The dos and dont’s of winning Powerball

The view from the Whitsundays is a treat right now. From my slow-swinging hammock I can see a breathtaking blend of ocean, beach, rainforest and reef, as I imagine sardine commuters on delayed trains heading to and from a day’s work as I used to head to and from a day’s work.

But then I snapped up this private island with petty cash from my $160 million Powerball win. I’ve left the place pretty much as it was, though I did have to chainsaw a few palm trees to make space for my runway and Versace windsock. (I made a seven-digit donation to Greenpeace to appease my conscience.)

Me. Tomorrow. Credit:

We’ve all daydreamed about our winning numbers coming up, about those colourful balls rolling our way. Some of us go it alone, playing the same combination of birthdays and wedding anniversaries every week. Others are in syndicates, putting their hard-earned in a group entry time after time, safe in the knowledge they probably won’t win but terrorised by the thought that if they skip a week their friends or colleagues will triumph and they’ll be left on life’s treadmill.

As a kid I was taught that money can’t buy happiness. Then I became an adult and realised it sure as hell helps. Even if you’ve never put money first, the snowballing cost of living keeps buggering up my list of priorities and dislodging ‘swimming with dolphins’ from first place.

These cost-of-living pressures make the thought of buying a ticket in tonight’s record jackpot more enticing than ever, which - no matter how hard you try - leads to thinking about what you would do if the unthinkable happened.

OK, my Whitsundays whimsy is a tad over the top, and if I won I would still hand down a ‘Wellbeing Budget’ in the Harrison household. I’d still do all the sensible things we all swear we’d do if we won big, such as ensure family members were comfortable, be charitable to charities, continue to help old people across the street, invest wisely, take a break from work but not quit, keep our feet on the ground and not let it change us.

Yep, it’d be regular ole me in that private jet.

I would definitely keep my feet on the ground. Credit:

Keeping things in perspective must be difficult for overnight millionaires. Stories abound of Lotto winners whose lives have been ruined rather than improved by an elephantine sum of money suddenly entering their lives.

Take Willie Hurt, for example, whose very name begs a question the answer to which is - yes, he will. The Michigan man won $3.1 million and within two years had divorced his wife, lost custody of his kids, was charged with murder and snorted the last of his winnings up his snoz.

Much better to win an amount that makes you comfortable rather than rich. A former colleague, with whom I wasn’t in a syndicate unfortunately, won Lotto twice. Each time he pocketed about $100,000, which he used to pay off his mortgage and educate his kids. No Versace windsocks for him.

That would be a sensible Lotto win. But who can blame us if our eyes light up (or glaze over) at the thought of $160 million. Wouldn’t we all like to see if we could manage The Big One?

I’ll tell you how I get on later tonight.

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