24/7 Wall St.

The Mega Millions lottery drawing for the whopping $425 million produced no winners for the huge jackpot on Friday night. Friday the 13th did not get to shed its superstitious image of bad luck. The winning numbers of 19 – 24 – 26 – 27 – 70 – 12 were simply not matched. Now the new jackpot will rise up to a massive $550 million.

The last two jumps were up from $400 million and $344 million prior to that. Amazingly, this new $550 million lotto is still just the second largest jackpot ever for the Mega Millions lotto. If a winner for the full amount hits, then they will have the opportunity to take a lump sum cash payment of $295 million, or they can take 30 annual payments of roughly $18.3 million.

24/7 Wall St. wants to remind our readers that winning a vast fortune of this magnitude also brings the need for great responsibility. We have created a simple plan of what instant winners should (and should not do) in twelve steps if they happen to be lucky enough to win a vast fortune such as this.

There are some serious pitfalls for many lotto winners. In fact, it seems ironic to think that problems can arise after winning hundreds of millions of dollars. Can you imagine ending up bankrupt in a few short years? Believe it or not, many lotto winners have lost most of their money or even gone bankrupt just a few years after winning.

The record for the Mega Millions is up at $656 million. That jackpot on March 30, 2012, was split by three winning tickets in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.

We cannot emphasize enough how important it is for lotto winners to take action and be mindful of pitfalls. Our own 12-step program for lotto winners is intended to be the first-step guide on how to protect your newly won empire. This pertains also to people who unexpectedly inherit large sums of money, win lawsuits with huge judgments, or who come into fortunes in short periods of time. We have evaluated what to do for tax purposes and financial and personal security, as well as what not go splurge on, and many other things.