Huge jackpots make eye-catching headlines and entice players to buy tickets. But the truth is that most lottery winners end up squander their winnings. Here are a few strategies you can use to avoid this pitfall.

A responsible lottery winner will dump any cash they are not spending into safe investments like real estate, stocks and mutual funds. This way, they can preserve their wealth and even grow it. The key is diversification, which can increase your odds of winning.

The most common reason that a jackpot lottery winner loses their fortune is the urge to spend it all. But you can avoid this pitfall by setting spending limits for yourself and sticking to them. This will help you manage your money wisely and stay on track to achieve your goals.

Almost all lottery winners choose the lump sum option. This means that they get the entire prize amount in one shot instead of receiving it as an annuity payment over 29 years. But the big payout usually comes with big tax bills that can eat up a substantial portion of your winnings.

The best strategy to win the lottery is to gather a group of investors and pool your resources. This will help you pay for all possible combinations and maximize your chances of winning. This is the approach that Stefan Mandel took when he won 14 jackpots, and it worked for him. He gathered more than 2,500 investors to cover the cost of purchasing lottery tickets for all possible combinations. Then he distributed the tickets to his investors and kept only about $97,000 out of the total prize.