Napier banks Lotto millions
City cashes in with four big wins worth $6.3 million from three draws within a week
Napier’s mayor is delighted at a spate of Lotto luck for her city but is advising major winners to seek financial help or risk losing it all. When a Napier Lotto player won $5 million as part of Saturday’s Powerball jackpot, it was the fourth big Lotto prize won in the city in a week.
While two of 10 winners of Lotto’s $50m Powerball prize have claimed their winnings, the city’s newest multi-millionaire was yet to come forward on Monday afternoon.
The winning ticket was sold at Andrew Spence Pharmacy in Onekawa.
Napier will look to Wednesday’s draw in the hope of continuing a golden run for the city, which has won big in each of the past three Lotto jackpots.
The run started on Saturday, August 8, when two of the city’s residents took home $142,857 in
Lotto’s First Division. Those tickets were sold at Tamatea Pak’nSave and Paper Plus Taradale.
A Napier resident also won big in Wednesday night’s draw, taking home the sole $1m First Division prize.
That ticket, one of nearly 1.6 million sold across the country, was sold at Napier City Pak’nSave.
A Lotto spokeswoman said all three of Napier’s other “big winners”, but not the $5m winner, had come forward by Monday afternoon.
“More often than not, big winners claim their prize within the first few days,” she said.
Winners have 12 months from the date of the draw to claim prizes.
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise, who rose to the role while working as an accountant, said it was fantastic to have four significant Lotto wins in the city in the past week.
“Congratulations to the winners and, with my accountant’s hat on, I urge them to seek professional advice on how best to proceed with their winnings,” she said.
Financial adviser and executive director of the Hastings-based Stewart Group Nick Stewart said without a plan and help from professionals, millions won through Lotto can become thousands in no time.
“Before you make any decisions, before you start spending any money, before you start giving it away, you really want to sit down and figure out what the purpose of this money is,” he said.
“It is crucial not to make any immediate financial commitments for the first three months.”
Stewart, who joined the financial services industry in 1999, said depending on the circumstances of the winner, many things would need to be set up before claiming the prize.
“The best course of action is to quietly contemplate all options,” he said.
“Put all the winnings across a couple of banks for three months in short-dated cash facilities, don’t quit your job, sit back and think about what you want to do and how you are going to handle this life-changing event and, most importantly, seek independent professional advice.”
Stewart added that whether you win $100,000 or $1m, seeking legal and financial advice and prioritising spending objectives are necessary.
“It would be best if you worked with an experienced financial adviser to help you understand the transition, address how you’re feeling and then make decisions over time on how to use your winnings,” he added.
More than three-quarters (81 per cent) of Powerball winners in 2019 bought a new house with their winnings, while 85 per cent of big winners kept working, remaining in the same job as before their win.
I urge them to seek professional advice on how best to proceed with their winnings. Napier mayor Kirsten Wise