big Lotto Jackpots

[stevew]

Spoken like someone who's never been to Austintown. That place is dirty.

[stevew]

7 cards left, 1.28M prize didn't hit, said to approach 2M next week. I may get tickets for the next drawing because the winner no longer has to be present to win

[lighthousekeeper]

What would you do with Powerball winnings?

[stevew]

At least he didn't scream "F her right in the P!" On live TV

[tarcone]

That was the best answer ever.

[Racer]

With No Powerball Winners, Jackpot Grows to Estimated $1.3 Billion - ABC News

No winner. Powerball estimated jackpot up to $1.3 billion.

[Balldog]

Won $42...haha

[Edward64]

Wife and I were talking this morning that we're going to have to buy some tickets.

[stevew]

I "won" $4 on a $6 investment. I'll have to get 5 tickets for Wednesday.

[Draft Dodger]

the prospect - no matter how tiny - of suddenly jumping from current assets to a billion dollars is more frightening than exciting.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

the prospect - no matter how tiny - of suddenly jumping from current assets to a billion dollars is more frightening than exciting.

No worries. After taxes you'll still be below a billion.

[stevew]

I just want to be able to give my children a small loan of one million dollars.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Balldog

Won $42...haha

That won't buy you a lot of cocaine or hookers.



So I hear.

[jaygr]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

the prospect - no matter how tiny - of suddenly jumping from current assets to a billion dollars is more frightening than exciting.

Not that I would turn it down if I won, but I think it is a scarier jackpot to win then most. Because of the historic number the media all over it. Just way too much attention. My daydream plans after winning the lotto calls for collecting it anonymously so it would make it all the harder.

[flere-imsaho]

Even if your state allows you to collect anonymously, I don't think there's anyway you're going to be able to keep your identity secret with a win of this size.

[Kodos]

I would make a special suit and go out to fight crime at night.

[Barkeep49]

And unlike with regular wealth there would be no sense you'd earned it so people would be more aggressive about wanting to get some for themselves. I think the winner can plan on losing just about all their friends and alienating most of their family. Congrats on winning.

[Kodos]

Eh, if you used it to help charitable causes, I doubt people would resent you. Maybe if you did the hookers and coke thing.

[Logan]

I think the move is to get the hell out of the country for a few years.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Even if your state allows you to collect anonymously, I don't think there's anyway you're going to be able to keep your identity secret with a win of this size.

I agree. People will be looking at the surveillance footage of the Qwik-Stop from when you bought the ticket.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

And unlike with regular wealth there would be no sense you'd earned it so people would be more aggressive about wanting to get some for themselves.

While this is true, I would imagine lottery winners get a lot of aggressive solicitation for all sorts of causes because they're easy marks, comparatively, to people who have had wealth for a while and have gotten used to people asking for money.

[sovereignstar v2]

I'd give 99% of my winnings to a random person on Facebook who clicked on the Like button.

[EagleFan]

Some people need to learn basic math. I am getting so tired of that facebook post going around saying that if the 1.3 billion was split between everyone in the US it would be 4.3 million per person... IDIOTS... It would be $4.33 per person... and since that is the annuity it would be split over 25 years so everyone in the US would get a little over 17 cents per year for the next 25 years.

Sorry, had to rant and this was the easiest thread to place it in, the FB thread wasn't in sight.

[QuikSand]

I won't have time to read this for a while, but thought the topic was worth sharing.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/11/news...inkId=20272023

I don't recall if it was long ago in this thread or elsewhere, but I know we have talked about lotto syndicates here at FOFC before.

[tarcone]

I was talking to someone at work. And we got on the Waltons that live in Columbia, MO. he was at a game with someone and they pointed out a mansion that one of Waltons lived in. When they pulled in their garage they went though 3 garage doors to get to the interior. They constantly put up with death threats and threats of kidnapping of their kids.

Life would most certainly change.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

First thing I would do if I won was let Mr. Glass know in the press conference that I was ready to pay him a price he couldn't refuse to become the new owner of the World Champs.

[digamma]

That's a cool thought, but after taking the lump sum and taxes you wouldn't have enough to pay the $700 million at which Forbes values the Royals. Plus that's a pre-2015 valuation and I'm guessing it's not a price he couldn't refuse. But it is a cool thought.

[flere-imsaho]

You use debt leverage anyway.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

You use debt leverage anyway.

I was actually going to start my post with, unless you're ready to take on hundreds of millions of debt...

[flere-imsaho]

Read about the Glazers' purchase of Manchester United. They spent very little (any?) of their money, but instead used Manchester United itself as collateral to buy via debt leverage.

As far as I can tell, the only point of them having a lot of money themselves was to have actual credibility for the transaction.

[digamma]

Yeah, in most mergers and acquisitions (and sports franchises are no different), taking on debt to finance the purchase is not unusual. The availability of financing and the terms depends on a lot of factors, including the credibility of the principal(s) of the purchaser (particularly where the purchaser is a private entity (either individual or private company)).

[cartman]

You mean spending all your money on a business, and not leave any money for the actual running of the business is a bad idea?

[albionmoonlight]

So after taking a lump sum and paying taxes, you would have, what? About $300 million?

That's so much money. Even if I could take it anonymously, I'd still wonder what to do with it. I mean, sure, all of the typical lottery dreams. Travel, good food, hookers, cocaine, etc. But then you would actually have enough left to do something like buy your own island. Or your own minor league team. Or start a $200 million non-profit. Or buy every billboard in the metro DC area and use them all to make fun of Dan Snyder.

