If you have just crawled out from under a rock, then this could be the most important moment in your life: Lottery fever is in the air as tonight’s Powerball Lottery is sitting at a whopping $1.5 billion which basically equals R25 billion. [Get your tickets right now, right here.]

So now you have opened your eyes, clicked the link and bought a lotto ticket so you just might wake up tomorrow with the ability to claim a fresh R25 billion.

What do you do?

Well, first off, don’t be like those knobs who blow their spendings on hookers and cocaine and lose it all. Rather take some advice from billionaire Mark Cuban who is an “American businessman, investor, film producer, author, television personality and philanthropist”…and also owner of NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. He definitely knows the game. Check out all his achievements here.

Here’s what he was doing as he hit his first billion:

I was sitting in front of a computer, naked, hitting the refresh because we were close — waiting until my net worth hit that billion when the stock price got to a certain point, and then I kinda screamed and jumped around and then got dressed.

Cute.

But for those of you who have no idea where to even start with such a large amount of cash, check this out. It’s actually the most helpful and honest advice I have ever seen:

• [The first thing you should do is] hire a tax attorney.
• Don’t take the lump sum. You don’t want to blow it all in one spot.
• If you weren’t happy yesterday, you won’t be happy tomorrow. It’s money. It’s not happiness.
• If you were happy yesterday, you are going to be a lot happier tomorrow. It’s money. Life gets easier when you don’t have to worry about the bills.
• Tell all your friends and relatives no. They will ask. Tell them no. If you are close to them, you already know who needs help and what they need. Feel free to help SOME, but talk to your accountant before you do anything and remember this, no one needs $1 million for anything. No one needs $100,000 for anything. Anyone who asks is not your friend.
• You don’t become a smart investor when you win the lottery. Don’t make investments. You can put it in the bank and live comfortably. Forever. You will sleep a lot better knowing you won’t lose money.

How refreshing. Also, he added one last tip:

Be nice. No one likes a mean billionaire. 🙂

[source: businessinsider]