Powerball jackpot winner Chris Shaw went form $28.96 in his bank account to $258 million overnight......?

WOW! Now that's a ton of luck! Good for them!

As I'm sure many of us working stiffs have, I've often wondered what I would do, should I win the lottery and instantly become a millionaire. I've watched shows such as "Curse of the Lottery" by E! Where winners become drug users, commit suicide, are robbed and even have their families and their own life threatened.

Without proper planning, this lottery winner could end up...a lottery loser. I think that the first step in deciding how to secure a successful future with his lottery winnings, he should invest in an attorney. There are many legal hurdles that can be devastating to someone without knowledge and experience.As soon as word gets out about his winnings, someone will find a reason to sue him...for anything.

Having an attorney that is familiar with his situation to handle all his legal needs will avoid anything getting lost in the shuffle. Secondly, he should invest in an accountant. Many lottery winners have fallen victim to the tax system, because of their ignorance, which for the IRS is no excuse for failing to properly account for your winnings.

Thirdly, with the help of his attorney and his accountant, he needs to enlist yet another professional, a financial planner. Too many lottery winners have squandered their earnings, and are left with nothing. Although it may take a while to spend through $258 million, he needs to have investments and securities in place to avoid unnecessary losses.

Last but not least, I would hire a security professional. My home, my family and my person are now subject to the greed of every thief, kidnapper and other dreads of society looking to take advantage of the wealth. I would leave nothing to chance.

In fact, I may just head out of the country for a while, to allow things to settle. That way, it will be old news, and I may get a little peace upon my return. I'm sure that I've missed something, but the rest of the time I spend daydreaming of winning, is spent deciding on what color car to get.

:) Everything he does with this money needs to be documented, and accounted for. Not only for tax reasons, but to secure his future and that of his children or his family. Good luck Mr. Lottery winner.

I'd take a bunch of it and dump into an immediate lifetime annuity. That way he has a guaranteed check every month till death. After that, the trick would be finding a trustworthy financial advisor, but good luck with that.

I'm sure his door is being battering rammed down by vultures at this point. Frankly he could drop it all into immediate annuities spread between multiple companies. He'd get around a guaranteed 1,000,000 per month for life.

Money never runs out when you keep getting paid monthly. If he lived more than 20 years, he'd actually be making tons of profits from this as well.

He already announced in a news article on yahoo news that he was consulting others with alot of many for the best investors to contact, I believe he is heading in the right direction... All I can say is wow! I cried happy tears for this man :) .. . To learn how to properly invest and save the money, as well as find out about the right security needed so they do not end up with the issues the other instant multi millionares did... I keep him in my prayers and thoughts.. I'd recommend he contact Jason Calacanis, Warren Buffet or Bill Gates!

:).

Get a financial planner and remember all these people who you haven't heard from in twenty years and the new ones with sob stories are not your friends and are only trying to get your money. You cannot save the World on an individual basis but can contribute to charities as a way to help.

I don't think he has 258 million because there is tax on it (like everything else) but that is an incredible story! I can't beleive an average joe like him is larger than life.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.