When financial planner Graham Dixon meets with his clients for their annual check-in, the relief in their voices is palpable. For many it’s a chance to speak freely about their lifestyles – because Graham is one of the only people in the world who knows they are ridiculously rich.

He is one of a group of more than 20 advisers at wealth management firm Evelyn Partners tasked with helping National Lottery winners manage their fortunes.

He’s helped more than 90 of them and says the best part of the job is seeing them gain financial confidence after such a dramatic change.

‘It’s a really fortunate position because you’re brought into their lives and often they haven’t told anybody else,’ he says.

Graham has helped one family hide their wealth from their children, while others have been eager to splash out on luxury holidays with all the family. For some, old habits die hard, with one winner of over £1million continuing to buy supermarket bargains.

‘People say money doesn’t make you happy – it doesn’t always, some people get in a real head-spin about what it means,’ he says. ‘But for those who have that peace of mind and can do what they want – who can just book a holiday and help family – that’s financial freedom and liberation.’

Here, Graham reveals what a decade of helping lottery winners has taught him about how to manage your money to make you happy – however much you have.

Graham Dixon looks after clients who have won the National Lottery – and is often one of the only people in the world who knows they are ridiculously rich (picture posed by models)

THINK ABOUT THE IMPACT ON YOUR RELATIONSHIPS

While some jackpot winners tell the world about their windfall – with photographs of Champagne sprays and big cheques splashed in national newspapers – most people keep the news within a trusted network of immediate family, Graham says.

And around 5 per cent of winners he sees won’t tell another soul, except for their partner or spouse.

The key is to think carefully about how wealth could affect your personal relationships and build a strategy that works for you.

One couple, who Graham has advised for nine years, won around £1.2million and retired from their modest jobs in their mid-50s. But, fearful that it would impact relationships, they haven’t told anyone, not even their daughters.

They’ve been subtly enjoying their windfall – buying a campervan, travelling Europe and treating themselves to the occasional bottle of Champagne.

Winners who don’t wish to share the truth may contrive stories of an inheritance from a long-lost aunt, but others aren’t comfortable with creating ‘a false reality’ – causing them ‘real turmoil’, says Graham.

‘Keeping quiet can turn the win into a big secret and some winners find it difficult living a lie,’ he says. ‘Whereas others feel sharing the news of their win will change their relationship with family members and feel happier keeping it from them.

‘Clearly the bigger the win, the more difficult it is to keep this secret.’

Most people enjoy their win subtly, such as treating themselves to the occasional bottle of Champagne, says Graham

KNOW HOW FAR YOUR WEALTH WILL STRETCH

Money can’t bring you peace of mind – no matter how much you have – if you’re not certain about how long it will last.

One of Graham’s clients is currently facing a storm of anxiety, despite going from ‘fairly modest means to having a couple of million pounds’, because he has given up work and doesn’t know if his windfall will one day run out.

He hopes to take more holidays with family and spend a few hundred thousand pounds helping his nephew to get on the housing ladder. Graham is using cash-flow forecasting to see what the man can afford and put his mind at ease.

This involves looking at a client’s total wealth and calculating how this may reduce over time depending on their spending, lifestyle, inflation and potential investment returns.

Taking this approach is not just for the rich – it is also useful for those approaching retirement and those who want to get a better understanding of their future spending. ‘If it looks like it may run out too early, we can look at compromises to make it last longer, for example by curbing discretionary spending, giving less to family, or investing to get the money to work harder, says Graham.

If the calculations show you have more than you could need, you can increase your spending.

‘Be bold in the thinking,’ Graham adds. ‘I’ve seen couple’s only set aside £30,000 to get family on property ladder when they can afford to do a lot more.

‘It’s surprising how many people underestimate their capacity to increase spending or gifting and end up holding on to too much wealth.’

National Lottery operator Allwyn offers every winner of over £1million help from a financial planner as well as a legal specialist and lifestyle coach to assist with the change in their circumstances.

Having witnessed wins of all amounts, Graham has observed that the perfect pot to win depends on the age and circumstances of the person.

National Lottery operator Allwyn offers every winner of over £1million help from a financial planner as well as a legal specialist and lifestyle coach to assist with the change in their circumstances

However, he’s identified one sweet spot: ‘A £1million win for most people enables them to change their life and remove many financial worries, without being so much that it becomes a worry in itself,’ he says.

Nonetheless, Graham continues to play the National Lottery himself, as he has done since it was launched in 1994.

BE GENEROUS WITH FAMILY... AFTER YOU PAY MORTGAGE

Treating friends and family is one good way to use money to bring you happiness – so long as you can afford it.

It is one of the main ways Graham sees winners spend their cash, after paying off their own mortgage.

But he recommends that you make sure you have what you need first, including a readily accessible emergency reserve fund, and are making regular pension contributions.

And if you’re going to lend to family or friends instead of making gifts, seek legal advice to avoid issues later on as disputes can sometimes arise over the terms of the loan.

‘Sometimes it’s wise to heed the advice given in Hamlet – “neither a borrower nor a lender be”,’ he adds.

ENJOY WEALTH – BUT DON’T STRAY FROM YOUR VALUES

You might expect a windfall to be a corrupting influence, turning a careful saver into an unbearable show-off. But many Lottery winners tend to stick to their old money habits and morals, Graham says.

Winners often continue shopping at the same supermarket to prove to themselves (and others) they have not changed.

Meanwhile, Graham says it’s ‘quite common’ for winners to remain in work. The big change is their attitude towards their job – they know they’re there by choice and can hand in their notice if they’re fed up.

He says: ‘You grow up with values. If you’ve always been frugal and planned and squirrelled money away, winning the Lottery doesn’t make you suddenly reckless.

‘One winner of a significant amount of money will bring out discount biscuits they got a great deal on every time I meet them at their house. They’ll be really proud of these biscuits.

‘Continuing working, whilst maybe reducing your hours, will help to maintain relationships and a purpose or structure to your life.’

Winners tend to be fairly sensible about their spending, Graham finds.

‘Some winners book a five-star swanky hotel but feel massively out of place. I’ve seen families do a couple of years of these wonderful lifestyle holidays and then actually become a lot more modest and go to Tenerife or the Costa del Sol in a three-star hotel.’

It’s ‘good to keep grounded’, he says.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t splash out on occasional luxuries as a treat.

‘I’ll also say to winners to do something a Lottery winner would do, whether it’s buy that piece of jewellery or a motorbike’, Graham adds.

One of his winning clients set aside £100,000 every year to travel the world. There is an age difference between the husband and wife, so they wanted to splurge on holidays while they were fit to travel.

Do you have a Lottery story to share? Tell Lucy anonymously at L.evans@dailymail.co.uk