When you win the lottery, it’s tempting to fantasize about all of the things you can buy: stunning beach houses, luxury cars and a host of globetrotting server thailand vacations. But if you’re serious about your money, it’s important to consider what you can do to help protect it.

When it comes to investing, you’ve probably heard about diversification and asset allocation. But have you thought about protecting your investment portfolio from the impact of a major financial shock?

Many people play the lottery in hopes of becoming wealthy overnight. But the reality is that most winners are not able to maintain their wealth after winning the jackpot. Unless they have a plan in place, they’re likely to fall back into old spending habits and lose their money.

Lotteries have a long history, and the practice is not unique to America. They were used as a form of “voluntary taxes” to support the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War, and in the early years of the United States to finance public projects such as building Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, and King’s College (now Columbia). Privately organized lotteries were common as well, often in the form of raffles or games of chance.

Historically, lotteries begin with the state legislating a monopoly for itself and establishing an agency or public corporation to run it (as opposed to licensing a private firm in return for a share of profits). They typically start by offering a limited number of relatively simple games. Revenues expand dramatically at the outset but eventually level off and may even decline, requiring a constant introduction of new games to maintain or increase popularity.