The Mega Millions lottery keeps rolling higher and higher, with a new record nearing. July’s jackpot has now reached $508 million for the annuity value. This generates a $357 million for the cash value, and the drawing will be Friday, July 8, 2016.

What matters here is that the jackpot has been rolling since it was last won at $157 million on March 8. Mega Millions’ only other jackpot awarded this year was a $169 million prize won on January 8. What is even more important is that the all-time record Mega Millions jackpot is $656 million.

It seems fairly obvious now that the new American Dream is winning the lottery. Becoming filthy rich in an instant sounds a lot more exciting than a life of hard work, savings and being responsible. On top of that, the media and the politicians keep telling you that it is just too hard to get ahead the old-fashioned way these days.

The Mega Millions annuity value of $508 million generates a lump sum cash value of $357 million. But don’t forget about the Powerball lottery — its drawing for Wednesday, July 6, 2016, was for a $257 million annuity value or $179.7 million cash value.

Whether lottery winners take the annuity or the cash option, either lottery would bring generating multi-generational wealth. Sudden and extreme wealth brings the need for sudden and extreme responsibility. This is why 24/7 Wall St. has created the 12 Things Not to Do If You Win the Lottery.

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Can you imagine winning a cash sum of more than $300 million? Even after you back out the cash discounts and the massive taxes, this winner just received empire-building money. Sadly, the reality of the lottery is much less clear and much less realistic than its lure. Many lottery winners ignore all the warning signs, and some have gone absolutely broke just a few years after becoming filthy rich.

Maybe it seems hard to imagine that you could blow through $100 million, let alone more than $300 million or more. The new reality is that it has become incredibly easy to blow even a fortune of that size. Temptations, followed by careless actions and no planning, can wipe out almost any sum of millions in short order.

There are many things that lead lottery winners down the wrong path. Family relationships and friendships get challenged. Bragging can be dangerous, and even deadly. You will need immediate financial advice and tax advice, and you will need a budget in place immediately. Acting as the ATM and banker for friends and family will wipe you out. Knowing the world of high finance is a must. Thinking you know everything because of a lucky draw won’t teach you about money, not without some effort. If all of these points sound too extreme or like they are silly, then the odds are high that you are a prime candidate to go broke after gaining massive wealth.

Buying jets and yachts or mega-mansions and third and fourth homes, owning private islands, keeping an entourage, buying tickets to fly into space, throwing Gatsby-styled parties — the list is endless. You can literally spend hundreds of millions in a few days and be wiped out if you do not create safeguards.

Hopefully a reality check is setting in. The whole point of 12 Things Not to Do If You Win the Lottery is that there are more temptations than there are reality checks. 24/7 Wall St. simply just does not want to see anyone who gets rich go broke. Again, extreme wealth brings extreme responsibility. It is important to recall that you should only have to become rich once.

Here are the 12 things not to do if you win the lottery.

1. Don’t forget to sign the winning ticket, and do not forget to report to the state.

It may seem unrealistic or crazy that people might not sign a winning lottery ticket. It must seem even crazier that they might lose a ticket, or fail to report to the state that they won. Can you imagine losing a lottery ticket? Imagine what could happen if someone else snags your ticket and shows up to collect the prize. Fighting over a winning lottery ticket is no simple task and disputes have arisen over who owns what ticket.

In a way, lottery tickets have effectively become the last form of bearer bonds that anyone can collect on if they show up with the coupons and bonds. You have to sign and secure that ticket, and you then have to report to the state.

2. Do not brag to everyone you know — or anyone if you can help it.

If you are lucky enough to win millions of dollars, one of the first things you might think is that you want to go tell everyone you know. How could you not? Do not do this! Keep as quiet as you can. The problem is that telling everyone you know before you collect your winning can put you in danger, and in more ways that just one. Everyone who has ever done anything for you now may come with their hands out asking for something, or worse.

You may have heard of kidnap and ransom insurance before. Sadly, multiple lottery winners became murder victims. If you can manage it, and if your state allows it, try to remain anonymous for as long as possible. How you became vastly wealthy will be found out in time anyway, but there is no need to hurry that along and jeopardizing yourself.

3. Do not automatically decide to take the lump sum cash option.

Taking it all now may sound better than getting money sent over a lifetime. Supposedly some 70% of lottery winners end up broke again, many within a couple or few years. Let’s say that you can choose to get $357 million up front, or you can choose to receive a payout of $508 million slowly over the course of a lifetime. Most people choose the lump sum rather than the annuity payment. After all, it is instant empire-making money.

Go see a reputable and visible tax professional and a reputable investment advisor at a top money management firm with a widely recognized company name and a long corporate history. This theme of “reputable and visible” will echo throughout.  Do this before you automatically make the decision about a lump-sum or annuity option.

4. Do not think you are now the smartest person to manage your finances.

Lottery winners and anyone who comes into large unexpected sums of cash need to immediately get outside financial advice. If you were living paycheck to paycheck before, does it seem logical that someone will know the best things to invest in and the best tax and asset protection strategies? There are many ways to invest and to protect that new fortune. Strategies of the wealthy often go way beyond buying stocks and bonds and letting the investments ride. As far as who to use, or who not to use, chances are very high that your drinking buddy might not be the best choice as an advisor and expert.

