{"id":93213,"date":"2025-08-19T01:40:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T01:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/93213\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T01:40:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T01:40:21","slug":"5-money-moves-id-make-if-i-won-on-a-game-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/93213\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Money Moves I\u2019d Make If I Won on a Game Show"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Winning money on a game show may sound like a dream come true. If you\u2019re a financial advisor<\/a>, it might also be a chance to put your own money<\/a> advice into action.<\/p>\n

Read More: Here\u2019s the Minimum Salary Required To Be Considered Upper-Middle Class in 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Learn Next: 3 Reasons Retired Boomers Shouldn’t Give Their Kids a Living Inheritance (And 2 Reasons They Should)<\/a><\/p>\n

Andrew Lokenauth, a money expert from Be Fluent in Finance<\/a>, won $5,000 on \u201cCash Cab\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt taught me a lot about handling sudden cash,\u201d he said. \u201cPlus, after advising many clients who\u2019ve received windfalls, I\u2019ve seen what works \u2014 and what absolutely doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may be surprised at Lokenauth\u2019s first piece of advice: Do nothing for the first 30 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeriously, I tell my clients this all the time \u2014 just park the money in a high-yield savings account and let the excitement wear off,\u201d Lokenauth said. \u201cI\u2019ve watched too many people blow their windfalls on impulse purchases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find Out: The $50 Mistake Warren Buffett Says Everyone Should Avoid<\/a><\/p>\n

After the waiting period, Lokenauth said to set aside 35% for taxes<\/a>. Then, he said to knock out any high-interest debt and beef up your emergency fund<\/a> to cover six months of expenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s something most financial advisors won\u2019t tell you \u2014 I\u2019d actually set aside a small portion, maybe 5%, for something fun,\u201d Lokenauth said. \u201cFrom experience, if you don\u2019t plan for some enjoyment, you\u2019ll end up breaking your good intentions anyway. Better to build it into the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to investing<\/a>, Lokenauth said to max out your Roth IRA contribution immediately because the tax advantages are too good to pass up. Then, look at your 401(k) and see if you\u2019re maxing it out or should adjust your contributions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest mistake I see people make with windfalls is trying to make the money life-changing when it\u2019s not enough to be,\u201d said Lokenauth. \u201cBetter to use it to strengthen your financial foundation than swing for the fences.\u201d<\/p>\n

From his \u201cCash Cab\u201d experience, the smart moves Lokenauth said he made were maxing out his Roth that year and padding his emergency fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne last thing, I always tell my clients to keep quiet about winning,\u201d Lokenauth said. \u201cMoney can change how people treat you, and not always in good ways. Trust me, I\u2019ve seen it happen too many times.\u201d<\/p>\n

It may be helpful to check out the webpage from the IRS<\/a> on prizes and awards.<\/p>\n

More From GOBankingRates<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com<\/a>: I\u2019m a Financial Advisor: 5 Money Moves I\u2019d Make If I Won on a Game Show<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winning money on a game show may sound like a dream come true. If you\u2019re a financial advisor,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[63384,28,63387,741,14580,63385,147,530,63386],"class_list":{"0":"post-93213","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-andrew-lokenauth","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-cash-cab","11":"tag-emergency-fund","12":"tag-financial-advisor","13":"tag-money-expert","14":"tag-personal-finance","15":"tag-personalfinance","16":"tag-windfalls"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}