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One in five would keep a £1m windfall all to themselves

Emma Lunn
Written By:
Emma Lunn
Posted:
Updated:
09/07/2019

When it comes to an unexpected windfall, people aren’t as generous as you might think.

Only 8 per cent of people would give money to their parents before anyone else if they were to become a millionaire, according to Hitachi Personal Finance.

A study by the lender examined how generous people would be if they won the lottery or had an unexpected windfall.

Despite the average cost of raising a child up to the age of 18 reportedly reaching up to £102,627, paying their parents back wouldn’t be the main priority for more than 90 per cent of UK adults.

Partners or spouses were most likely to benefit from a lottery win with 33 per cent of people choosing them as their first priority. This was closely followed in joint second position by children and all-encompassing immediate family for the 22 per cent struggling to commit to helping just one.

However, one in 20 (5 per cent) people admitted they wouldn’t share any of the money with anyone at all.

Aside from gifting loved ones, other things UK adults would want to do with any unexpected millions include buying a new house (54 per cent), going on a holiday of a lifetime (44 per cent) and getting a new car (36 per cent).

Both men and women listed a new house as their top priority when spending their millions, however men are more likely to also prioritise a holiday of a lifetime (42 per cent) and a new car (41 per cent) before sharing with loved ones (37 per cent).

Almost double the amount of men versus women would also spend the money on new technology (21 per cent compared to 11 per cent), and three in 10 men (30 per cent) would invest their winnings, compared to 17 per cent of women.

Vincent Reboul, managing director at Hitachi Personal Finance, said: “Many of us have imagined what life would be like if we had millions to spend, and it’s great to see that the majority of UK adults would prioritise buying a house over anything else, showing that they’re really thinking about how the money would benefit their future.

“The data shows us that although some may keep the money all to themselves, in general, Brits would be generous, with almost half (45 per cent) stating that they would share the money with loved ones.”


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