Winning the lottery can often come as a massive surprise to South Africans who are fortunate enough to walk away with hefty sums of money. While they are afforded professional advice on how best to use that cash, it is often best to have diligent plans of their own for their newfound wealth.
Investing part are all of the funds is one consideration, but it can be a tricky task to ascertain how to go about this. There are plenty of options.
Warren Ingram is a renowned financial advisor and spouted a string of statistics about lottery wins relatively recently.
In this day and age of digital currencies and cryptos, many are putting big sums into this in the hope of big and quick returns. Those who do so, though, must be mindful of the volatile nature of this industry. In a bid to expand one’s financial portfolio on the back of those unforeseen winnings, this might be an option to consider. The role of bitcoin in a diverse portfolio has been well explored by Researchgate, for instance.
The property market is a good place to start, too. It’s a solid investment, of sorts, but it’s a long-term play. Buying to rent one or multiple flats and houses is something done by many South Africans, some of who have done this with their lottery winnings. With the lending rate in a stable position, this can be even more rewarding to those who choose to invest in this sector. Local South African bank, FNB, promote investment via the property market and have several reports on this available to the public. It’s so important to take some time to think about how to invest unexpected winnings. There are resources at hand to help.
In an attempt to extend one’s legacy, studying further beyond one’s current level of qualification could be seen as an intangible investment. In months or years to come, though, that investment could become entirely tangible in the form of a diploma or degree. This could also extend to family members and especially children. In that way, one’s legacy would effectively be extended.
Investing in small businesses is another excellent example of solid use of newfound wealth for whatever reason. Many SMEs around South Africa have needed an initial leg up. Since then, they have thrived and grown enormously. They’ve been able to repay that initial investment triple fold. In some cases, the repayment of faith has been even larger than that.
Unit trusts are another traditional means of investment, alongside other shares. With so many different investment companies offering several options in this sector, there are plenty of brands and products to put one’s money into. They can give solid returns. They might not be extravagant, but there is reasonable value to be found.
When all is said and done, though, the final decision will sit largely with the person who gathered that newfound wealth. If they choose to use part of it for some quick fixes and overnight treats, fine. If they then take a contingent of their winnings and put it into their future, even better. But the choices are up to the individual to make for themselves, given their individual circumstances. Prudential are another big SA organisation who back this approach.