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The Euromillions €250 million jackpot was a 140 million-to-one shot and could now earn the lucky winner €200,000-a-month in interest, experts said yesterday.
Euromillions fever has gripped the nation, as punters are desperate to find out who won the biggest jackpot in the game’s history. Mystery still surrounds the winner, or even where the lucky winning ticket was bought, as National Lottery chiefs are keeping that information close to their chests.
However, they have confirmed the winning ticket for Tuesday night’s draw was sold in Munster – in a retail store and not online. It comes as a financial expert revealed the biggest Euromillions win ever means Ireland’s newest multi-millionaire could spend €10,000 a day until the year 2093.
But personal money guru Eoin McGee warned that mismanagement of such a colossal amount could “ruin you” and has advised the winner to beware “making promises”.
He said: “My advice is do absolutely nothing, except sign the back of the ticket.
“Ring the Lotto and confirm you have the winning ticket, but then sit back and tell nobody apart from your inner circle. Don’t make any big decisions now.
“This is life-changing. I tell Lotto winners to remember that the things which made you happy before this win are the same things that are going to make you happy afterwards.
“Life will be different, but if you do not manage this properly, it can ruin you. This €250m can ruin you.
“Be careful about your decisions and any promises you’re making. Even be careful about telling your children how much they’re going to get.
“Make no promises. It is a time of celebration and joy and being happy about it, but in the first six months, do not spend more than €10,000 on any one item.
“Don’t buy a €2.5m villa and then realise after three years that you haven’t used it. It’s a huge amount of money.
“You could invest €1m a month and you would never eat into the €250m. Even if you put it into a bank account with 1%, you will get €2.5m a year from that. That’s over €200,000 a month. Sign the back of the ticket and get a financial planner.
“It’s scary having a €250m ticket sitting in a drawer but take your time.”
McGee added that the jackpot is so gargantuan that the winner can spend €10,000 a day for over half a century and not run out of cash.
He said: “It’s so much money that you could spend €10,000 a day for 68 years without running out of money.”
Maynooth University maths professor David Malone calculated the odds of winning the jackpot at 140 million-to-one.
Prof Malone, who is director of the Hamilton Institute, said: “That’s your chances of winning the thing.
“Buying the ticket actually only makes a small difference to the chance of winning. Probability is tough.
“This €250m win is an amount that’s not like the normal Lottery wins. Plan your future carefully.”
Meanwhile, Emma Monaghan, National Lottery spokesperson, told RTE ‘s Morning Ireland yesterday Lotto bosses are “delighted” for the winner.
She said: “We’re delighted with it, we are delighted for the winner. It is just great news for our players. They have now become the highest ever winner of an Irish National lottery game, so that is some title to hold.”
She said the best thing the winner can do is to sign the back of their ticket.
“Our claims team opens from 9am, so at the moment we are just urging everyone to check their tickets very carefully this morning.
“If they are holding the winning ticket, the most important thing they can do is to sign the back of it and keep it somewhere safe. And then the next step is to contact our prize claims team.”
Asked if she could reveal any information about the location of the ticket, Emma shared that the winning ticket was purchased in a retail store, not online.
She shared: “In terms of location, what I can tell is that the winning ticket was bought in a retail store somewhere in Ireland.
“We will be releasing more information in the coming days.”
And as for advice, Emma suggested the best thing they could do is to “have a cup of tea and let that sink in”.
“Players do have 90 days to claim the prize, so I am hoping that they do make contact before then.”
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