment Fiduciary™

Update: July 2023 another Los Angeles resident won purchased a Powerball ticket worth over a billion dollars. Financial Planner LA David Rae appeared on KCAL 9 News to share more tips to keep you Powerball winning Safe.

I hope someone reading this post or watching the NBC news is the record-breaking Powerball winner. I’ve worked with lottery winners before, but obviously none this large. I get excited about all the things we could do to help someone change their life and change their loved ones’ lives with his money. What would you do if you had won a billion dollars? 

The record-breaking $2.04 billion Powerball Lottery Jackpot ticket was sold to a single person in Altadena, California. This is by far the largest single winner in Powerball history. Financial Planner LA David Rae shares some guidance for lottery winners and other people receiving large windfall with NBC 4 News in Los Angeles.

The headlines will go to the winner of the Powerball; the multi-state lottery Association has 11.2 million winning some level of cash prize totaling $98.1. This included 22 tickets that each won a million dollars.

I am excited to be back on TV sharing advice for Powerball winners. I’ve done segments on pretty much every Los Angeles news channel over the years. If you find yourself receiving a large sum of money, we are here to help bring you peace of mind. To likewise guide you to make all the right tax planning strategies to help you keep more of your newfound wealth. As the Fun CFP, we might also help you plan a bucket list vacation to celebrate.

What would you do if you had won the $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot? The record-breaking ticket was sold to a single person in Altadena, California. This is by far the largest single winner in Powerball history.

I’ve worked with lottery winners before, but obviously none this large. The headlines will go to the Powerball winner, but the Multi-State Lottery Association has 11.2 million people winning some level of cash prize totaling $98.1 million. This included 22 tickets that each won $1 million. Even the owner of the business that sold the Powerball ticket — Joseph Chahayed of Joe’s Service Center — will receive a $1 million check.

It’s important that lottery winners and others receiving a large windfall have guidance on how to manage their newfound money.

Even the owner of Joe’s Service center, Joseph Chahayed, where the Powerball ticket was sold, will also be receiving a check for $1 million.

Steps To Take If You Win The Powerball

1.   Smile; you just won a boatload of money. Do something nice for yourself. Perhaps, pop some champagne and go out for a nice dinner.

2.   Build Your Financial Power Team. The more money you receive, the larger this financial dream team may need to be. It will likely include a Certified Financial Planner™, Certified Public Accountant, Tax Attorney and an estate planning attorney. It may include professionals like a therapist or charity consultants. Your CFP really should be an expert on tax planning as well as part of your financial planning. The bill on a Powerball win is just too big, even with amazing tax planning guidance.

3.  Keep Your Powerball Win Quiet

Not too dramatic, your family security, as well as your financial security, could be at risk. Once you go public with your win, you may become a target for moochers and fraudsters. People will come out of the woodwork with business proposals, get rich schemes, or they may just ask for a handout.

Let your financial planner be the bad guy. Tell your friends, family members, and people you met once that one time (eons ago), that you have to run all financial decisions past your financial team.

4.  Develop A Financial Roadmap For Your New Found Wealth

You find yourself owing hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes on your Powerball win. Good problem to have, right? But those checks will still be painful to write. Some good here, California does not tax Powerball winnings, which could save you millions of dollars in state taxes.

Let’s be real; if you won a billion dollars (or inherited it, or perhaps saw the company you founded grows into a multi-billion dollar company that goes public), you could probably quit your job. However, if you have merely won a million dollars in the lottery, your ability to maintain financial freedom will likely depend on the tax planning, and financial planning steps your take after your winning.

Odds are you are not the Powerball winner. But you can still take proactive steps to become a millionaire many times over. It is easier than you might think, yet many people never take the step to truly build life-changing wealth.

10-33-41-47-56 with a #10 Powerball. That combination won one Californian more than $2 billion today. Are any of these Powerball numbers you would have picked?

DAVID RAE, CFP®, AIF® is a Los Angeles financial planner with DRM Wealth Management, a regular contributor to Advocate Magazine, Huffington Post, and Forbes, not to mention numerous TV appearances.  He helps smart people across the USA get on track for their financial goals.  For more information, visit his website at www.davidraefp.com

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