Here's 20 million fantastic reasons why you should keep playing the lottery
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Yes, some lottery winners live like this. (Stock photo)
In 2001 an Adelaide man won $20 million on the Australian Powerball, and it changed his life.
In one of his comments in an interview with Kate Kyriacou of the Sunday Mail, he said about the win: "...the amount of stress that is lifted off your shoulders is unbelievable."
Here's his story after experiencing 8 years of lottery living from the Sunday Mail:
He lived on French champagne for two weeks, bought an historic mansion, a warehouse full of Porsches and a collection of Hans Heysen originals; and he still has millions to spare.
The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had spent the past eight years trying not to squander his winnings.
The former graphic artist said his only goal was to make sure his retirement was stress-free and his daughter looked after.
"I actually panicked when I saw the numbers," the man said. "I rang up about five times to make sure they were right."
He told the Sunday Mail of the family's good fortune as thousands of people Australia-wide spend up in the hope of having the winning ticket in Tuesday's $90 million Oz Lotto draw.
He said that despite his excitement at winning eight years ago, the only person he initially called to share the news with was his brother-in-law.
The man and his wife had assumed they would be sharing the $20 million with many other Powerball players who had drawn the same six numbers.
They spent the night discussing what they would do with their winnings - which they thought would be less than $1 million.
It was not until the next morning that the Adelaide man's brother-in-law heard a news bulletin announce a mystery person had taken out the entire $20 million.
"He rang us up to tell us there had only been one winner - and since we had six numbers we figured it had to be us."
It was two weeks before the cheque arrived in the mail.
"I took it to the bank but the machines they had to print out the receipt - they couldn't fit that many zeros on. They had to put it through in three lots," he said.
The couple, who were in their 40s when they became instant multimillionaires in 2001, had to wait a fortnight for their winnings to be processed.
They were told by the lottery authority that their $20 million could be delivered via cheque or an account transfer. While they waited, they bought case after case of expensive French champagne and treated their friends to some fine dining.
"We lived off our credit cards," he said. But rather than make any extravagant purchases, they went straight to a series of meetings with financial advisers.
"It was just too daunting," he said.
"You don't go and buy a jet and 45 Ferraris and realise you've spent all your money.
"That's one of the big traps - you see it on those American TV shows.
"So I picked three of the most conservative financial advisers and I invested the money in a whole range of things.
"You end up paying tax at the top rates on all your returns so you need to speak to people who know what they're doing.
"Some people get all carried away then get a tax bill for half a million at the end of the financial year."
Within weeks, the husband and wife had resigned from their jobs.
It was a year before they bought a decrepit mansion, originally built in the 1800s for a prominent Adelaide politician.
"It was pretty rundown," he said. "It belonged to an older couple and they lived there with six or so uni students.
"There were kitchens and laundries all over the place."
"It took us three years to finish it and, halfway through, I wanted to sell it because it was such a huge job."
Technically a seven-bedroom estate, the home has been set up with just three - one for the couple, one for their daughter and a guest bedroom.
Each room has its own en-suite and sitting room.
"It has extremely high maintenance and running costs," he said.
"At one point SA Water came to us to say we were in the top 10 highest water users in the state.
"We only water the lawns in the allocated times but we have such an enormous garden." Another "must-have" was a holiday home in Noosa, Queensland, where the couple had their honeymoon.
"I invest in antiques, fine art and cars," he said.
"I have six Porsches - my wife has a new one and I have an old 550 Spyder like James Dean used to drive.
"Two are 911s that I race. I always wanted to go car racing but I never would have had the money to do it.
"But after we won, I thought, why not?"
The couple has made substantial donations to charities and made sure each sibling was well looked after.
"It changes relationships," he said.
"A lot of people we hardly knew were asking us for money. You do find out who your friends are."
The man spends much of his time managing investments, including interests he has in various businesses.
"I went to an art auction once and bought some Heysen originals," he said. "It was quite funny because none of the art collectors had any idea who this bloke was who wandered in and bought everything."
The man said he and his wife were a normal, hard-working couple who landed themselves a life of convenience in the blink of an eye.
"It completely changes your life, having that amount of money," he said. "If you need a new washing machine, you go get one.
"If you need to go to Perth for a week, you just take off. It's the convenience more than anything.
"But the amount of stress that is lifted off your shoulders is unbelievable. It's just really important to get control of what you've got and set yourself up."
SOURCE: The Advertiser
