Andy Carter has been working with lottery winners for nearly 20 years, counselling thousands of lucky Brits, and says they always make the same mistakes with their money
While winning the lottery usually makes people happier, they don’t always spend their cash in the most sensible way.
Financial advisor Andy Carter has been working with National Lottery winners for nearly two decades, counselling over 2,000 people who have received fortunes of over £50,000. He and a team of money-savvy advisors, who are all banned from entering the lotto themselves, are on hand to coach winners through the first few months.
But Andy, 50, says they don’t always spend their winnings wisely and many make common mistakes. It’s often people’s generosity that impacts their decision-making, Andy notes, with lots of winners rushing to give away too much of their new cash to family, friends and other charitable causes.
Helping out family members is usually the first port of call for new millionaires, Andy said, but it’s his job to ensure they don’t give too much of their fortune away. After an initial meeting with him, solicitors are brought in to further advise the individuals on the implications of making gifts.
“For example, if they have children under 30 and want to help them out with a house purchase, can they afford to do that and give up work themselves? The experts look at your whole life picture and make a plan, then winners can work out how much they can afford to help others,” Andy explained.
Winners have the option to turn down any help they are offered, but only 10 percent of them reject advice. One of the most generous winners Andy remembers is Frances Connolly, who, with her husband Patrick, won £115million in the Euromillions in 2019. They gave away around £60m of their fortune to family, friends and two charitable foundations they have created since.
Throughout his time guiding winners, Andy has also found that any problems a person has – whether that’s with their financial decisions or in their relationship – are usually exacerbated by their jackpot win. If someone is bad with their money to start with, they may be worse with more of it, and if their relationship is struggling, millions of pounds could spell the end of it.
He claims he has seen relationships break down in the wake of a win, but insists it would have happened anyway: “It’s part of life — the Lottery just exaggerates it”. However, these aren’t the only relationship struggles he’s witnessed, claiming he has even dealt with people who have kept their winnings a secret from their spouse.
One man won a few hundred thousand pounds but neglected to tell his wife of 30 years. Andy said: “He told me: ‘We’re very happy, but our money is separate — it’s just the way we operate.'” While this may seem like a good idea at first, Andy stressed that it’s only stressful in the long term and may lead to relationship rifts – especially if they find out by accident.
Other mistakes Andy has witnessed include winners rushing into purchases that they don’t really need or that don’t suit their lifestyle. He said: “Can you fit a pram in the back of a sports car? Some winners hire a sports car for a weekend and then realise it wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
Similarly, people often invest their money in properties to let out, later realising that it’s not worth the hassle of dealing with tenants or ongoing maintenance. Overall, spending money on memorable experiences rather than material things is usually the more popular option for winners.
Andy said: “People being ridiculous with their money is really rare. It does make you realise that the British public are, as a rule, pretty conservative with their spending. I’d describe around 98 percent of our winners as very cautious with their new wealth.”
He revealed that female winners are often better able to cope with huge wins than their male counterparts, which he is convinced comes down to women being better at sharing their emotions. Overall, younger winners definitely tend to be more money-savvy, according to Andy, with under-30s proving to be the most shrewd and careful with their fortunes. He said: “The people who deal with it best are those who talk to friends and family about it.”
