Instant billionaire? Make sure your winnings stay yours

If a winning ticket for Wednesday night’s $1.5 billion jackpot ends up in your pocket, being safe and making sure the wrong people don’t try to take advantage of your good fortune is important.

“Any time you buy a lottery ticket, whether it’s a $1 scratch it or a ticket for $1.5 billion in a Powerball jackpot, always turn the ticket over,” Oregon Lottery spokesman Chuck Baumann said Wednesdsay. “You’ll see a place on the back where you can print your name and sign your name and get all that information.”

Baumann also said signing your name on the back of your ticket should be something all lottery players get in the habit of doing. That way, if you lose your ticket, or it gets stolen, it can still be traced back to you.

It’s also important to make sure to put your winning lottery ticket in a secure place, like a deposit box or locked safe.

“It’s important to have a group of attorneys, accountants and financial planners so that you’re taking yourself out of the equation,” said Jennifer Coughlin, a partner at the law firm Brothers, Han and Coughlin.

” So that when third cousins, or charities or political associations starts calling you for money you can legitimately say, these decisions aren’t mine to make you need to contact my financial planner.”

It’s also important to set a budget for yourself. Statistically speaking, 70 percent of big lottery winners are broke within the first few years of receiving their winnings, according to Coughlin, so make sure you’re spending smart and playing safe.