You'd really have to be clueless to go bankrupt after a big lotto win. For any of the three lucky winners, here's my suggestion: Let's say you won $160 millio

You'd really have to be clueless to go bankrupt after a big lotto win. For any of the three lucky winners, here's my suggestion: Let's say you won $160 million. Take 5% off the top, so that's $8 million, and invest the rest conservatively with a target appreciation of 5% per year (get a GOOD financial advisor). Your goal is to live for five years on the $8 million. Let's say you spend $4 million in the first year on a nice new house/estate, pay off all your debts, and buy a few toys like cars. That leaves you with a $1 million a year budget for the next four years - which should be plenty even including around the world vacations etc. If you've hit your 5% investment goal, your nest egg is now worth $193 million - $33 million more than you started with. Now, take $15 million for your next five years - you've got a $3 million a year lifestyle now (though you will have to pay some tax on that for long-term capital gains). That left $178 million in your account. After the next five years, it's worth $228 million. And so on...