We’ve all dreamed of winning the lottery. We’ve spent hours, maybe even days, throughout our lifetimes planning what we’d do if we ever got lucky enough to have our numbers come up.

For some of us, the ultimate goal would be to own a Ferrari or lay our heads down in a sprawling country mansion. For others, the fantasy is a little more altruistic: setting up a horse sanctuary, or being able to fund the ambitions of the people we love.

But did you know that bog-standard lotteries are not the only way to win big? Unlike the traditional lotteries we’re familiar with, there are a number of others out there, some of which pay out not just once, but in regular intervals for a period of years. Seeking to change the lives of those who win, their aim is to set you up forever. Intrigued and want to find out a little more? Here are two you need to know about.

Available to UK residents, Set for Life turns on a pretty unique concept: the top prize is not a lump sum of money, but a means of changing your life forever. Having just launched on 15th March this year, its tickets are priced at £1.50 and can be bought both in-store and online. The way it works is simple: you choose five numbers between one and 47, and an additional ‘life ball’ number between one and 10. Match all six and you’ll receive an astonishing £10,000 per month for the next 30 years. We can’t think of many things more enticing than that!

Cash4Life

Intriguingly, the Set for Life lottery is not the only one that’s changing the way we play. Cash4Life works on a similar principle. A lottery betting game from Lottoland – where you bet on the outcome of an existing lottery game – it’s even more lucrative than its counterpart, paying out £1,000 a day for the rest of each winner’s life. Second prize is pretty profitable too: £1,000 a month for as long as the runner-up lives. The game revolves around the New York Cash4Life Lottery, and playing is simple. Costing £2.50 per ticket, players must pick five numbers from one to 60, as well as an extra ‘cash ball’ from one to four.

Set for Life vs Cash4Life

Of course, this poses something of a conundrum for those who want to play one of these ‘lifetime lotteries’. The good news is that both Set for Life and Cash4Life offer many boons, so you can’t really go wrong with either. The major upside to them is that you’re not at risk of going wild and spending your winnings all in one go, so you can stay safe in the knowledge that you have a steady and reliable income to fall back on.   

However, one area where the latter undoubtedly reigns supreme is the size of the prize pot. Whilst £10,000 a month for 30 years is nothing to be sneered at, £1,000 a day for the remainder of your life definitely works out better – a fact backed up by the figures. Indeed, the difference is marked, with those who win the Set for Life pot walking away £3.6 million richer after three decades of payouts, compared to Cash4Life winners coming out almost £11 million in the black after the same amount of time.

Tell us, were you to ever buy or bet on the winning ticket, what would you spend your prize money on?