First thing you should not do if you win a big lottery.

The most common mistake a lot of people do when they win a big lottery is automatically sign the back of the lottery ticket. DO NOT DO THIS. Once you sign that ticket it is almost impossible to get the name of the ticket changed to a corporation, llc or whatever you and your attorney or accountant decide to do. This was a mistake I made when I won a 10 1/2 million dollar lottery almost 20 years ago. You need to seek the advise of an attorney or accountant that has some type of experience with winning the lottery. Please take the time and money if need be to research both of them especially your accountant. Your accountant plays a very big role in your life if you choose to be smart. Make sure this accountant isn't out after your money and is truly looking out for you. Same thing with your investors. Make certain they know exactly how to manage your money. There are a lot of companies out there that claim they know how to deal in all types of markets, but let me be the first one to tell you that even the most reputable companies don't know how to deal with different types of markets. When the market crashed some ten years ago, we asked the company we were invested in, "are you sure you now how to deal with a bear market?" They assured us they did. Unfortunately we did not go with our instincts and our accountant gave us wrong advise, the stock market crashed and we lost just about everything we saved over the years. Sometimes you have to go with your instincts but we were young only in our 30's and trusted people. Sometimes that's the wrong move. My best advise is research research research and go with your gut feeling. This is sometime I did not do and regret to this day. I was not happy with my original accountant and lost almost everything. Though I finally found a great accountant now, it is almost too late.

I would like to take you through my journey as a Lottery A Winner from day one to the present.  I'll highlight to you what you need to be aware of, watch out for and the definate do's and don's about the lottery.  I sometimes feel like my life has been a soap opera.  I have gone through the joy of winning the lottery, to the decisions of should I just gift money to family members or have a partnership, then the decision of how much money everyone should receive, to a nightmare of my husband being taken to court by his ex-wife, to family members upset my not being included in a partnership and just being gifted money, my father passing away and fighting in an out-of-state court about his will and his lottery money and trying to have go to my children instead of his new wife because of a bogus will, to not trusting my accountant, to the stock market crashing, to borrowing money (big no no), learning how to live on a yearly income instead of bi-weekly (very hard) and everything else in between to the present.  I think you will find me and my families journey through winning the lotterty interesting, sad at times and enlightening.  You will definately learn through our journey.  Every week I will take you on another journey of my life as a lottery winner.  Please ask any questions or leave your comments along the way. Part One of my journey will begin next Monday.  See you then.