Congrats, Powerball winners! A past lottery winner told us what you should do right away

Congratulations to the two Powerball winners who will split up the whopping $1.8 billion jackpot.

To the rest of us, we can still dream, right? Plus, people sometimes unexpectedly come into large sums of money, be it inheritances, property, or someone's estate.

So we spoke with a past lottery winner about what it's like to suddenly become very wealthy — and what you should consider if it ever happens to you.

What it's like to win the lottery

Timothy Schultz won the $28-million Powerball in 1999 when he was just 21. At the time, he was working at a gas station in Iowa trying to put himself through school. On that fateful day, he woke up to his father banging on the door, shouting that Schultz had sold the winning ticket, not knowing he'd sold it to himself.

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"I compared the numbers to the newspaper and they matched and it was just so surreal and it was just very euphoric and it felt like I was living in a movie or something," Schultz told Austin Cross on LAist's daily news program, AirTalk.

How it can impact your relationships

Money can negatively affect your relationships and quickly, said Schultz, who now hosts the podcast Lottery, Dreams and Fortune, where he interviews lottery winners.

California Lottery officials hold replica check for Powerball winner at the downtown Los Angeles location where the winning ticket was bought.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

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You have to be wary of scams and people wanting to use you for the wrong reasons, even family members, he added.

"If you are the giving type and you do want to help other people, I think it's better and healthier to establish that early on after speaking with financial advisors," Schultz said. "What you can or cannot do and what you do or do not want to do, and then establish that and be transparent about that early on."

Seek professional help first

If you come into money, the first thing you should do is connect with an attorney or financial advisor you trust, which is exactly what Schultz did.

"The first thing they said was secure this ticket because you have a ticket worth millions of dollars," he says. "We took it to a safety deposit box."

You can also use those professionals as gatekeepers when dealing with other people who want to have conversations about your money.

"That takes a lot of the burden off," said Joe Bert, a certified financial planner and host of "On The Money," a financial call-in radio show. "That doesn't mean that they won't hound you, but they understand that you're not the decision maker. And of course you meet with that advisor and you decide where you want to give that money and so forth."

Prepare to be taxed

Be ready to be taxed on your funds, one way or another.

"If you get that lump sum, depending on your state, Uncle Sam and the state is going to end up taking about 50% of whatever that lump sum is," Bert said.

There are also potential estate tax consequences. The government could take as much as 40% in those cases, he added.

So, which is the better choice — lump sum or annual deposits? It depends on the individual.

"There's some benefit to having a steady income for 20 years, knowing that that's coming in. However, if you've got some reasonable investment background, a financial acumen, you can do a lot with that money," Bert said.

Stay grounded

Schultz said it can feel like you have a magic wand and can do whatever you want after winning a big jackpot, but he stressed the importance of keeping your head on straight, and again, starting with a financial advisor.

"It's better to be financially responsible if you want to make it last," he said.

Listen to the full conversation

Listen back to AirTalk's full conversation with Timothy Schultz, which aired in August 2023 when a $1.25 billion Mega Millions jackpot was up for grabs.