Ok let's rephrase that . . .what would you do after you won, threw a big party, sailed around the world and escaped from all of your money-grabbing relatives?

Now you've got a problem.

Where are you going to put all that lovely lolly?

This doesn't just apply to last week's big Lotto winner.

It's a dilemma faced by hundreds of thousands of former-SSIA-holders . . . or anyone that simply has a few bob to invest.

You can't just leave it in a demand account earning a fraction of a smidgeon of a percent.

An average demand deposit account pays something like 0.7pc interest, if you're lucky. Inflation is nearly 5pc. Do the maths: your money is going down the tubes at a rate of over 4pc per annum.

Even if you get the best deposit rates around . . . and they're not much above 4pc . . .inflation will still erode your dosh.

If you want your money to maintain its value, let alone work, you simply have to invest it. This involves risk.

But if you make the right choices, it should prove worthwhile.

If you're not too financially savvy, you're going to need an adviser, but finding a good one ain't that easy. A lot of people flog financial products. You see them every time you walk into a bank.

But how do you tell the difference between a sales pitch and independent advice? The first step is to check the status of your adviser.

Many people go into their bank and expect impartial advice. Big mistake. Bank employees are, um, employed by banks. Their careers hinge directly on how much money they make for the bank.

Sometimes, though rarely, a bank adviser may be obligated to provide impartial advice. It all depends on what type of intermediary they are authorised as.

There are two main types: a multi-agency intermediary and an authorised adviser.

The former cannot offer broad investment advice . . .they should merely explain the workings of whatever financial product they are selling.

Within this category are even more restrictive ones such as a 'tied agent', who works for an investment house, and a 'single agency intermediary', which is similar.

They are basically salespeople and no matter how convincing their spiel may be, you should take it with a pinch of salt. The only financial requirement they are subjected to is that they are solvent 'at all times'.

Further up the 'food chain' are 'authorised advisers'.

These are subject to more stringent financial requirements and can offer broad financial advice.

It must be justified with a 'reasons why' letter (signed by you) explaining why they steered you into a particular product. However, many people still don't wade through such documents and it is not a foolproof system.

An adviser can use all sorts of tactics to steer clients into particular products, for all sorts of reasons . . . e. g. they may earn more commission.

A banking sector source says: "There are all sorts of ways to influence people. Words make up just a fraction of how we communicate . . .there's body language and even the tone of your voice. You could go on enthusiastically about the merits of one product, while referring to another in a way that suggests you don't think much of it."

So how do you spot dodgy advice? One way is to do what reporters Woodward and Bernstein were advised to do by their source Deep Throat when uncovering the Watergate conspiracy: "Follow the money." Advisers must disclose the commission they get but many people don't bother to look closely at this.

Commission is money paid to them by the investment house but it comes indirectly out of your pocket. If they are getting a big slice of commission, ask yourself if this is really a good deal for you.

Was commission a factor in their recommendations?

It would take a saint to ignore a fat pay-off in order to steer a client towards a lowcost investment option such as Quinn Life or Rabobank.

Better still, arrange to pay a flat fee for advice. Many people baulk at handing over a few hundred euro for a bit of palaver. But that's small change compared to what advisers can trouser, often fairly surreptitiously, through commission extracted as a percentage of your investment.

A 3% commission mightn't sound like much. But in case of the 16 million lottery windfall, it would amount to nearly half a million quid. At that rate you'd (nearly) be able to employ Eddie Hobbs on a full-time basis.

The downside to having wealth is that you have to think about what to do with it.

But most people learn the basics quickly enough when their own money is at stake.

When you do, you can even have a bit of fun playing the investment markets. Buying individual shares is a bit too much hassle for most of us.

But there are lots of low-cost investment funds where you can take a punt.

Quinn Life and Rabodirect, for example, have a nice range of fairly low-cost funds for those who know what they want. These offer a wide range of investment options that can be managed online.

So if you think China and India, for example, are the places to put your money, you can back your hunch by buying into a fund specialising in these areas.

Those who did just that last year did very nicely indeed. Rabobank's Indian and Chinese funds are up 47.79% and 80.65%, respectively, in just one year.

That's not bad for a bit of DIY investment!

HOW DIY INVESTORS FARED WITH RABOBANK FUND NAME GROWTH

* Robeco Chinese
Equities 80.65% MLIIF India 47.79% MLIIF World Mining 41.78% JPM Global Focus 25.55% JPM Euro Strategic Gth 24.92%

*Average annual growth for 1yr to 1 Aug 07 with Rabobank's five most popular funds for July.

** Entry and exit charges of 0.75pc apply to Rabobank funds. There is also an annual management fee of 0.7pc-2pc.