than he has currently been alive, will pass more quickly than he realizes.

He needs to save at least half of that money or in thirty years he'll be broke and will have a very hard time finding any job.

A lot of lottery winners get urged by "financial planners" to go for a lump sum, if that is an option. The discounting on such an option is terrible, and if expressed as an interest rate, is far more than any reliable investment return. But the "planner" wants the commissions generated by the lump sum, so they push that option. And, in a few years, the winner goes broke.

Maybe people will blow the money for the first couple of years, then realize that they need to salt some of it away. The long payoff period protects them from both unscrupulous "planners" and themselves.

since he's a writer and will read up on the pitfalls of such fortunes and also the coming 'jobless society.' And stay out of trouble. I wish him and his brother all the best.

~ A Fool and His Money Are Soon Parted

that he'll do the right thing. More than one lottery winner in this country who took the longer payout still went bankrupt because they just didn't understand that no matter how large the win, it's still a finite amount of money.

And yeah, it's almost always a really dumb thing to go for the lump sum.

Of course, this guy has already made the dumb mistake of going completely public with his win. Although perhaps the fact that he's going to get the money in monthly installments, rather like a paycheck, will help him be sensible about this. I don't have a lot of confidence, given he thinks he's set for life.

Most people wise up in way less time than that.

And you're right about the going public thing, he'll find more relatives than someone doing a test at 23andMe!