The amount of one billion reais planned for Mega-Sena da Virada is alone capable of providing for the needs of several generations. Whether he wins alone or not, the winner must, however, keep in mind a word that also serves as his mantra: caution. You can’t help everyone or invest in everything.
The prize that will be drawn on the 31st is the highest amount ever paid in the entire history of Mega da Virada, launched in 2009. Last year, for example, R$635.4 million was drawn, or R$658 million, after monetary adjustment.
“The first thing is to be calm,” explains lawyer Magda Damázio, specialist in banking law.
The ideal, according to her, is not to announce the victory to third parties to avoid any type of risk. “Not only is the person who wins vulnerable, but so is their family,” he says.
The basic rule is not to withdraw the prize within 15 days of the draw. “It’s better to do nothing during this period. Especially because there is speculation about who won.”
Then the first step is to seek assistance. “Starting with a good lawyer, who will advise you on the procedure around the values. And then an investor who guarantees control of the values.”
This is due to a question of financial education, believes the lawyer. A Datafolha study published in November, for example, shows that 43% of Brazilians do not have emergency funds.
It’s just not worth wasting money – which many people do on occasions like this. According to her, the feeling of immediacy leads winners to buy large homes or expensive vehicles without spending on these goods being within their reach.
These include taxes such as IPTU (Urban Land and Property Tax) or IPVA (Motor Vehicle Property Tax) and even the cost of maintaining properties: the larger the property or the more expensive the automobile, the higher the expenses to maintain them.
You should also not think about helping third parties, at least at the beginning. “It’s not that you can’t do that. But to help others, you must first help yourself. Think about the reality you live in and what you can do with what you have. And only then think about it,” says Magda.
One solution would be to open a holding company – a “parent company” created to control other companies or manage assets. But any decision in this direction also implies knowing how to manage such a CNPJ.
But there are excellent alternatives in the financial market, believes economist Reinaldo Cafeo, doctor specializing in economic engineering and professor of economics at ITE (Instituição Toledo de Ensino), in Bauru.
One of the main ones is the application of the Tesouro Direto given the value of 15% of the Selic, the basic interest rate of the economy – but it cannot be the entirety of the destination of the price.
The ideal is to diversify the investment portfolio. “With an amount like this, you have very significant negotiating power within financial institutions, leaving traditional applications behind,” explains Cafeo, also a doctor in agronomy and visiting professor at Fundação Dom Cabral.
This means that part can be invested in Tesouro Direto, another in fixed income securities, another in letters of credit and another in the stock market. There would still be room for possible debentures – debt securities issued by companies, a slightly riskier investment.
But the return would be high even in the savings account itself: the amount of R$1 billion in the savings account would bring in no less than R$6.7 million per month.
Either way, chances are the prize will be shared: to date, no one has ever won a Mega da Virada alone. However, this does not change any of the procedures.
Even if 50 people win and the final value is 20 million reais, Cafeo explains, any good decision involves avoiding touching the main prize – and if possible letting the money win for a certain period of time.
“The question is to ask yourself ‘what can I do to avoid affecting the main amount, which is R$20 million?'”, he says about the hypothesis of a prize distributed among 50 winners.
“I would give this money time to multiply and I would still protect the capital value, only withdrawing a portion of the income.”
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