I'd actually be somewhat paralyzed by the choices presented by, not just lottery money, but real honest-to-goodness fuck you money.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I was talking to someone at work. And we got on the Waltons that live in Columbia, MO. he was at a game with someone and they pointed out a mansion that one of Waltons lived in. When they pulled in their garage they went though 3 garage doors to get to the interior. They constantly put up with death threats and threats of kidnapping of their kids.

Life would most certainly change.

This would be my fear...would winning the money actually be worth it? Especially after reading this article. You Didn't Win The Powerball. Good. You Probably Dodged A Bullet.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I'd actually be somewhat paralyzed by the choices presented by, not just lottery money, but real honest-to-goodness fuck you money.

Any time you come into a large windfall of money, the first two calls you have to make are to an attorney and a money manager.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

This would be my fear...would winning the money actually be worth it? Especially after reading this article. You Didn't Win The Powerball. Good. You Probably Dodged A Bullet.

My wife and I had a conversation about this last night. We both landed at a place that if there's a single winner of *this* much money who is a relational human being with current financial status anywhere from poverty to upper middle class, the best play might be to pay off any debts you may owe, buy a home if you don't already own one or fix up the one you have, put relatively tiny percentages away for college fund(s) and retirement, and then very publicly give the rest away to trusted non-profits. Otherwise, it would seem that getting that much money that quickly would end up ruining most of your relationships.

[Kodos]

YaleNews | Monkeys’ reaction to those who have more? Spite

Even monkeys would punish people who won the Lotto.

[Logan]

Isn't the pot large enough at this point where taking the annuity might make more sense from a practicality standpoint (assume solo winner)?

[molson]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

My wife and I had a conversation about this last night. We both landed at a place that if there's a single winner of *this* much money who is a relational human being with current financial status anywhere from poverty to upper middle class, the best play might be to pay off any debts you may owe, buy a home if you don't already own one or fix up the one you have, put relatively tiny percentages away for college fund(s) and retirement, and then very publicly give the rest away to trusted non-profits. Otherwise, it would seem that getting that much money that quickly would end up ruining most of your relationships.

I'd save a bunch for traveling too, but otherwise, definitely one of the best parts about winning that kind of money would be how much you could give away, how many problems you could solve for people and causes you care about. You could vastly improve the lives of everyone who matters to you, and you'd have a huge opportunity to make the world a better place. Which would be both more meaningful and more fun than golden rocket cars or butlers to wipe your ass. I don't understand at all the mindset that winning could possibly be "dodging a bullet". I guess you could try to spend your way to happiness and fulfillment and that can backfire, but that's not the only mindset that you can apply to money.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Logan

Isn't the pot large enough at this point where taking the annuity might make more sense from a practicality standpoint (assume solo winner)?

Mark Cuban suggests that the winner do so...

Mark Cuban’s tips for eventual winner of the $1.4 billion (or more) Powerball jackpot | | Dallas Morning News

[stevew]

Isn't it better to take the lump sum cause you know what the tax rate is now and with inflation, etc, and possible rate changes your yearly payout will likely have significant bites taken out of it? Just pay yourself an allowance and diversify into index type funds.

[Pyser]

i dont think it's good to be the most famous lottery winner ever.

and i'd be terrified for my family's safety.

[JPhillips]

The lump sum is the better option, but I can see an argument for the annuity if you aren't financially savvy.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by stevew

Isn't it better to take the lump sum cause you know what the tax rate is now and with inflation, etc, and possible rate changes your yearly payout will likely have significant bites taken out of it? Just pay yourself an allowance and diversify into index type funds.

Yea. The gist of Cuban's advice is "who cares, its so much money that you don't need to think about optimizing it, just take the yearly annuity so you can't fuck it up and stick it in the bank instead of risking it anywhere"

[Racer]

Originally Posted by Pyser

i dont think it's good to be the most famous lottery winner ever.

and i'd be terrified for my family's safety.

Yeah, if I won I'd have to seriously consider hiring a bodyguard for each member of my family.

[Scoobz0202]

Yea, there are definitely some major cons to winning that much money. Enough to make me not want it? Absolutely not.

I read this post by somebody on Reddit who took the story about the West Virginia man and also offered some advice.

BlakeClass comments on You just won a 656 Million Dollar Lottery. What do you do now?

I would do similar to what somebody said in there. I would just straight up disappear with my girlfriend for a couple months. Changed my billing address, new phone number. I don't even know if I'd tell my mother where I was going other then a phone call occasionally checking in. I love my family but they can rest easy knowing at some point I'll take care of them but for the immediate future I'm on some beach for quite awhile. And I would never come back to where I am from and live now. I would be buying a home or two where nobody knows who I am.

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

Yea, there are definitely some major cons to winning that much money. Enough to make me not want it? Absolutely not.

I read this post by somebody on Reddit who took the story about the West Virginia man and also offered some advice.

BlakeClass comments on You just won a 656 Million Dollar Lottery. What do you do now?

I would do similar to what somebody said in there. I would just straight up disappear with my girlfriend for a couple months. Changed my billing address, new phone number. I don't even know if I'd tell my mother where I was going other then a phone call occasionally checking in. I love my family but they can rest easy knowing at some point I'll take care of them but for the immediate future I'm on some beach for quite awhile. And I would never come back to where I am from and live now. I would be buying a home or two where nobody knows who I am.

+1

[Draft Dodger]

yeah, with 2 kids the "disappear" option isn't super appealing to me.

[stevew]

I dunno if it was an original idea, but my brother suggested that you buy 8 tickets with the same combo. If you win and split with 2 other people, you get 80% of the prize instead of 33.3%. Plus the internet would lose its mind.

[Shkspr]

What better 80% of one combo or 33% of 8 different combos?