Having a solid and respectable team of advisors and managers from reputable firms in place will act as your buffer to protect your assets now and in the future. Do you know how to protect your assets against all threats and know exactly how to protect your estate in case you die or become incapacitated? Here is a very real hint – If you answered yes, you probably did not bother playing the lottery.

5. Don’t let your old debts and obligations remain in place.

If you suddenly become filthy rich, it is a must that you get rid of your old financial obligations and debts. If you get the bug in your head of “I’m rich and don’t have to pay anymore” then please know up front that you are on the path to dooming yourself. Whether you take the lump-sum or the annuity option, if you have a single penny of debt in the immediate future and distant future, then something is seriously wrong. For that matter, you should not have a single debt ever again. One lottery winner in California was reportedly strapped with debt from property purchases.

If you manage to go broke down the road and still have a mortgage, car payments, student loans, credit card debt and personal bills, all of your friends and family members should get to spank or ridicule you every day for the rest of your life.

6. Do not become a high-roller and do not live the big life way too big.

Temptation to live lavishly can be a killer. If you go from living a simple life to instantly being able to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) per week, what do you think happens to your expectations in life ahead? Chances are high that you will want more of the same.

If you start gambling in Las Vegas and are not happy until you are gambling with hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) per play, you are dooming yourself. Wait until the real con men find you. Taking you and your favorite 50 people on a luxury cruise around the world can become very expensive, very fast. Having an entourage generally only works for people who keep making more money.

7. Do not run out and buy everything for everyone, not even for yourself.

Buying things is fun for many people. It can even bring a rush for some. Imagine getting to buy whatever your imagination can think up. Society and the endless commercials make you think you need to own endless stuff. Do not go out and buy dozens of cars, followed by houses and whatever else, for you and your friends and family members. This will start you on a bad path, and you could easily become the next friends and family personal welfare department.

If you start buying everything for everyone, chances are high that they might expect that to last forever. The other end of the story is that you do not have to be a cheapskate either. Still, after hearing a real life personal story of one lucky winner buying more than 30 cars and multiple houses in three months it is just crazy.

8. Do not fall for the thought that budgets are just for the poor and middle class.

This may seem hard to imagine, but creating a budget and actually living on a budget are not just for the poor and the middle class. Again, with extreme wealth comes with extreme responsibility. It may sound crazy on the surface that you have to live within means when you get a vast sum of money. After all, major lottery winners are generally wealthier than everyone they know combined. This also goes back to having advisors and being prudent, but at the end of the day you do still have a finite sum of money. Chances are very high that you will make some serious purchases and your lifestyle will be changed forever.

Without setting limits for yourself and for what you do with others is a recipe for disaster. Again, many lottery winners go broke. If they went broke in a very short time, what do you think the reflection about wishing for a proper budget would be?

9. Do not become the business backer for all your friends and family.

Being a venture capitalist or a merchant banker may sound powerful and enticing. One common theme that has come up with lottery winners who suddenly get vast sums of cash is that their friends and family start pitching them on endless business ideas. Sure, some will sound great and some will sound crazy. This could expose you to more than just a loss. You could end up with endless liabilities in some cases.

If someone has no knowledge of a particular business and does not know what it takes to actually run a business, will they do better because a lottery winner who lucked into vast wealth gave them money to start it? If your answer is yes, you seriously need to protect yourself (from yourself).

10. Do not dare give it all away.

Many lottery winners or those who come into vast unexpected wealth may want to immediately share their newfound wealth with society. It may seem nice to give away vast amounts of cash to charity or to religious institutions. This might not be the case for everyone, but giving away an entire fortune or a large part of it to a charity or to religious institutions needs to be given great consideration. You can be generous without doing the unthinkable. Rather than giving everything away now, the current charitable trend of the extremely rich is to plan for how to give the money away upon their death, while still often leaving some for their heirs.

Imagine what you will feel like down the road when a serious crisis arises in your life or your family’s life, knowing that you no longer had the means to change it. Should you be charitable? Absolutely! Should you give it all away? Absolutely not!

11. Do not develop celebrity envy and athlete envy.

It is obvious that many movie stars and entertainers get to live the high life. Keeping up with the Jonses is bad enough. Trying to keep up with the Kardashians or other celebrities is a recipe for disaster. It has to seem cool to own a 200-foot yacht. It may seem practical that certain celebrities have an entourage, or to have a film crew following you around. It may seem cool owning castles in Europe. Owning an original Picasso painting sure sounds impressive.

Having a big new private jet makes sense for a lot of people. Trying to dodge taxes might even sound appealing to misguided people. Now go add up the price tags of these things, plus the cool cars and houses and the rest of it. You can go broke really quickly. Just ask actors and athletes who did this how they feel now.

12. And don’t think laws and decency standards no longer apply.

Some people think the rich can do whatever they want without consequences. It is true that the wealthier you get, the more high-class trouble you can find. It is also true that the rich can afford better attorneys and legal defense then the rest of us. Still, living a reckless life without concerns about the law will not keep you from going to prison, or worse. A good sports coach will tell any star athlete upfront that chances are high they will have to be human for far longer than they are going to stars.

Movies and television shows often glamorize scoundrels, but what good does it do you if you are incredibly wealthy and such a pariah that no one will associate with you? Remember, you don’t get to take any of your wealth with you.

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24/7 Wall St. would not want anyone who wins the lottery to end up broke. Losing wealth, or worse, is just not how things are supposed to go. Following a list of tasks may sound easy enough. Unfortunately, life and all its temptations can often interfere with logic.

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